When an insurer puts a figure on the table, it is not telling you what your car is worth: it is telling you what closing the file costs. The gap between the write-off value they apply and the real cost of replacing the vehicle is usually several thousand euros.
A valuation that holds up at trial is not an opinion: it sets out the method, the comparable vehicles and every adjustment, so anyone can redo the calculation.
Cases I take
- Write-off value and market value before the incident, with real comparables.
- Diminished value of a repaired vehicle: the depreciation left by having been in a crash.
- Total loss: whether repairing makes sense, and with what figures.
- Disputes with the insurer's valuation, and the contradictory expert procedure.
- Valuations for inheritance, divorce, attachment proceedings and contributions to a company.
- Disputed sales: what was paid against what it was worth.
What I need from you
- Technical data sheet, registration document and roadworthiness test history.
- Service history and invoices for upgrades or added equipment.
- The insurer's report and offer, with the breakdown of damage.
- The workshop's repair estimate and photographs of the damage.
- Evidenced mileage and, for commercial vehicles, tachograph downloads.
What the law says
- Insurance Contract Act 50/1980, art. 38: expert procedure and contradictory appraisal.
- Art. 1106 of the Civil Code: actual loss and loss of profit.
- The Ministry of Finance's annual order on average sale prices, and its limits where the vehicle is not an ordinary car.
- Supreme Court case law on depreciation after a crash and replacement value.
What you get
- Value before and after the incident, with the difference quantified.
- Declared valuation method and comparable vehicles, with source and date.
- Adjustments for mileage, condition, equipment and market, explained one by one.
- A line-by-line comparison against the insurer's offer.
- Annexes with the listings and tables used, so the calculation can be redone.
- Ratification and defence of the report in the courtroom.
Vehicle Valuation
Frequently asked questions
What is write-off value, and why is my car worth more?
Write-off value is what the vehicle was worth on the second-hand market just before the incident, and it is the floor insurers start from. Replacement or market value is what it costs you today to buy another one like it, with the same mileage and condition. That second figure is the one that actually makes good your loss, and the one comparables support.
What is a contradictory appraisal?
It is the procedure in art. 38 of the Insurance Contract Act: where there is no agreement with the insurer's expert, each side appoints its own and, if they still disagree, a third is appointed. My report serves that step and the later court case alike.
Can I claim the diminished value of a repaired car?
Yes. However perfect the repair, the vehicle now carries a crash history and sells for less. That depreciation is quantified and claimed, and the courts recognise it when it is properly calculated.
Free feasibility study and a fixed written quote. I reply within 24-48 working hours.