(Texas) Does a vehicle have an age limit of which you can claim diminished value?

[MikeAW2010]

Jurisdiction

Texas

I was involved in a rear end collision in my 2017 Camaro SS and it caused about $8k worth of damage. Prior to the accident my vehicle was worth about $29k (with the inflated market accounted for as well). After the accident I'm getting estimates of about $21-22k which is a significant loss. I contacted the at-fault parties insurance company and they told me the vehicle has to be 3 years old or newer to submit a claim and I didn't see anything like that in the Texas law. I did see that you have a 2 year period of which you can file the claim after the accident.. ..but does this sound like the insurance company trying to get out of paying? What are my options?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

There is no mention of the age of the vehicle I can find.

Read through this. https://www.tdi.texas.gov/bulletins/2000/b-0027-0.html

You may have to not settle with the other party's insurance and sue them.

 

[army judge]

does this sound like the insurance company trying to get out of paying?

No, because the other party's insurer owes you no legal duty to make you whole.

What are my options?

You can sue the alleged "at fault" party.

You can file a claim with your insurer, who is likely to subrogate the matter on your behalf.

A Texas lawyer explains "dimished value" in Texas:

Texas is known as a diminished value state, meaning that you might be entitled to the diminished value of your car after an accident. As a result, it's important to know the facts regarding a diminishing value claim in Texas.

What is Diminished Value?
What, specifically, is auto accident diminished value? Car accident diminished value refers to the difference in your car's market value from before to after the car accident. The market value of your car decreases after a car accident, even if it is restored to perfect condition. This is because the vehicle's history report will now have an accident listed.

Types of Diminished Value
There are a few different types of diminished value Texas:

Repair-related Texas diminished value.

Repair-related Texas diminished value refers to the loss of value due to the inability to perfectly repair the car, meaning that the car is currently worth less following repairs than before the car accident.

Immediate Texas diminished value.

Immediate Texas diminished value refers to the difference in the resale value of a car before damage happened and the resale value after damage has happened before being repaired. The immediate diminished value also refers to the loss of value caused by the insurer's direct involvement in the claim adjustment. The insurer then gains control over the repairs, resulting in repairs incomplete, insufficient, or leaving the car in substandard condition.

Inherent Texas diminished value.

Inherent Texas diminished value is the most widely recognized and accepted form of diminished value. This ensures that the best repair quality has been achieved and is defined as the amount by which the resale value of a repaired car has been reduced due to a car accident.

Can I File a Diminished Value Claim in Texas?
Wondering if you can file a diminished value car accident claim in Texas? The short answer is yes. Texas is a diminished value state. Here's what you need to know about how to file a diminished value claim in Texas, how to qualify, and the statute of limitations.

Qualifications

According to Texas diminished value laws, the statute of limitations on diminishing value claims in Texas is two years, and Texas has uninsured motorist coverage for diminished value.

You can't submit a loss of value claim if you were the at-fault party in a car accident or if the car damage was caused by something other than a collision. You also must prove that your vehicle lost value.

Calculating Your Diminished Value

A professional can help you calculate your diminished value, but it's also possible for you to calculate this on your own, using a diminished value calculator for Texas. Diminished value is calculated by considering the type and extent of damage on the vehicle, the cost to repair the vehicle, the repair quality, the cost of similar vehicles never involved in an accident, and market trends. We recommend working with a car accident attorney who can present an accurate valuation of your vehicle rather than relying on your insurance company to value your car fairly.

Factors that Impact Value

There are a number of factors that affect the diminished value of the car, including:

Age of vehicle
Mileage of vehicle
Make and model of vehicle
History of accidents
Using the 17c Formula

Insurers typically use the 17c formula to calculate a car's diminished value. However, this has some limitations that can lower diminished value appraisals than a car's actual worth. Here is how to calculate diminished value using the 17c formula:

Check your car's value
Calculate the base loss of value by multiplying by 10%
Apply a damage multiplier
Apply a mileage multiplier
Submitting a Diminished Value Claim
When you file a personal injury claim, property damage is only one portion of your losses. You need to state that you want to make a diminished value claim. In order to qualify to make that claim, you need to show that your car lost value due to the car accident, that there is a particular dollar amount of value lost on the car, and that the insurance company policy covers diminished value.

