I did a search, but it did not turn up any responses.
I was in an accident last week and currently having my bike repaired under my insurance since the other party's insurance company has not returned any calls to me or my company.

My question is has any one ever filed for diminished value of their vehicle after a motorcylce accident and if so how did it turn out for you.
I have heard of people doing it on cars and have been paid for it.

I talked to my insurance company and they said it was rare to be rewarded this due to different tolerances made between cars and motorcycles after it is repaired.

Any info would be helpful.

 

Never done it on a motorcycle, but my advice to you would be to take the bike to a dealer and get the numbers, have them put it in writing and show it to the insurance co. shouldn't matter if it's a car or a bike, it's diminished value.

 

Thanks for the infomation. I still have not heard from her insurance so i filed with mine. They finally contacted the parents of there girl involved. It was a non contact accident. Since there was no damage on her car she did not mention it to mom & dad.

 

I just went through this on an accident where I put my 2008 Fat Bob into a low-side slide to avoid running into a minivan that pulled out in front of me in a traffic circle.

I had to argue it - and the other person's insurance company, Foremost handling the claim for Zurich/Farmers, gave me a load of BS that it wasn't a valid claim, it was against insurance rules in MD and they wouldn't pay a nickel toward DV.

I had to do my research, threaten to get a lawyer involved and push hard more than once. Their first offer was $600 and I ended up with about 20% of Blue Book value.

Not sure where you are, but laws differ from state to state. There's also a difference between the rules for 1st party claims (you file a claim with you insurance company) and 3rd party claims (you are seeking damages from someone else liable for the accident). In many cases, your carrier isn't required to pay DV to you, even if you aren't at fault.

I found that MD code was silent on the issue, but discovered 2 cases in MD Special Court of Appeals (thru a Google search) that dealt with the issue and said that DV was collectible IF repairs failed to restore the vehicle to it's pre-accident market value. In MD, the burden of proof is on the person making the claim (i.e. you). My argument was that it was the mere "fact of the accident" that reduced the bike's value ... that is if 2 identical bikes were sitting side by side, purchasers would prefer the bike w/o accident history unless the Accident Bike was priced less. Since my bike had never been in an accident, they owed me that priced difference.

I supported my case with sending them the Appeals Court ruling and highlighting the important parts, documented Blue Book Values, prices for bikes that had been in an accident and were for sale, not backing down on my argument and assuring them that I would take it to small claims court if we didn't reach a settlement. There are also services that do DV assessments.

I also argued that motorcycle DVs were a bigger issue and bigger % of market value than DV for cars because (1) it's a totally pleasure purchase and people aren't going to take uncompensated chances with a $15k toy (2) safety concerns as hidden damage on a bike could be more easily fatal (3) repair costs and parts are generally more expensive for bikes and (4) people who spend $15k + expensive customization/mods on a toy care about the vehicle that someone buying a used Honda Civic.

PM me if you want details. Would be glad to help where I can.

 

Well, I can't help you on the car v. motorcycle issue, but Voudoujoe's reasoning seems correct - if there is any difference the DV on a motorcycle should be greater.

Also, I believe that it is state-by-state. Some states laws don't require insurance to pay diminishment of value.

I was in a collision in my truck in which the other driver was at fault. It caused around $10k in damage to a truck that was worth only around $12k. I bent over backwards trying to get the insurance company to total the vehicle and cut me a check, but they insisted on fixing it. I had to drive a crappy rental for nearly an entire summer.

I told them from the outset that I would seek diminishment of value, and the entire time they said I had the burden of proving the $ amount. So when all the repairs were done I told them to just cut me a check for $1k and I wouldn't pursue it further, but they refused.

People will tell you to get a note from a dealership, but I couldn't find one that would do it. I ended up paying around $300 for a private service in which a guy came to my parking garage at work, took a bunch of pictures, seemed to do a thorough inspection, and he gave me a +10 page report detailing my diminishment of value: $3,500 dollars.

I think the figure was high because the truck was nearly totaled.

Then I found a Virginia Statute which said that if I make a third party claim to an insurance company and they refuse to pay it in bad faith, they owe me triple the amount if I win in court. So I sent the insurance company a copy of the report and a copy of the statute, and they cut me a check for $3,500.

Between the rental car and diminishment of value, they probably paid over $15k to fix a truck that was worth $12k. They were just playing the odds and betting that I would give up before recovering the DV.