if I was involved in an accident for which I was not at fault, can I recoup any of the lost trade-in value of my vehicle?
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if I was involved in an accident for which I was not at fault, can I recoup any of the lost trade-in value of my vehicle?
The accident happened because my car was hit by another car after they were rear-ended by the car that was at fault. The trade-in value of my car was $14k; estimated damage to my car was over $9k.
Asked on October 13, 2014 under Accident Law, Kansas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
You can recover the cost to repair your car, if it can economically and practically be repaired; or if it cannot be (i.e. if the car must be "totalled"), you can recover it's then current blue book value. You generally cannot recover both repair cost and the car's value or a portion thereof--typically, you get the cost to repair, or you get its then current value. You can also recover other out-of-pocket costs attributable to the accident, such as towing costs, the cost to rent a car while yours is in the shop, etc.
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