The claim is still open, and the accident involved three cars.
In South Carolina, here’s the situation:
Me (Progressive)
Honda (At Fault, Progressive)
Subaru (Other Insurance)
The accident happened in July when the Honda crashed into us while we were stopped in traffic.
My car was repaired in early August through my own insurance.
I have been trying to submit a diminished value claim ever since my car was repaired, but Progressive keeps saying they can’t process it because the original claim is still open. This morning, when I asked again, I was told that they’re “waiting on the demand from the Honda.”
I have two questions:
Is it normal for a claim like this to take this long when there were no injuries?
Why can’t I file a diminished value claim right now?
They can’t settle any claims until they get all the damage amounts from all parties involved. This way they can check if there’s enough money in the policy to fully pay everyone.
Winter said:
They can’t settle any claims until they get all the damage amounts from all parties involved. This way they can check if there’s enough money in the policy to fully pay everyone.
It seems like the claims rep has told the person who posted this a few times that there might be an issue with the policy limits, but they didn’t understand until now.
Hmm, either we’re missing something or some details are mixed up. I’m not sure why the at-fault insurance would be waiting on a demand from the Honda’s insurance for the Honda’s driver.
Shannon said:
Hmm, either we’re missing something or some details are mixed up. I’m not sure why the at-fault insurance would be waiting on a demand from the Honda’s insurance for the Honda’s driver.
I agree with you. I think my rep might have misspoken, and they’re probably just waiting on the Subaru’s demand. If that’s the case, is it fair that I can’t file a diminished value claim right now? I’m in SC, where the accident happened too.
@Ainsley
There isn’t really a new claim to file. The diminished value comes out of the same damages ‘bucket’ as the other damages. You’ll need to wait until they confirm there’s no policy limits problem.
What kind of car do you have? If it’s a Honda…they might be waiting for your demand. If it’s not, the adjuster might have misspoken.
@Ainsley
The diminished value claim comes from ‘property damage liability,’ which is a different part of the insurance policy than the one that covers the Honda’s damage. It’s coming out of the same ‘bucket’ you share with the Subaru driver.
If you’re going through Honda’s insurance, they might mean they’re waiting for the Subaru’s demand, which would make sense.
You can submit a demand, but they won’t move forward with it until they know Honda’s insurance has enough coverage to settle for both you and the Subaru driver. If you’re insisting on using Honda’s insurance, you’ll need to wait for the Subaru driver to submit their damages.
This is a liability claim against the at-fault party. They can settle all third-party claims with a release. Since all those claims are from you, they probably have a right to hold off until they know the full amount of all claims.
Also, they might argue that they’re unsure whether the total amount will exceed the policy limits of the at-fault driver.