Tool 1 of 7 · Stated value $300–500
After a car accident you don't have one claim, you have two. Your personal injury lawyer fights the bodily injury claim. The property damage claim is yours — and it contains seven sub-claims, each with its own insurer playbook. This toolkit walks you through every one.
Sourced from AskMatlock's property-damage research note. The playbook below is documented practice from state DOI guidance, public-adjuster trade literature, and the Alameda County District Attorney's May 2024 complaint against USAA, Progressive, CCC, and Mitchell.
Tool
Runs the 17c formula (the insurance industry formula for diminished value) as a floor, with state-aware notes for Georgia, Nebraska, and the other 48.
Open →Tool
Audit the insurer's pre-accident market value offer. Six-step interactive checklist. Saves progress on this device. The single highest-value negotiation in the claim.
Open →Tool
Generates a properly-formatted demand letter invoking the appraisal provision of your policy. Download as text.
Open →Each is a small fight. Combined, they decide whether the settlement leaves you whole or several thousand dollars short.
The insurer decides — usually at 70–80% of your car's cash value — and the math is theirs to control.
Most states set a total-loss threshold of 70–80% of actual cash value. The decision is the insurer's, not yours, and it's calculated from an estimate the adjuster controls. If you disagree with the repair-vs-total decision, demand the written estimate, audit the labor hours and parts pricing, and (if it's being totaled to lowball you) push back with your own body-shop quote.
The single highest-value negotiation. Software is tuned to underpay.
If the car is totaled, the insurer offers what it calls "actual cash value" — your car's pre-accident market value, calculated as replacement cost minus depreciation. The number comes from proprietary software (CCC ONE, Mitchell, Audatex) that selects "comparable" vehicles and applies "condition adjustments" the consumer cannot audit. Cash-value offers are typically negotiable. The Alameda County DA alleged in May 2024 that the software underpays by $3,000–$4,000 per claim.
Even after perfect repair, your car's resale value drops. In most states that loss is collectable.
Carfax and AutoCheck show the accident, so the resale market discounts the vehicle. Of the 50 states, only Nebraska does not recognize third-party diminished value at all. Georgia requires insurers to proactively evaluate first-party diminished value (Mabry v. State Farm, 2001). The "17c formula" is the FLOOR — an independent appraiser using market comparables typically arrives higher.
You control the class, the duration, and whether the rental ends before your check arrives.
Get written confirmation upfront of class, daily rate cap, and maximum days. Match your vehicle class — if you drive an SUV, you're entitled to an SUV-class rental. For total loss: the rental continues until the check arrives, NOT until the insurer declares total loss. Many adjusters cut rentals at the declaration date. Push back.
They pile up at $50–$150 per day. The insurer pays only what they consider "reasonable."
Move the vehicle out of storage ASAP — to your driveway, a friend's garage, anywhere fee-free. Get written commitment from the insurer to cover storage through a specific date before fees accrue beyond it. For total-loss vehicles: the insurer's responsibility for storage typically ends when the salvage title is transferred — push to transfer quickly to stop the meter.
Car seat, tools, aftermarket stereo, work equipment. The auto policy should cover them.
The insurer will try to push you to your homeowner's or renter's policy, because those have a $500–$1,000 deductible that wipes out the claim. Push back — the auto policy should cover items lost or damaged in the vehicle, subject to personal-effects coverage limits. Photo inventory immediately. Pull receipts for high-value items.
They charge you for new tires / battery / exhaust on the theory you got an upgrade. Often negotiable.
When the insurer replaces a worn part with a new one, it may deduct "betterment." Always ask why and how much — get the deduction in writing with a specific calculation. Question the percentage. Refuse on the principle: if the part was functional at the time of the accident, the replacement is restoration, not an upgrade. Many adjusters drop the deduction when challenged.
Source: Property Damage Gap §7.1.
Cheapest to most expensive. Most disputes resolve at step 1 or 2.
Source: Property Damage Gap §7.9.
