Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Jersey
auto accident: any recovery for loss of resale value ?
I have had an auto accident in which my car was hit from behind at about 20-25 mph. I had a brand new car (2 mos old). Some of the damage cannot be fixed to the original condition. However, the car is not a "total loss". Insurance company of the other driver agrees to pay according to their estimating schedules. I was planning to sell the car in 2-3 years.
The question: can I recover the loss of resale value of the car ?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Auto accident; loss of resale value
The defendant is responsible for the cost of repairsplus any dimunition in value. The defendant cannotbe responsible, generally speaking, for any damagesin excess of the fair market value of the car themoment before it was hit
This is theory. Practice is that the insurancecompany has economic leverage over you since it knowsthat it is expensive for you to go into courtto prove your total loss. That's why these cases usually are compromised.