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New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:47 am
by Eamonn
Hello,

We had a hit and run on our car, Telsa Model Y, 6000 miles while the car was parked without us in it. Minimal impact.

We filed a police report and contacted our insurance on advice from our family (it's the first accident we've ever experienced). We took our car to get checked out in case there was any unseen damage, which there isn't. But we now have the accident reported on our CarMax. We filed a claim with the at-fault driver's insurance but it was denied.

I found a website that deals with Diminished Value Reports for Teslas, but it costs $350. Is it worth getting the report and filing a complaint regarding the claim being denied? Or, as there was no damage, were they correct to deny the claim or not worth the $350.

Thanks for the advice!

Eamonn

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:07 pm
by Simon
I'm confused.

1. Was there no damage at all or no unseen damage?
2. It was a hit-and-run but you were able to identify the driver and their insurance?

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 3:36 am
by Eamonn
1. No damage. We took it to get checked and reported the accident with insurance as that’s the advice we received...

2. Tesla dashcam captured the accident including the number plate, therefore identifying driver.

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 4:24 am
by Simon
How could there be an accident with no damage? Was there a collision? How do you know there was an accident?

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 6:14 pm
by Eamonn
It was a front-on collision that triggered the car alarm and dashcam to save the footage. The only damage was a slightly bent license plate.

I guess we got lucky? We probably shouldn't have reported the incident but everyone we spoke to told us its best to report.

Happy to share footage of the incident if that'll help with any guidance.

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 6:40 pm
by Simon
Yes, the footage would be helpful. See, if I'm asking these questions, you can bet the insurance company is or will be asking them. Accidents without damage are extremely rare. Do you have photos of the license plate and did you have to get a new one?

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 7:36 pm
by Eamonn
It was only slightly bent so I just forced it back into place. You can't really tell that it's bent anymore.

There was no financial hardship, the only inconvenience was having to schedule a checkup with Telsa to insure there was no unseen damage - which turned out to be free.

It was a very minor collision, but because she fled without leaving a message & because of the advice my wife received from her family, she decided to report it.

I'll PM you the video as it has the other driver's license plate, and out of respect, I don't want to make that public :)

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 2:53 pm
by Simon
OK, thank you, I watched the video. It seems like only the license plates of the vehicles made contact. This is a very interesting case.

First of all, it's great that you have the video and the police report. The video is especially great evidence and proof that you're not making all of this up. And this case is as suspicious as it is interesting. Suspicious to the point of likely being referred to the insurance company's SIU (Special Investigations Unit) for possible fraud. It would be better if you had photos of the bent license plate as well but it seems like you don't. But anyway, you can prove this happened which is great.

Next, reporting an accident to your insurance company is generally the right thing to do. You're actually contractually obligated by most insurance contracts to promptly report any accident regardless of whether you're at fault or not. If you don't report it promptly they can deny coverage. There is a lot of merit to the advice your wife received and it's hard to argue against.

But the issue with this case is whether this constitutes an accident.

"A traffic collision, also called a motor vehicle collision, car accident, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building."

Source: Wikipedia

Under this definition, it does. But there are other definitions with language about "damage" such as this:

"An accident happens when a vehicle hits a person, an object, or another vehicle, causing injury or damage."

Source: COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary

I think this could be argued either way and since accidents with no damage are so rare, I don't think there's a set consensus about this. Also, technically, the bent license plate is damage, albeit extremely minimal. But you don't have the photos of it.

Another important question is: are you sure the accident is now on CARFAX? Not all accidents end up there. If it's not there, you can give it six months to see if it ends up there and if not, you can just forget all of this. Same goes for Autocheck (their databases are separate).

Right now, I see two possible avenues of action.

1. Getting it off CARFAX because there was no damage and therefore it doesn't qualify as an accident (under some definitions). It's possible to request corrections to records pertaining to your vehicle.

2. Pursuing a very uphill DV claim on a vehicle with no damage and that already got denied once. The claim would be solely based on the CARFAX stigma.

But first, let me know if it's even on CARFAX or Autocheck. You can find this out for free if you talk to some car dealers - it doesn't cost them anything to run it but it would cost you $25 for Autocheck and $40 for CARFAX.

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 6:00 pm
by Eamonn
I pulled the report from Carfax a few days ago and it is on there - paid the $40 so have a copy. Happy to send it over.

My strong preference is to get the report off of the Carfax. I'd prefer to have a clean title over compensation that probably won't cover the cost of the actual loss. Any advice on how to do that? I'll be googling this afternoon for research.

Really appreciate your help and advice on this matter - I didn't think removing from Carfax was a possibility, so I'm in an optimistic mood now!

Re: New York - 2020 Tesla Model Y - No Damage - Inherent Diminished Value claim Denied

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 8:53 pm
by Eamonn
I've submitted a correction to Carmax with the police report that states there was no damage. I'll update you if I successfully get it removed.

Thanks for your help!