What are my options if I was involved in an auto accident and am seeking to recover diminished value for my vehicle?
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What are my options if I was involved in an auto accident and am seeking to recover diminished value for my vehicle?
I was not at-fault. Small claims limit here is $5,000. The diminished value claim submitted to the at-fault insured’s company was $7,500. The at-fault insured’s company has offered $3,000. The at-fault driver was not the insured.
Asked on February 18, 2014 under Accident Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
You have the right in Florida to sue for diminished value, as long as you were not the at-fault driver and you are not trying to recover it from your own insurer (i.e somone else was at fault and you are suing them). If you do not want to accept the offer, you could sue for more, up to the amount of diminished value and subject to the jurisdictional limits of the court (e.g. $5k for small claims). Note that you would almost certainly need expert testimony, such as from an auto dealer or appaiser, to support the diminished value claim (as a non-expert, your own testimony would not be sufficient), which typically means paying an expert; it is therefore not clear that it would be economically worthwhile to do this.
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