Post accident questions

[homebrew]

Hey group, the other day an older gentleman decided under my truck was a good place to park his mercedes (T-boned me) i'll post pictures in a few. Truck is in the shop getting an estimate. Couple of questions.... 1. has anyone dealt with an diminished value claim? 2. I took a pretty good hit and my side airbags did not deploy. It was a low hit. Is it possible the sensors just weren't hit hard enough or could it be that I have an issue with my airbags, possibly that recall that just came out??

 

[homebrew]

Hey group, the other day an older gentleman decided under my truck was a good place to park his mercedes (T-boned me) i'll post pictures in a few. Truck is in the shop getting an estimate. Couple of questions.... 1. has anyone dealt with an diminished value claim? 2. I took a pretty good hit and my side airbags did not deploy. It was a low hit. Is it possible the sensors just weren't hit hard enough or could it be that I have an issue with my airbags, possibly that recall that just came out??

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[zrfraser]

The insurance company should take care of the diminishing value claim without any work from you. My wife T-Boned a VW Passat last year and 1 month later we had a check for the diminished value in the mail. It wasn't much maybe 300.00.

 

[homebrew]

who was at fault in your case? how old is her car?

 

[Power247]

Man that stinks! I hope it doesn't take too long for them to get you fixed up. I can't imagine how much work it will be to repair the rockers. It looks like he hit you so low in the doors that it missed the airbag sensors.

My wife was hit several years by an unattentive driver. Her car was less than 2 years old at the time. After repairs I got my dealership to give me 2 quotes for trade in. 1 as if nothing happened and then a second considering the repairs. I was surprised at how little difference it made. A few hundred bucks at most. Now, if there had been frame or suspension damage I expect it would have been much different.

Focus on getting her fixed up right first, then deal with the insurance company on the compensation. Hopefully all will go smooth.

Greg
2012 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | Custom tuned by Double R Diesel
2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

 

[bhonshell37]

Hey group, the other day an older gentleman decided under my truck was a good place to park his mercedes (T-boned me) i'll post pictures in a few. Truck is in the shop getting an estimate. Couple of questions.... 1. has anyone dealt with an diminished value claim? 2. I took a pretty good hit and my side airbags did not deploy. It was a low hit. Is it possible the sensors just weren't hit hard enough or could it be that I have an issue with my airbags, possibly that recall that just came out??

Where are you in Washington? My condolences to you and your Ram. No Ram deserves to be hit

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[homebrew]

The body shop said there are 3 layers to the rockers. I didn't look at the under side too closely but I'd expect the repairs to be pretty intensive. Hoping to get my estimate back today.

Whidbey Island


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[bhonshell37]

Are you in the Navy or work for the Navy

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[homebrew]

Yeah


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[bhonshell37]

Thank you for keep our oceans safe. I help keep our land safe by serving this country as well

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[Casper]

Yeah


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1) If you have USAA and they offer to repair ahead of claim settlement, INSIST on OEM parts. Otherwise you'll get stuff stamped made in Taiwan. Not a big deal if out of sight, but if it shows that's diminished value by your own insurance being cheap.

2) Sure looks like your side steps saved you from some real damage.

 

[homebrew]

It was the other drivers fault, State Farm is dealing with it. USAA said they have nothing to do with the process because he assumed full liability.


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[bhonshell37]

It was the other drivers fault, State Farm is dealing with it. USAA said they have nothing to do with the process because he assumed full liability.


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At least he admitted to being at fault

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[spoon059]

I think that you got hit so low that it just didn't trigger air bags. It looks like most of the energy from the wreck was the Mercedes acting like a lever and lifting, rather than crushing. That shouldn't have triggered air bags, in my opinion.

Make sure that you stay on top of the repairs. I'm sure that State Farm will try to limit their exposure to costs, so make sure that USAA is fighting for you for diminished value claims you have.

 

[homebrew]

My insurance just told me to file the claim with State Farm. They said I'd have to wait till the repairs were complete and the final bill was done up then ask State Farm for diminished value. I just don't want to wait too long

 

[Rupert]

My insurance just told me to file the claim with State Farm. They said I'd have to wait till the repairs were complete and the final bill was done up then ask State Farm for diminished value. I just don't want to wait too long

I'm dealing with same thing. second time in 7 months, first last September I get rear ended siting in traffic in my charger. Its an 08. low miles, excellent shape.