We recommend keeping all receipts and estimates you have received related to your diminished value claim. Present these receipts and estimates to your lawyer, who will give them to the insurance agent along with a demand for a diminished value claim. Once the at-fault driver's insurance company receives a demand for diminished value, they will probably attempt to negotiate the final amount of compensation. They might attempt to include diminished value in a settlement along with other losses for the entirety of your claim.

If you want to learn more about diminishing value claim Texas, contact the Texas car accident lawyers at Thomas J Henry Law. With our experienced lawyers on your side, you'll be able to navigate the complexities of a Texas diminished value claim.

How to Handle Diminishing Value Claims in Texas

 

[adjusterjack]

You can file a claim with your insurer

For the damage to your car but not for diminished value as diminished value is not covered by a first party insurance policy.

Texas courts have refused to allow recovery of diminution in value and have stated that "[w]here an insurer has fully, completely, and adequately 'repaired or replaced the property with other of like kind and quality' any reduction in market value of the vehicle due to factors that are not subject to repair or replacement cannot be deemed a component part of the cost of repair or replacement." American Manufacturers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Schaefer, 124 S.W.3d 154 (Tex. 2003). The Texas Department of Insurance Bulletin B-0027-00 (2000) has also held: "The position of the Department is that an insurer is not obligated to pay a first party claimant for diminished value when an automobile is completely repaired to its pre-damage condition. The language of the insurance policy does not require payment for, or refer to, diminished value." A vehicle's diminution in market value due to additional mileage and the marketplace perception that a fully repaired vehicle was inferior was not part of the insurer's obligation to repair the vehicle after a theft under the policy. Because the vehicle was fully repaired, the insurer was not required to pay its inherent diminished value, i.e., the difference between the value before the loss and after repair. Where an insurer has fully, completely, and adequately repaired or replaced the property with other of like kind and quality, any reduction in market value of the vehicle due to factors that are not subject to "repair or replacement" cannot be deemed a component part of the cost of repair or replacement. Carlton v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co., 32 S.W.3d 454 (Tex. App. 2000).

With regard to claims against other drivers, Texas courts appear to disagree with the lawyer's website quoted earlier:

No court decisions specifically allowing for recovery diminution in value of damaged vehicle in a third-party claim in addition to cost of repair to damaged vehicle. In action for damage to a vehicle, owner or subrogated insurer may sue for either diminution of market value or cost of repair to damaged vehicle. Jones v. Wallingsford, 921 S.W.2d 463 (Tex. App. 1996) (Note this case concerns Immediate Diminished Value rather than Inherent Diminished Value.) A plaintiff whose property has not been destroyed may recover either (1) market value measured by difference in immediate preinjury value of property and immediate post-injury value before repairs, or (2) cost-of-repair and loss-of-use damages, including lost profits, but recovery of both remedies constitutes a double recovery. Texas Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Wilde, 385 S.W.3d 733 (Tex. App. 2012) abrogated on other grounds by J & D Towing, LLC v. Am. Alternative Ins. Corp., 478 S.W.3d 649 (Tex. 2016). However, there are cases allowing for recovery of diminution in value in other settings. Royce Homes, L.P. v. Humphrey, 244 S.W.3d 570 (Tex. App., 2008) (water damage to new home under construction), Ludt v. McCollum, 762 S.W.2d 575 (Tex. 1988); Terminix Int'l, Inc. v. Lucci, 670 S.W.2d 657 (Tex. App. 1984) (case involved permanent reduction to home due to foundation problems. Court held that an award of diminished value is recoverable in addition to costs of repair, assuming the permanent reduction in value refers to that reduction occurring even after repairs are made). In Texas, residual damages to market value of real estate are referred to as "stigma damages." Houston Unlimited, Inc. Metal Processing v. Mel Acres Ranch, 443 S.W.3d 820 (Tex. 2014); see also, Ludt v. McCollum, 762 S.W.2d 575 (Tex. 1988). Texas law is clear that no double recoveries are allowed. Under certain circumstances, a plaintiff may recover for both diminution in value and cost of repairs, if there is no double recovery. Diminution in value does not duplicate cost of repairs if the diminution is based on a comparison of original value of property and value after repairs are made. Parkway Co. v. Woodruff, 901 S.W.2d 434, 441 (Tex. 1995). Note: Texas Department of Insurance Bulletin B-0027-00 states—without providing any authority or precedent—that "An insurer also may be obligated to pay a third-party claimant for any loss of market value of the claimant's automobile, regardless of the completeness of the repair, in a liability claim that the third party claimant may have against a policyholder." It doesn't apply to vehicle that is a total loss

