Yes - I have heard of this as well, but am unsure of how to go about getting compensated for this. My understanding is that the repair is made and I get my car back. Is the insurance company then expected to cut me a check for what they consider the diminished value based on the damage? Do I have to do some sort of special haggling to get compensated for this?
Yes it is absolutely a negotiation.
If the insurance company even thinks there is any DV, its unlikely they will just offer it to you. And if they do, it will most likely be low and any counteroffer you give they will want some sort of justification or proof of it. The thing about DV is that its subjective. I
highly recommend
this guy. I have no professional or financial relationship with him at all, he just did my own claim. In my own claim, the other insurance company (when I requested a DV settlement) came back with, "Well our department looked at everything and they didn't find any diminished value associated with your claim."
Zero.
Even that surprised me, and I'm in the insurance business as a profession. I thought they would at least throw something out there like $1,000 or something. After a professional report by a third party, I wound up collecting a little over $10k in DV, when the original damages were just $10k themselves. Now part of what worked in my favor is that my car was practically brand new, with 300 miles on it. The newer and more expensive, the greater the DV. But you will need someone on your side to help you negotiate. We went back and forth with them for a few weeks, they produced two mediocre reports (which my expert shot down with them over the phone immediately). His report costs $250 and it paid for itself probably 20 times over. What finally got it done was requesting a supervisor on their end (the front line adjuster has no real authority to negotiate those things). I got on the phone with him and my DV expert and he did practically all the talking, and shut down just about every argument that guy made. Then finally he made a great offer and we took it. It was awesome.
But with yours, you will definitely suffer some DV loss. I would definitely contact that guy (his name is Justin). He's done a few Tesla's and so he's familiar with some of the different aspects of coming up with a DV claim. In other words, the type of clientele that would be buying a Tesla is going to most likely be far more averse to buying one that's been in an accident.
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions about my claim or the DV process.