Diminished value claims in Illinois

Claims against the at-fault driver

In Trailmobile Division of Pullman, Inc. v. Higgs (1973), the Illinois Appellate Court said that when property is worth less after repair, the measure is the difference in market value before the injury and in its repaired condition, in addition to the reasonable cost of repairs.

The owner has to show the repaired car is worth less. Evidence of the value before the crash and after repair is what supports that part of the claim.

Claims under your own policy

In Sims v. Allstate Insurance Co. (2006), the Illinois Appellate Court held that a policy limit of liability to "repair or replace" with property of like kind and quality does not require the insurer to pay lost market value after repair. The court read repair and replace as remedying tangible, physical damage.

Sims was about the owner's own policy. It did not address claims against an at-fault driver.

Filing deadline

Illinois gives five years after the cause of action accrues for actions to recover damages for an injury done to property, real or personal (735 ILCS 5/13-205).

That is the deadline for filing suit. An Illinois attorney can confirm how it applies to your dates.

How diminished value claims tend to go in Illinois

Illinois's claims regulation sets a 60-calendar-day median payment period for property damage liability claims, and a claim still open past that point calls for a written explanation to the claimant with notice that the Department of Insurance is available (50 Ill. Adm. Code 919.80(b)). A third-party denial has to be explained in writing within 30 days (50 Ill. Adm. Code 919.50(a)).

Expect a first-party request to be declined under Sims. A third-party request turns on proof of the drop in value after repair under Trailmobile.

Many insurers answer a diminished value request with a formula rather than a market study. The best known is the 17c formula, which came out of the Georgia class actions over first-party claims that followed State Farm v. Mabry; its name comes from paragraph 17(c) of an injunction in one of them. It starts from a capped share of the car's value before the crash, then reduces it with damage and mileage modifiers. A law-firm survey notes it was built for that class action and has not been formally adopted for general use.

Adjusters commonly ask for proof that the repaired car is worth less, not only proof that it was damaged. Records that tend to matter: the final repair invoice and photos, the estimate showing any structural or frame work, the vehicle history report entry, and written market evidence such as dealer quotes or listings for the same car with and without an accident history.

Lost value is easiest to show once repairs are finished, because the value after repair is what gets compared with the value before the crash.

If you have a complaint about claim handling

The Illinois Department of Insurance takes consumer complaints about how an insurer handled a claim. File with the Illinois Department of Insurance.

Next steps

• How Reclaim's diminished-value check works
• Estimate a figure with the diminished value calculator
• How to file a diminished value claim
• Diminished value claims in Wisconsin
• Diminished value claims in Missouri
• Diminished value rules in every state