How Much Can a Car Accident Devalue Your Car?

March 15, 2022 | Car Accidents

Being involved in a vehicle accident is a serious matter, one that you have to deal with right away so that you have transportation. It is crucial to work with insurance carriers to recover compensation for your medical bills and property damage expenses. However, even after repairs take place, will the market value of your vehicle drop due to the accident? 

Here, we want to discuss what happens to a car’s value after a vehicle accident occurs in Indiana. This is important to understand, particularly if you plan to trade your vehicle in or sell it at a later date.

Property Damage is Very Common – And Can Affect Your Car’s Value

According to the Indiana Department of Transportation, we can see that there were more than 270,000 total collisions during the latest reporting year across the state. Out of these incidents, 185,454 were property damage only.

Unfortunately, a vehicle accident can reduce the value of your vehicle, even if you get all of the proper repairs completed. Information from Carfax says that a vehicle accident will cause the retail value of a vehicle to drop by an average of $500. Vehicles that have been in a severe accident will see their retail value drop by an average of $1,700.

Diminished value refers to the difference between the market value of the vehicle before the accident and the market value of the vehicle after the accident. There are various types of diminished value claims that consumers need to be aware of:

• Inherent diminished value. This applies to any vehicle that has sustained some sort of damage, even if the damage is fully repaired. It means that the vehicle is worth less just because of the accident.
• Repair-related diminished value. This type of diminished value applies to vehicles that sustained damage in an accident but were left unrepaired or were only partially repaired.
• Immediate diminished value. This type of diminished value refers to the loss in value that occurs right after the accident occurs, even though you have not had time to get it to a mechanic for an appraisal or repair.

Auto insurance carriers should compensate individuals for the repairs of their vehicle as well as the loss of diminished value. However, whether or not you receive compensation for diminished value will have to do with who caused the accident. Indiana is a diminished value state, which means that individuals may be entitled to compensation for the diminished value of their vehicle, but only if the other driver was at fault. The statute of limitations for a diminished value claim is six years in Indiana.

Work With a Car Accident Attorney

If you or somebody you love has been injured or sustained property damage in a vehicle accident caused by the negligent actions of another driver, reach out to an attorney today. We know that you need compensation for medical bills and property damage expenses, but this can be challenging. A car accident lawyer in Indiana will stand up to aggressive insurance carriers and help make sure that you recover the compensation you are entitled to.

See Also:

• Car Accident Settlement Process in Indiana
• How to Increase Your Car Accident Settlement
• How Long Do Car Accident Settlements Take?
• What Is My Indianapolis Car Accident Claim Worth?