Diminished value demand template
A repaired car is worth less than one that was never hit. This is the letter that claims the difference.
The short version
The loss is the accident being on the record
Inherent diminished value is the drop in market value that follows from a vehicle having been damaged at all. It exists independently of how well the car was put back together, which is why a well-executed repair does not answer it.1
That distinction is the whole claim, and it is also the thing most often answered with the wrong reply. An insurer writing back to say the vehicle was restored to pre-accident condition has not addressed the loss, because the loss is not about condition.
Before you send anything
Which insurer you send this to decides whether the claim exists
A diminished value claim is usually made against the at-fault driver’s insurer, not your own. There is no contract between you and that insurer, which is why this is a letter carrying evidence rather than a clause being invoked.
In some states a first-party diminished value claim is not recoverable at all, meaning against your own insurer, on your own policy. Which rule applies where you are decides whether there is a claim to make, so it is worth establishing before anything is sent.
How the loss is evidenced
A third-party figure in writing is what turns an argument into a number
Comparable sales
What the same year, make, model and trim sells for with a clean history against one with an accident on the record. The comparison is the claim.
A written dealer appraisal
A dealer stating in writing what they would pay for the vehicle now. It is the cheapest third-party figure to obtain and it is specific to the car.
An independent appraisal
An appraiser's written valuation of the loss. The most expensive of the three and the hardest to answer with a method somebody chose.
A first offer is a starting position. It was produced by a method and a set of comparables somebody chose, and both can be answered with evidence of the same kind.
The template
Fill in the brackets and send it
Every figure in this letter is yours to fill in from your own valuation. Enclose whichever of the three you obtained: the letter refers to it rather than restating it.
To [Insurer name],
Claim number: [Claim number] Date of accident: [Date of the accident] Vehicle: [Year, make, model, trim and mileage]
The claim
I am claiming the diminished value of the vehicle above following the accident on [Date of the accident]. The damage and the repair were as follows: [What was damaged and what was repaired].
This claim is not about the quality of the repair. It is about the loss in market value that follows from the vehicle having been damaged at all, which remains after a repair carried out correctly.
The loss
Value before the accident: [Value before the accident] Value after repair: [Value after repair] Amount claimed: [Amount claimed]
These figures are supported by [Who produced the valuation, and what it is], a copy of which is enclosed.
What I am asking you to do
Please confirm in writing by [Response deadline] whether you accept the claim. If you do not accept the amount, please send me the method and the comparable vehicles you relied on to reach a different figure, so that the two can be compared.
Yours sincerely, [Your name]
Send it the way you would want to prove later that you sent it.2 A claim this size often sits inside small claims limits, and your state’s page has the limit where you are.
The other one
If the car was written off instead
A total loss is a different dispute: the argument is about the value of a vehicle that is gone, it runs against your own insurer, and most auto policies contain their own provision for settling it. The appraisal demand is the letter for that one.
Disclosures
- 1.Satisfy is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and is not a licensed insurance adjuster. This page describes a category of claim and provides a blank letter making one; whether such a claim is available to you, and against whom, depends on the law of your state and the circumstances of the accident.
- 2.Whether a diminished value claim may be made against your own insurer rather than the at-fault driver’s, and any period within which it must be brought, are set by the law of your state. Nothing on this page states a figure, a deadline or a valuation.