Waah, my poor car was hit head on by a postal truck!

The car is supposed to be ready tomorrow, Jan. 9. The body shop said they are waiting on a small plastic clip that will be there tomorrow morning. (They didn't notice it was broken.) We are having an appraiser (who will also check out the repairs) do an estimate on diminished value which we will be submitting to the "At Fault" driver's insurance (The US Government) along with the other costs not reimbursed by our insurance company. In addition to the list of repairs, I have also asked for a printout of the alignment report. (I am not sure that's the exact name) I really appreciate all the advice given here. Thank you all very much.

 

Thank you for this info. Yes, it is $375 for the estimate, but it seems well worth it if it helps recover the diminished value. I am interested to see what the government insurance will do. On a side note, the police report has to be corrected because the officer wrote that it is a HONDA Prius! (One of the other cars involved was a Honda Element..the other was the postal truck.)

 

The financial damage seems to only be to my wallet! Neither of us riding in the Prius had any injuries whatsoever. It really did what it's designed to do.

 

The car was not ready on Jan 9. There was a $6.00 part they'd ordered that was not delivered on Friday. It was ready yesterday Jan. 12. There are 6 pages on the invoice and the total was $9570.xx. My out of pocket so far is $299 for the deductible and overage on the rental car. I've hired an appraiser to appraise it for diminished value. Then I'll submit the receipts to "Tort Claims" (US Government). I had a check-list I made from information here at Priuschat, as well as pictures when I went to pick up the car. The only glitch so far is that they lost the driver's side floormat and will have a new one for me in a couple of days. Thanks, again, for all the suggestions. (and sympathy)

 

Re: Waah, my poor car was hit head on by a postal truck...the conclusion

I would like to thank everyone who responded to my post. Your information was so helpful. I always knew my car would be worth less after an accident but had never heard of "Diminished Value" as something you could actually collect. I hired a company called "Collision Claims" (Diminished Value Auto Appraisal Experts - Auto Claims Consultants - Vehicle Total Loss Appraisals.) (no affiliation) that I found after someone recommended a discussion at fatwallet.com (also, no affiliation). They charged $375.00 for their service. This included an inspection of the car, which itself was really helpful. They inspected the car inside and out, but didn't drive it. They looked at all repair documentation, including the alignment report. The inspector said the repair shop did an excellent job. In a few days I received a Diminished Value Report along with instructions. The company was very helpful, and emphasized that they do not give legal advice, but did have sample letters for submitting the claim myself. I submitted the claim for my deductible, the overage on the rental car that I had to pay, the charge for the report and the Diminished Value from the report. I also sent all receipts and the Diminished Value Report. The person in charge of Tort Claims at the Postal Service here had the claim on her desk for weeks, which was frustrating, but she finally sent the claim on. I was really happily surprised this week when I received a check for the full amount I'd claimed. I would have been lucky to get my deductible and rental car overage back from my insurance company after all was said and done, but instead received a check for my loss. Thank you, Thank you!

 

Re: Waah, my poor car was hit head on by a postal truck! Diminished Value

The appraiser and Collision Claims estimated the diminished value at 3,750. We received a check for that plus the Collision Claims fee, our deductible, and the rental car overage. It was over 4400 total. We thought we'd sell it after it was repaired, but are so happy with it and the repairs that we'll probably keep it till a plug-in Prius comes out.

 

Thank you! It was all due to the priuschatters here responding to my question, so thank you all again!