After a Car Accident is My Car Worth Less in Florida?

Eventually, your injury claim is settled, and you are paid some money for your injuries. All is right in the world. Hopefully, you weren't catastrophically injured, your medical bills got paid, your car got fixed, and you have some additional money in your pocket. 

A few years later, you go to trade-in your vehicle. You look up the Kelly Blue Book value before you go to the car dealership and find that your car is worth $20,000.00. With this information in hand, you go to the car dealership to buy a new car. You are excited because you have all the information you need to make sure you finally win a battle with a car salesperson. You pick out the new car you want. The dealership takes your vehicle to be evaluated. After being appraised, the dealership informs you that your car is only worth $13,000.00 due to the accident. 

Stunned, you can barely talk, but you manage to ask why. The dealership shows you the numbers, and you are not happy. This fact scenario happens often (different amounts and sometimes trying to sell your car as opposed to trading it in, but we see this all the time). Your car suffered diminished value; the second the car was involved in the accident. Your vehicle may run the same way it did before the accident, and it may look the same, but unfortunately, it is not worth the same.

Can you be compensated for the diminished value of your car when it is involved in an accident that you did not cause? The simple answer is yes, however, there are many variables that can turn this yes into a no.