mmano

patgilm,
How is your case going? Was working with a lawyer time consuming and a hassle? Did you have to go to court? I am working with an appraiser here in Washington. He charges $675 for a DV Report. He says he has been doing this for 43 years and that I didn't need a lawyer. He said that he will walk me through the process of dealing with the insurance company. He said that my DV will be around $6k to $7k and that the insurance company will not pay the full amount. Typically, they will pay 25%. If that is the case, I could get $1500 to $1750 back minus the $675 fee. Does that sound reasonable?

patgilm

For the only two accidents I or my wife was involved in I had the other driver call their insurance company and admit fault so for both accidents I didn’t have to pay a deductible and didn’t have to deal with my insurance at all.

patgilm

I’ve been dragging my feet a bit and I had to have my wife sign the retainer since she was the one driving the car (I wasn’t in the car) and she just did that last week. Now she has to do a write up of the accident which she hasn’t started yet. The DV appraisal guy charges a max of $600 and it could be lower depending on the cost of the repair and my repair was pretty high so I would pay $600. He is the one that recommended a DV lawyer because he said something to the effect of if you are going to represent yourself you would likely go to small claims which is a max of $5k and the lawyer hopefully would be able to fight for more. I haven’t talked to the lawyer just yet and need to get off my butt and call them but I just haven’t had time. The other insurers have offered both my wife and daughter $3,400 each for pain and suffering and I haven’t even called them back to accept or not.

patgilm

No idea if that sounds fair or not but netting $1,000 isn’t worth the time and effort for me unless it was really easy. Once I have time to talk to the DV appraiser and lawyer I will give you an update.

geko29

That works extremely well if the other party has a "real" insurance company. When it's one of those garbage fly-by-night outfits, it will just get you stonewalled or lowballed (incomplete repairs, used parts, etc). That's when you need your own Insurance company to handle things for you.

AJT123

Yes, always notify your insurance company if you're in any accident regardless of who is at fault.

mmano

My insurance claim is finally complete. This was a stressful process but a learning experience for me. I have learned to stay calm, do you homework, keep a log and be patient. In the end, everything worked out. I am so glad I submitted a diminished value report. It was worth the $675.

patgilm

I still need to deal with mine. What did you end up getting? I still will probably use the lawyer to see what they can do for me vs doing it myself. I just need to provide them with the details of the accident but I haven’t had time. I should start slowing up at work next week and will try and get it done.

mmano

I paid $675 for the DV Report. The Report showed a diminished value = $8400. He said most insurance companies will pay about 25% of the dv value. The insurance company offered $6974. I accepted the offer.