Diminished Value Appraisals

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Hi, I’m Ken Nix and I’ll be preparing your Diminished Value Appraisal. I’ll come to your location (if within the Portland, Oregon Metro Area) and inspect your vehicle. I’ll take high quality photos of the vehicle and possibly video. Sometimes I’ll look at your vehicle several times, during the repair process, and after. If a body shop knows I’m involved up front, you’re more likely to have your car or truck repaired right the first time. Most know me and know that I advocate for my clients.

Most Autobody repair shops in the Portland, Oregon area are reputable. But, there are a few Body shops that may try to shortcut and even hide things that need to be repaired. Why? There are several reasons.  Here’s just a few:

Personal Injury Claim. The body shop may intentionally turn a blind eye to damage. Lets say you have a back injury, by not reporting you have frame damage, it can severely harm your injury case. The Insurance company’s attorney may say the damage to your vehicle doesn’t reflect the the claimed damage done to your body, and instead of you collecting  $40,000 in compensation, you receive $3000.

Capping. This is where the body shop repairs the damage you can see, but doesn’t repair damage beneath the body panels, but still bills the insurance company for the parts and labor. It’s scary how many times I’ve seen this in just the last 6 months.

Shortcutting. Many times this is done by the body shop tech and the body shop knows nothing about it. Insurance companies have cut times over the past 10 years more and more. A setup and measure is where they check to make sure your frame is in correct alignment takes approximately 3 to 3.5 hours to perform. Insurance companies have cut this down to where they will only pay 2.0 hours. So the tech looks at the work order and it just says “setup and measure”, not “setup and measure on frame machine”. At that point they spend about 15 minutes (making 2.0 hours pay) doing a setup and measure using a tape measure or tram gauge (instead of spending 3.5 hours to make 2.0 hours pay). What’s the difference? About 4 sets of tires over the next 3 years. Eyeballing compared to exact measurements is night and day. I’ve seen vehicles measured with both a tape measure and tram gauge off up to 10 mm. And that is a huge amount to be off when it comes to frame alignment.

The number one question I’m asked is “do I need an attorney?”. I’m not a lawyer and I can’t give you legal advice, so that’s your decision. I can tell you over 80% of my clients settle quicker and for about the same amount as if they used an attorney. The biggest difference is they get to keep all of the claim instead of giving up 40%. Don’t believe the Marketing Hype that attorneys use, they know that most Diminished Value claims settle quickly, that’s why they’re so interested in signing you for a commission. 40% of $3000 is $1200., and most of the time for sending a simple demand letter. Yes, we give you a sample demand letter with your appraisal. Although, most of my clients say they never have to use it.

I build your report with evidence. Not just some number plucked out of the air. I provide book values, market research, vehicle history, market sampling, Pre-Loss Actual Cash Value, Post Repair Actual Cash Value and a summary of how I determined the valuation of your vehicle.

Here’s just a few things each report includes:

• Physical Inspection
• Vehicle History Report
• Book value
• Samples of Like, Kind and Quality of vehicles like yours selling in the Portland Market Area. (or Salem, Coos Bay, etc.)
• Pre-Loss Actual Cash Value.
• Post-Repair Actual Cash Value.
• Audit of the Repair Bill from the Body Shop
• Diminished Value Amount

We service all of Oregon, but prices vary depending on Inspection Location.

Call now for a free quote: 503.420.3333