The aftermath of a car crash can have medical and financial implications. If someone gets hurt, they will have medical bills to worry about. However, you don’t have to suffer a severe injury in a collision for it to have a lasting financial impact.
The damage to your vehicle can represent thousands of dollars of lost value. In theory, when one driver causes a crash, their liability insurance coverage will pay for the property damage costs and medical expenses incurred by other people involved in the wreck. The damage won’t be the only concern when a crash batters your vehicle.
Understand what causes diminished value
Vehicle information reports help those buying cars track the history of a specific car, truck, van or SUV. Many people shy away from vehicles that have already been in a crash, as the force of a collision can compromise the structural integrity of the vehicle and leave issues with key safety systems.
The primary expense caused by property damage will be repair expenses which could be thousands of dollars. However, there’s also diminished value to consider. The price that you can sell your car for or ask for it when you trade it in at a dealership will go down by thousands of dollars even when you have addressed all of the glaring issues caused by the crash. You may need to make an insurance claim for the diminished value of your vehicle.
Establish the financial impact of the crash on your vehicles price
The best way to determine how much to seek in a diminished value claim is to talk with someone who works in the automotive field, possibly a salesperson, to establish the fair market value of your vehicle based on its condition and mileage prior to the crash.
Then, you can also determine the fair market value of the vehicle after the wreck. The difference between those figures is the diminished value, an amount you may need to report to the other driver’s insurance company as part of your claim.
Before you accept a settlement or close a claim after a crash, it’s important to make sure that you have already sought appropriate levels of compensation for the losses you’ve suffered.