I had a case a few years back and a man’s three vehicle were burned caused by the neighbor’s house fire and the repairs were several thousand dollars to fix.
The Insurance told him he was not entitled to get paid for his Diminished Value and he should just go fix his cars or junk them they did not care about his loss.
His attorney had a different story, he was entitled to get Diminished value for his loss.
His attorney contacted me and ask me to inspect each vehicle and find the Diminished Value and I agreed.
I went to the home of this customer and did an inspection on each vehicle and all were repairable with some needing new glass and paint and rubber seal that had been damage by the fire.
I turned in all there reports with my finding and loss of value to the attorney who called me, he also ask me to be the expert witness for the loss of value in a court of law and I agreed.
On the day of trial when on the witness stand I was asked to explain each vehicle loss and what the loss of value was to the Jury. The total loss was several thousand dollars for the three vehicle. The Jury awarded loss of value on all three vehicle with all 12 jurors agreeing he was entitled to that loss of value, he won based on my three reports hand down.
The Diminished Value will apply to all vehicle damages by another person insurance no matter if it was caused by a house fire as these there were or in a car accident not your fault.
The California law 3903J under Jurors Instruction passed in 2016 make this apply to all loss of value claims no matter how the loss happened. The laws in other stated provided show Diminished Value is recoverable and is in almost all stated in America.
As a certified appraiser and writer of Diminished Value report for over 14 years. I know the laws and know how to write the report for that loss and can back up all report I have written with a solid foundation showing proof.
If you have a loss of value caused by another person fault you are entitled to get that loss of value no matter how small it is.
If you were in an accident not your fault you are entitled to get that loss after the vehicle has been repaired because no person or shop can repair a vehicle back to factory condition, in many inspection I have always found damaged parts I could photograph and or feel when driving. So go after that loss and remember we pay for Insurance to protect us and pay any loss to the other party when in an accident.
Pass this story on and tell a friend.
Thank you,
Jackie Winters
Lemon Protection