Got rear ended yesterday. Need diminished value advice

Minor damage, frame will be fine, just tailgate ,bumper, and taillites and bed panels, I agree a better aftermarket tough bumber and the tow hitch step as I also got day one to prevent that again! I got hit in rear Christmas eve,Ladys Honda car front bumper dinged, bnt my rear step in trailer hitch, cost $56.00, lady paid me on the spot for as not to have to report and I was happy and she was real happy. No damage to my taco except rear step! Easy fix and all is good ! For me !LOL! Good luck and be happy you have Insurance !Couldve been worse!

 

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I am waiting for the other driver's adjuster to contact me. I am not sure if I should tell him that I will be seeking finished value.

 

Of course, I don't see my truck as an investment. However, if someone else's negligence depreciated my truck's value, am I wrong to seek to recover some of that loss?

 

You can tell him right up front you will be seeking a Diminished Value claim once the truck is repaired, sure. No need to keep it a secret.

 

No, it's not wrong. If the state you live in provides for the claim, your vehicle still has considerable value (not old and/or a junker) and the damages were more than minor, then yes... you would qualify for a Diminished Value claim.

 

Is that a Toyota OEM bumperstop?

 

Hell no that ugly piece of iron is from sparebumper.com $139. bought it because it will compress at 30MPH if I back into a wall or someone hits me. I also wanted a good way to get into the bed without lowering the gate,

They also come with tow hitches but when I tow I don't need the protection and just use a normal receiver and ball

When compared to the $300 Bumpstep this piece of iron and rubber inserts do a much better job, Those of us who don't drive show pieces don't mind a little ugly. I just ordered a tall bug deflector as well...(that will keep the scoop from sucking bugs into the intake....hee hee)



I wanted the best solution for the least money. I really don't care what it looks like. I don't have to look at it when I am driving. It would be a lot less visible had I not put on the side reflectors and reflectorized "Sport Edition" piece. But at night it would be seen better for "creepers" who tend to creep up on one's ass end

 

SpareBumper will be offering a rectangular option also:

 

I read the first line from someone who I know works in this field and knew that the 14k guy didn't know what he was talking about. After reading Cam's explanation of DV, I know you can't get 14k for a DV. I just wrote the guy off as a lier, like a lot of people in the "What did you pay threads," or an idiot.

Just go by facts and experience and quit reading people's stupid postings

Thank you @CAM37
can you say which company you work for or who are the good and bad companies?

 

I'd rather not say who I work for because I don't want anyone to ever think I'm speaking for my company or soliciting any business here on a message board. And if anyone guesses, correctly or incorrectly, I will not comment.

Given my 10 years as a claim adjuster and dealing with hundreds of companies from the largest, to ones I had never heard of before, I'd say the ones that do the best job handling claims are USAA, State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, and Elephant. I will only list one as bad because they are so bad, they make me want to rip out the little bit of hair I have left: Geico. Without going into details, I'll just say they take shortcuts and their only goal appears to be to get rid of the claim. Some here may dispute that and love Geico claims handling but take it for what it's worth... I've dealt with them on thousands of claims.

 

Good to know. When you say Geico wants to get rid of claims, do you mean they will just pay and get it over with or they don't want to pay it? I can't tell.

Also, my mom has really old coverage from USAA that is still covered by USAA, themselves. We recently went with them and were sold out to the cheapest purchaser called Garrison somewhere up North. Do we still deal with USAA if something happens or do we deal with Garrison?

 

I mean both. Geico reps typically call the other insurance company and asking them the result of their liability investigation, so they can possibly avoid having to do their own. And if their driver is at fault, they like to throw out a small injury claim offer hoping the claimant accepts it, get a signed release and send them on their way, no matter if it was a small accident or a severe impact.

USAA sold out part of their business ? Interesting. If that's the case, then you would deal with the new company. They should have issued you a new policy, new declaration page, and provided you with phone numbers for policy changes, claim reporting, etc.

 

We realized they were't covering us when we got the coverage papers in the mail. All of it is still titled USAA Insurance Corp. but the coverage is listed as Garrison Insurance Prop. That's why I was asking who will pick up the phone if we call for an accident. We called last week to change her name and USAA picked up and did the name change paperwork. Strange.

There has never been anyone cheaper than USAA for us and they were way cheaper this time than my wife's old coverage. They counted my 12 years of coverage under my mom so both of us are getting 12 years of continued customer discount. It's also sad that my brand new truck costs less to insure than her 2012 Civic. I am primary on both, I do most of driving, so it's just the vehicle!

 

I had a 2013 it got hit in the bumper $690 in damage brother was a factory official told me take pictures and save repair receipt have done buy a toyota or a good body shop when I traded mine in they ask showed them that no problems if you think about it a lot of trucks have bumper and tailgate damage sometime in there lives

 

Reminds me of when my mortgage company sells off my mortgage without my permission. In this case though, I believe USAA is still your insurance carrier and they just shift some of the underwriting and risk to Garrison. Not sure why but I am thinking maybe they are growing too fast and needed to lessen their exposure in certain areas of the country. Sounds like you would still go through USAA for your service.

 

Ok. Thanks.