Mystery of Digits

Diminished Value - Car, auto insurance

This is something that all car owners should know and which many do not.

When a car is involved in an accident and suffers repairable damage, the insurance company sends an agent to examine the damage and estimate the repair cost, which the insurance company will pay, after deductible.

You got your car repaired, taken care by insurance company, everybody is happy, right?

Not exactly!

When a car is involved in an accident, even thought it is repaired, it will suffer a loss when you try to sell the car. The buyer will definitely try to bargain few hundred dollars more as the car was involved in an accident. So basically the car suffers a loss in its value. This is called Diminished Value.

Who pays for it! Duh!

So when you make a claim, make sure that you also claim the diminished value.

You have to be careful even when choosing an insurance company. Not all insurance company pays for diminished value. You will have to read those (in)famous "fine print" in the insurance agreement.

I learned it the hard way.