Kevin McCullough explains how to get compensation for inherent diminished value after a car collision. He explains how IDV addresses the loss in the vehicle’s value after an accident.
Inherent diminished value is the concept that a motor vehicle is worth less money after it’s been involved in a collision, even after it’s been repaired. If you’ve been in a car accident where your vehicle suffers damages and you were not at fault, you are entitled to be compensated and made whole, not only for the repair of your vehicle, but also for the loss and value of your vehicle.
The insurance company will have all of the information that it needs to calculate and quantify those damages for you at the time that they conduct the initial appraisal of the damages to your car. Insurance companies look at the mileage on a car, the year, make and model of a vehicle, whether or not it has been in prior accidents. Those are the items and information that an insurance company will need to calculate inherent diminished value damages.
Once those damages are actually calculated, there’s a negotiation process that goes on. There are other materials that can be reviewed to help show and prove what your vehicle’s inherent diminished value is, like Kelley Blue Book, NADA. You can speak to a recognized automobile appraiser. Those are some of the things that we do here at Mazow McCullough to help our clients calculate what their inherent diminished value damages are and present them to the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
Inherent diminished value damages are not recoverable if you’re at fault for the accident. They’re only recoverable here in Massachusetts if someone else causes damage to your vehicle. You have a right to pursue the inherent diminished value damages and the repair costs of your vehicle against the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
