Mike, I have looked into this in the past, and by the time I payed an appraiser to assess both the before and after values of my car and had to pay for a lawyer and take the time to file a lawsuit, any money I received would have been very small...less than $1000. Hell, if I billed my hourly rate into the work to get it done, I'd be in the loss. The insurance company isn't going to pay you unless you take them to court(period). My incident, situation: 2003 Subaru WRX, I purchased it from the original owner in 2009 w/ 24k miles on it. Damn near showroom condition. This was arguably the cleanest/lowest mileage "bugeye" WRX in the United States at the time, and a very rare 1.5 year color, Sedona Red Pearl. Less than 5k miles later, I was sideswiped on I270, sustaining $7,200 in damages. It was a fight to not have the car "totaled". I researched the diminished value route, and that's what I learned. I'm interested in hearing what happened to you/your situation. This was the day I bought the car, driving it home: This was after the accident. Everything from the front bumper to rear bumper, and everywhere in between...as well as more than 70% of the car having to be painted.