C8 Corvette Wreck Gives Us a Lesson in Diminished Value Claims

This unfortunate C8 Corvette wreck led to an insurance battle that provides us with some good tips on how to handle this kind of situation.

Though it’s a painful thought, the idea that our beloved rides could easily be smashed into by another vehicle is a very real threat, and we see it happen to Corvettes on a daily basis. Many times, these accidents are the fault of the Corvette driver, but sometimes, it’s the fault of someone else, and there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s precisely the case with Corvette Forum member bleppek, whose recent C8 Corvette wreck wasn’t his fault, but on the bright side, he shared his experience in this thread – along with some advice on diminished value insurance claims, to boot.

While sitting at a four-way stop, the OP was backed in to by a semi truck, which left the front end looking pretty sad. However, since the car has now been in an accident, it will also take a hit to its value should the owner ever decide to sell it, which is why he filed a diminished value claim. Those sorts of claims are essentially what they sound like – a claim intended to recoup money for the anticipated loss of resale value after a car has been in an accident.

“Total for the repairs was just over $7,500 plus an extra $750 to get my ceramic coating and headlight PPF reapplied,” bleppek said. “Had no problem getting them to cover that. Then came the question of the diminished value claim. I knew it was going to be a PITA, so I decided to use a DV company I found online – Autoloss – to help me with the process. The initial offer from the insurance company was $1,500, which is laughable. I then worked with Autoloss to create a detailed report of C8 current values versus what my car was now worth. I got a couple of quotes on my vehicle from Carvana and Vroom to show what my car was now worth after the fixed damage. After a couple back and forths with the insurance company, we settled at $13,500. I really didn’t expect to get that much, but I would still rather not have had to go through this experience. Start to finish, this process has taken 8 months. I live in Indiana and I know some other states handle this process differently. Hopefully, this helps someone out who has to go through this unfortunate situation.”

While this C8 Corvette wreck was obviously unfortunate, this story is also quite helpful, as other members point out in the thread. Many insurance companies don’t even offer the option to file a diminished value claim anymore, and at least some of those that do will fight us tooth and nail when we try to do so, or at the very least, low ball us, as was the case here, initially. In this case, the story has a happy ending, even though it took a lot of effort to make it happen.

Photos:Corvette Forum

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