Re: insurance company hassles

[Mark Williams <williamh@xxxxxxx>]

George Traminer wrote...

>I think you, Mark (and most digesters) would agree that any visible repair
>diminishes the value of an automobile.

One could certainly argue the point...  However, I do not agree that would be the
case on  ANY vehicle...   how about a Yugo?  What about a 1993
Honda Accord like my wife's car... ? What if the car has rust on 50% of the
car?   What about a work truck? Does a damaged (let's say even unrepaired)
fender diminish the value of the work truck if all the owner does is use the
truck to haul things around and provide transportation? Does it have diminished
value in YOUR eyes? Apparently so... In the owner  eyes?  Probably not,
if the owner is  primarily concerned about the utility of the vehicle. Not every
one chooses to repair their vehicle after an accident... Even if they are paid
100%..  Some out of necessity because they need the money to do other
things, but many others simply because they are not fanatical about their
vehicles like most of us on this list... I do think that the Average Jane or Joe
 would  agree that a repainted fender on a Ferrari F50 would diminish the value.

 Let me also state that diminished value changes over time..  A repainted
fender on a 2000 M5 would not have the same diminished  value as the same
car 15 years later in 2015...  Let's agree that diminished value is in the eye of
the beholder (and maybe not the vehicle owner)  and is more widely
recognized on some cars as opposed to others..

 >I think you would probably agree that
>if you had a partial refinish and "blend" repair on one hundred doors,  and a
>complete refinish of the panel done on another hundred doors, done in one
>hundred "approved" shops, that not all of the repairs would be invisible, and
>more of the "blend" repairs would be visible.

WAY too many variables there.. I won't touch that with a ten
foot pole..Plus, I would be up all night!

>My agent would not budge from the estimate from the adjuster, until I told
>him (via certified mail) that "returning the vehicle to the pre-loss
>condition" meant that the repair could not be visible to a trained, impartial
>eye.

Sounds good to me!

>So- if the company insisted on the "blend" repair, I would take the
>repaired car to an automobile appraiser, without discussing the repair- if
>the appraisal made no mention of the repair, everything is fine. If the
>repair was visible to the appraiser's eye, however, the car goes back to the
>body shop until it's right, and I expect the insurance company to pay the
>appraisal fee. The repair was approved per the body shop's estimate, the day
>after the letter was received.

That's what I advised you do! Have the repairs done with the SF estimate,
if you were not happy with the repairs then schedule a reinspection and
have the shop, SF reinspector, and you sit down and work to get the car
repaired to your satisfaction..   No need to jump up and down or go spending
money on an appraiser... Maybe if the repair was done and you felt there was
a problem and the reinspector did not agree, THEN, sure that would be the next
step, but that's putting the cart before the horse!   What you have done thus
far is ensured that the body shop makes more $.. But you have not ensured that
the repair will be better! If the paint guy mixes the paint with slightly different flop
(hue) in error and then shoots your entire door with the color, then the entire
door will not match the rest of the car..  Blending within a panel is actually favorable
to painting a single panel without blending at all.  I'll bet that your shop has bid on
your estimate to repaint the whole door and will STILL blend into the adjacent panels.
The *area* that is painted is much less of a concern than the actual color match of the
paint itself.

>You make a good point about body shops quoting the work one way, and doing it
>another- this applies to any body shop repair. The shop agreed in writing to
>let me stop by and see the primed panel before it was painted.

Any good shop should be happy yo have you stop in at any point in the
repair process..

> Mark, I feel that you skirted my question, suggesting that I discuss the
>diminished value with my agent. I remember reading about independent services
>that assess diminished value due to repairs, and that there was a generic name
>for these services. Can you (or another digester) tell me what this is?

Once again you are putting the car before the horse... let's just fast forward...
A few weeks from now your repairs have been completed by  your shop (based
on your shop's quote now, since that has been paid)  and that you cannot tell the
repaint has been done.. Then let's remove all doubt and say that your  appraiser
in the example above cannot tell the difference... The perfect repair. Do you
still feel that your car has diminished value?  I get the idea  that you do.. I, however
do not..  The reason that I did not answer your question before is because I
am not aware of the recent case law on diminished value in you state. I can tell
you that in the state of Texas (where the state writes the insurance policy) recent
law has overturned diminished value for an insured.  These claims were paid in
the past but the Texas Department of  Insurance has recently ruled that
as an insured, one is NOT eligible for a diminished value claim. In an uninsured
motorist claim (where the insured is handled as a claimant) or when a claimant
has damages due to the negligence of an insured , then there is  the ability to
have a diminished value claim.  Otherwise, NO insured is entitled to diminished
value.

With respect to the generic company that assesses  diminished value, I am sorry,
I am not aware of such a company.. I have a name for a web site you can
check out however, it is    http://www.directdv.com/

>Though we may not agree on this subject, Mark, I do sincerely thank you for
>your answer.
>George W. Traminer

No problem at all George.. I do remain CONFIDENT however that your door
could have been repaired to your satisfaction per the original SF estimate.
I have seen situations such as this hundreds of times and only a few (less than 10)
have actually required the work be redone..  The difference here is in experience..
I am in a position where I have seen many many more repairs than you, and
you are in a position where you are worried about a singular repair. I sincerely
hope that your car is repaired to your satisfaction.  Good luck and let us know
how things turned out..

Mark Willliams
Dallas, TX

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