This thread is related to the following thread:
PSA: Check car when you get it back from a valet/What's the cost for a painted front bumper?
Basically a parking attendant at one of DC's 3 or 4 best hotels damaged the front right corner of my bumper when I just a few feet from my car. They opened an insurance claim and will let me fix the car anywhere I chose and also cover the cost of paint protection film plus ceramic coating for the front bumper.
The whole repair should not be much more than a couple of thousand but now my concern is if the insurance company will report my VIN resulting in a CarFax entry.
Does anyone know if insurance companies report claim VINs to CarFax? The parking garage is insured by Traveler's Insurance if that makes a difference. The reason I'm asking is because they wanted to have an adjuster come see the car and I told them before I provide them with the VIN for my car or let them see my VIN, I need a written guarantee from them that they will not report the VIN to any outside party and if they do, they will be responsible for a Diminished Value Claim.
I'm concerned about this because while the repair will be just a couple of thousand $, if this results in a CarFax report, I'm probably looking at likely a $5K or more Diminished Value Claim and I'd rather not have to fight for that. The claim agent said she will look to see how this could be handled and I'm open to any advice or information anyone can provide.
Basically I told her I'm not going to go after Diminished Value if they will just cover the cost of the minor damage and agree in writing to not report my VIN.
If I were to sell the car, I would obviously disclose this but I don't want a CarFax record for what is really a superficial scratch that will likely be painted better than it arrived from the factory.
For anyone else in this situation with a reasonably new car, ALWAYS bring up Diminished Value with the at fault party's insurance company. For minor damage, the CarFax hit could be a lot more than the cost of the repair.
Also, never let anyone valet park your car.
PSA: Check car when you get it back from a valet/What's the cost for a painted front bumper?
Basically a parking attendant at one of DC's 3 or 4 best hotels damaged the front right corner of my bumper when I just a few feet from my car. They opened an insurance claim and will let me fix the car anywhere I chose and also cover the cost of paint protection film plus ceramic coating for the front bumper.
The whole repair should not be much more than a couple of thousand but now my concern is if the insurance company will report my VIN resulting in a CarFax entry.
Does anyone know if insurance companies report claim VINs to CarFax? The parking garage is insured by Traveler's Insurance if that makes a difference. The reason I'm asking is because they wanted to have an adjuster come see the car and I told them before I provide them with the VIN for my car or let them see my VIN, I need a written guarantee from them that they will not report the VIN to any outside party and if they do, they will be responsible for a Diminished Value Claim.
I'm concerned about this because while the repair will be just a couple of thousand $, if this results in a CarFax report, I'm probably looking at likely a $5K or more Diminished Value Claim and I'd rather not have to fight for that. The claim agent said she will look to see how this could be handled and I'm open to any advice or information anyone can provide.
Basically I told her I'm not going to go after Diminished Value if they will just cover the cost of the minor damage and agree in writing to not report my VIN.
If I were to sell the car, I would obviously disclose this but I don't want a CarFax record for what is really a superficial scratch that will likely be painted better than it arrived from the factory.
For anyone else in this situation with a reasonably new car, ALWAYS bring up Diminished Value with the at fault party's insurance company. For minor damage, the CarFax hit could be a lot more than the cost of the repair.
Also, never let anyone valet park your car.