2 months ago I got T-boned while in a funeral procession in my ram.

Both cases I had my insurance ( USAA) take care of everything to get my vehicle fixed, then processed the DIV with the other insurance company. Your insurance wont help with DIV, In fact If you don't know about it they wont even mention it. I think they are all in a conspiracy to keep their cost down, and I am not usually a conspiracy person.

Once the repairs are complete and the other insurance has paid your insurance and something called Subrogation is complete, then you can proceed with getting the run around from the other insurance company.

things they consider are:

prior damage , if yes they usually deny
Age of vehicle
milage
severity of damage ( makes sense that all damage is repaired first)
etc.

Now my first wreck the other insurance was allstate ( I think) and they were ok to deal with, and I got a check about two weeks from when I got in contact with the DIV division.

Last event is GIECO and they are a bunch of a holes

giving ne the run around trying to get statements from me for info they already have etc. And they wont give me the DIV #.
jerk wont give me info but try to " review the information" I'm like " talk to my insurance company, that's why I had them take care of this, not you, and I called you to get info you won't provide, why would I help you( screw me)."
they sent an email to their DIV, I got contacted, .told they would call me back blah blah wait for the Subrogation etc.

USAA not much help, they just say wait 2-3 weeks and try again.

Its been 2-3 weeks

 

[jschwanke84]

My insurance just told me to file the claim with State Farm. They said I'd have to wait till the repairs were complete and the final bill was done up then ask State Farm for diminished value. I just don't want to wait too long

This is not surprising. No one wants to wait when money is on the line, but just follow the process and use your own insurance company as a resource. They should be able to guide you through it. Patience is needed. Nothing to get too worked up about here.

 

[homebrew]

I just got the preliminary estimate, $7300

 

[1mc112]

The Diminish value claim is going to be your biggest fight cause you have to get the insurance agent (your or the other person's agent) to believe your claim of loss value. There are some experts out there that can write you an estimate and you can submit that to the agent but don't expect the agent to give the full amount.

My F150 had 8k worth of damage, I filed Dim value claim of 5k and we worked it out to be about 3100 after a ton of back and forth for a month and half.

Send me a PM and I can get you more details or answer any question in it. It's a huge pain in the rear for sure.

 

[tripleplay]

Ok.. so much to say about this. First things first. There are many opinions on here - insurance co. is trying to save every $$. YOU are in charge.

INSIST on taking it to your shop. Period. OEM parts and PROCEDURES to be used to repair the vehicle. The insurance co. will try and brow beat you and say they won't pay. You have 100% right to have your truck fixed to OEM standards using OEM repair procedures.
Ask the repair shop if the estimate they gave you is following OEM guidelines and using New OEM parts.. OR are they a preferred shop of the insurance co. and following the insurance co. "standards". And - is the shop a Dodge/RAM truck repair specialist or approved by FCA for repairing Ram trucks.

Second - I would use YOUR own insurance company if you are not getting what you want from the at fault driver - even when they have accepted full fault/liability. I had both adjusters go look at the car and do the estimate.. magically - both insurance co's came back within $100 of another. But that was also $3k less than the shop. A good shop knows how to handle this.

3. Diminished value.. do not expect the insurance co. to be realistic about this at all. You will get the FULL run around. They will tell you to get 3 appraisals etc etc. You have an accident now with cab damage. You can't trade the vehicle for the value it was before the accident - period. And you are entitled to compensation for this. You can only start this process once your truck is repaired and back in your possession.

**I am in the middle of this myself since March 24th. I'm still going through it. I was rear ended in my 7 day old (new to me) 2013 Audi on March 24th. It went to my shop (not theirs) - they quoted $11k - insurance was $8k. MY insurance co. paid the full amount after my shop could DOCUMENT why the repairs were more. This was a pain but in the end my insurance co. stepped up.

Now working on my DV claim - there was unibody damage. Can't be a CPO now and most Audi dealers will see the accident and send straight to wholesale.. they don't want it. I'm using a DV expert to assist in this as it's now not worth what I paid for it 7 days prior.. and by a significant amount.

Good luck.. feel free to PM me. I'm in Washington state. I have some great contacts and resources for you that I won't post here if you want them. Sorry about the accident.. it's 100% inconvenient and it sucks.