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My car was hit back in April and repaired by a good body shop. While on a club event I ran into a member whos son is a laywer and does dimished value claims. He made a claim for me. He called me last week and said he is sending me a check. My part after his fee will be $2800.
I don't know if he does any other state but Texas but it was easy and I think I got a fair deal. If anyone needs his contact info let me know.
BTW the insurance company was Met Life. They gave me 0 problems. If I ever need to change companys they will be the first company I check with.
It's good that you got a little money back for diminished value. The lawyer likely took a third of the settlement. Not that it really matters because you are $2800 ahead of what you had before. Different states and insurance companies vary widely when dealing with accident damage and diminished value. If you had to deal with lawyer and the insurance company during the repair of the car, it may have been a more frustrating situation. Been there.
I didn't have to deal with a lawyer for the inital claim, they paid off great and provided me with a rental while the car was in the shop. I contacted the lawyer about the dimished value because I had no idea how to go about it or even what to ask for. He did all the work including sending out a adjuster to make sure the car was repaired correctly. He gave me the "friend" price of 25% since I know his dad. I think 30% is his normal fee.
His adjuster was really impressed with the repair. He spend a good while looking it over (according to my wife as I was at work). He found a little bit of overspray inside the right door jam where paint got under the tape. He said other than that he could find no evidence that it had been repaired. I ran into the body shop owner and was telling him how impressed the adjuster was. When I told him all he found was the spot he said "bring it by and I'll fix it"
Did he go after your insurance company or the other person? The smart approach is to go for this in the inital claim when others are at fault otherwise if you go after your insurance then you may see your rates go up based on the claim.