Reader’s Question:
I got into an accident caused by another party due to DWI here in Washington, DC. Am I gonna be entitled to file a claim with my auto insurance for diminished value?
Harvey
Washington, DC
Diminished value is actually based in the idea that a car that has been in an accident, regardless of how well the repairs are done, is gonna be worth less than the exact same car that hasn’t been in an accident. If you got into an accident caused by another party due to DWI in Washington, DC and you’d like to file a first-party claim, which means that you are making a claim on your own auto insurance policy, you are unlikely to be entitled to diminished value reimbursement.
The reason behind that is because the Insurance Services Office (ISO), which provides insurance forms and data, authored policy language that insurers could now use in 45 states and Washington, DC, that officially makes them not entitled for diminished value payments in physical-damage coverage claims. This is called the ISO’s exclusion for diminished value which has not been approved in Kansas, Georgia, Hawaii or Maryland.