Above quoted from:

DIMINUTION OF VALUE IN ALL 50 STATES (00165375).DOC (mwl-law.com)

 

[army judge]

For the damage to your car but not for diminished value as diminished value is not covered by a first party insurance policy.

I never said or even hinted that diminished value would be compensated by OP's insurer.

Frankly, diminished value is possible, but rarely paid on most claims.

Diminished value rarely applies, yet it often sought.

If I collected vintage automobiles or trucks, I'd only seek if one of my vehicles had been damaged.

As for any vehicle I drive, carrying enough insurance to protect your assets is enough for me.



I just find it easier to file all of my claims with my insurer.



We have been insured by USAA continuously since 1968.

A couple articles discussing auto insurance:

How Much Car Insurance Do I Need?

Top 10 Comparisons - AUTO INSURANCE 100/300 VS 250/500

 

[adjusterjack]

Perhaps I was confused because the poster asked about diminished value. You replied:

You can file a claim with your insurer

Then followed with a lawyer's explanation of diminished value.

Sorry for my misunderstanding.

But you are correct. Diminished value is rarely, if ever, paid on third party claims in Texas.

 

[army judge]

Sorry for my misunderstanding.

But you are correct. Diminished value is rarely, if ever, paid on third party claims in Texas.

I can't accept your apology.
Why?
You did nothing that would require you to apologize.
Fugheddaboudit!!!!!

I agree with you completely.

I'd go one step farther, diminished value (as pertaining to personal use auto claims) is rarely paid on third party claims in the USA.

I don't know, but my intuition tells me that under normal circumstances diminished value across the board isn't paid that often, either.

 

[adjusterjack]

Yet people talk about it, write about it, want it, think they've won the DV lottery for outrageous amounts. If you google it there are many websites devoted to how to get it and appraisers willing to help you.

Shrug.

 

[army judge]

Yet people talk about it, write about it, want it, think they've won the DV lottery for outrageous amounts. If you google it there are many websites devoted to how to get it and appraisers willing to help you.

Shrug.

Yes, humans do blab about many things.

Heck, some guy running for president of some nation claimed he beat up some dude known as "Corn Pop".

Get this, people claim to have been abducted by other world aliens to their spaceship, and anally probed.

There are thousands of people who claim to have been accosted by ghosts.

Then there are people all across the globe who claim to have seen a massive, hairy beast called, Sasquatch, Big Foot, Yeti, etc...

 

[Redemptionman]

Diminished value is an actual thing as the wrecked and repaired vehicles are less desirable than non wrecked and repaired vehicles. I can always tell a buffed respray and blend. No body shop is perfect regardless of what they tell you and you can always see it. Insurance companies are allowed to skate by a lot of times as long as they make you whole in that regards. What they don't tell you is that they subrogate with partial payments and negotiated rates to the body shop so you 10k repair could be something like 5-7k to the body shop. Texas is hard because most all their laws protect the large insurance companies and businesses. (most states do for that manner but Texas especially)

With that said make a claim with the liability carrier for diminished value if allowed in the state. You are not reaching any level of state minimum limits being an issue with your damages as you have described. Good Luck.