Can drivers in Utah get money if their car drops in value after a crash?

DRAPER — As far as damages go, what happened to Deme Frost’s new car wasn’t the worst.

When the wind caught the door of a car parked next to her, it slammed that door into the passenger side of her Kia Seltos.

“It was a ding,” Frost said. “It chipped the paint as well.”

The other driver’s insurance paid to repair the damage. But Frost is not satisfied.

“When I want to sell it, now that it has a claim on it, my car will have gone down in value,” she said.

Calculating diminished value

Savvy car buyers know a car’s vehicle history report lists everything from major issues like a big crash, flood damage, or odometer tampering to minor things like an insurance payout for a repair. The events listed might not include a whole lot of information.

For example, a report from Carfax that shows “minor damage” isn’t specific. Carfax often simply sums it up as “generally… cosmetic (including dents and scratches).”

Frost did her homework and determined that now that her car’s vehicle history report shows a blemish, it is worth less money. According to WreckCheck.com, her Kia is worth $2,650 less than it was before the ding.

“It’s not my fault that my car has gone down in value, but it will be my loss of money,” Frost said.

She believes that is money the other driver’s insurance company owes her, so she filed a claim.

“They just kind of ignored us and told us that there’s nothing they can really do,” she said.

Precedent for claims

Frost isn’t out on a limb. Diminished value cases have gone all the way to the Utah Supreme Court. In its 1920 decision, Metcalf v. Mellen, the high court ruled that a car owner can be compensated for the loss of fair market value, above and beyond the cost of repair.

In fact, Frost said her family has had previous experience with diminished value claims. When her mother filed a similar claim after an accident she wasn’t at fault for, she said the other driver’s insurance company paid it without blinking an eye.

So, why isn’t the other insurance company, in her case, so willing to pay?

That other company is Bear River Mutual Insurance, and they stand by their denial of her claim.

“There are probably some ways in some very unique circumstances where making an offer on diminished value would be warranted,” said Jason Wallace, vice president of claims for Bear River Mutual. “This particular case doesn’t come remotely close to that.”

Wallace said Frost’s door was repaired well, and even if it shows up as “damage” on her vehicle history report, she can’t demonstrate she’ll actually get a lower offer because of it.

“There are a lot of factors that go into making a decision if you’re going to pay one of those claims or not,” he said. “Most critical is proving an actual loss, which is extremely difficult because there’s no loss that has been incurred until you’ve actually sold a vehicle.”

Wallace cautions against putting too much faith in websites claiming to know how much a car’s value has gone down.

“It takes 15 seconds to place in some information that’s telling someone they are entitled to all of this money when they don’t have any of the facts of what happened in that accident, or what the damage was to that vehicle,” he said.

Bolstering your claim

“These types of cases do come to the insurance department pretty frequently,” said Utah’s insurance commissioner, Jon Pike, who also says despite numerous complaints of unpaid diminished value claims, there is not much his agency can do to help.

“Utah law doesn’t say much about it,” he said.

Utah’s Insurance Department doesn’t have the ability to compel an insurance company to pay for diminished value. Pike said when a claim is denied, all you can do is sue.

But according to Bankrate, there are things you can do to bolster your case for a diminished value claim. They suggest you document your car’s previous market value using the calculator tools from Kelley Blue Book or NADA, the National Auto Dealers Association.

Then, get an appraisal of your car from a certified vehicle appraiser to demonstrate the difference in values from before the damage and after the repair. And before you try to sue an insurer for diminished value, Bankrate said try negotiating first.

None of that, of course, guarantees you’ll prevail.

“It’s a frustrating area,” Pike said. “It really is.”

Frost agrees.

“I worked hard to buy this car with my own money,” she said.