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State law · CA
California tort law compensates for all detriment caused by another's negligence, and the state Supreme Court has allowed repair cost plus remaining loss in value when property cannot be fully restored. So lost value can be sought from the at-fault driver, if proven. Your own policy usually will not pay it: appellate courts have enforced repair-or-replace terms and express exclusions. Suits for property damage generally must be filed within three years.
Claim against the at-fault driver
Allowed by case law
Claim against your own insurer
Usually excluded by policy
Time limit to sue for property damage
3 years
Insurance regulator
Reviewed by Monica Fisher, Owner, Licensed Auto Appraiser and Court Expert Witness — appraisal perspective, not legal advice
Last reviewed
California law
Third-party claim
Allowed by case law
Civil Code § 3333 allows damages that compensate for all detriment caused by a tort. Merchant Shippers (1946) held that when damaged property cannot be completely repaired, damages are repair cost plus the value lost despite repair. That case involved machinery, not a car. The claim is against the at-fault driver; a third party generally cannot sue that driver's insurer directly for bad faith (Baldwin, 2016).
Authority: Cal. Civ. Code § 3333; Merchant Shippers Ass'n v. Kellogg Express & Draying Co., 28 Cal. 2d 594 (1946); Baldwin v. AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah Insurance Exchange, 1 Cal. App. 5th 545 (2016)
First-party claim
Usually excluded by policy
In Baldwin v. AAA (2016), the Court of Appeal held that an insurer's right to repair, plus a policy exclusion for diminution in value, limited its obligation to repair cost. It relied on Ray v. Farmers (1988), which reached the same result under a repair option. Check your own policy, but most California auto policies are written this way.
Authority: Baldwin v. AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah Insurance Exchange, 1 Cal. App. 5th 545 (2016)
Case law
Supreme Court of California · 1946
28 Cal. 2d 594 (1946)
If damaged property cannot be completely repaired, the measure of damages is repair cost plus the difference between its value before injury and its value after repairs; the repair-cost-only rule applies only where the property can be entirely repaired.
California Court of Appeal · 2016
1 Cal. App. 5th 545 (2016)
An insured could not recover the post-repair loss in resale value of his pickup: the policy let the insurer elect to repair and excluded diminution in value. As a third-party claimant, he also could not sue the other driver's insurer for bad faith.
Cal. Civ. Code § 3333: Measure of tort damages
For breach of an obligation not arising from contract, damages are the amount that compensates for all the detriment proximately caused, whether or not it could have been anticipated.
Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1): Three-year limitation for injuring goods or chattels
An action for taking, detaining, or injuring goods or chattels must be brought within three years.
Cal. Veh. Code § 16056(a)(2): Minimum financial responsibility limits
For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025: $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident bodily injury, $15,000 property damage (previously 15/30/5).
Researched September 30, 2026. General information from an appraisal perspective, not legal advice.
“I would like to thank you VERY MUCH!! We just received the check, in the full amount you had proposed and have closed the claim. Andrew Saccani – California”
Individual results vary based on the vehicle, evidence, insurer, state, coverage, and circumstances of each claim. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Autoloss in CA
We serve California from your repair order, photos and records, the same way we serve every state. A typical diminished-value appraisal is $250–$350, typically 24–48 hours after all required information is received.
Other states
The claim review is free: we look at your situation and tell you whether an appraisal is likely to help. The appraisal itself is a paid report. We help from start to finish, including a custom demand letter, and our support staff is a phone call away throughout the process.
