Oregon diminished value law

In Oregon, third-party claimants are entitled to a vehicle of the same value after the repair as they had before the accident, which means recovery for diminished value is allowed. In Mock v. Terry, if repairing the car does not return it to its previous value, then the difference must be made up in cash.

There are also court cases concerning first-party claims, such as Gonzales v. Farmers, that state insureds can be compensated for diminished value under their own insurance policy. Unfortunately, most auto insurance policies exclude coverage for first-party diminished value, making the ruling in this case of little value to you if you are trying to claim diminished value against your own policy.

However, there is an exception: if the at-fault party doesn’t have insurance, you may be eligible to file a diminished value claim under your own insurance policy (uninsured motorist property damage coverage).

If the accident was caused by an uninsured driver or hit-and-run driver, generally there is coverage under your uninsured motorist property damage for all sums which you are legally entitled to recover had the at-fault party had insurance. Your diminished value loss is one of those sums that you’re legally entitled to recover.

ORS 20.080 is a statute that applies to all property damage and bodily injury claims that are less than $10,000 and creates a right to recover attorney fees. The statute was enacted to pressure insurance companies into settling lower value claims that, if not handled appropriately, could turn relatively small claims into high-risk, attorney fee cases.

The goal of ORS 20.080 is not necessarily to take small cases into litigation, but rather to motivate insurance companies to resolve the smaller cases.