Diminished value claims with Nationwide

Three decisions, three questions

Our research found one appellate ruling on whether a Nationwide auto policy owed a repaired car’s lost market value to its own policyholder: Bickel v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., decided by the Virginia Supreme Court in 1965. Two later cases touch the subject from other angles. An Ohio appeals court in 2004 decided whether Nationwide’s liability coverage had to answer a dealer’s diminished value claim under a loaner-car agreement, and a Kentucky appeals court in 1991 decided whether Nationwide could repair an older car with used parts. We found no appellate decision ruling on diminished value in a claim against a driver Nationwide insured. Autoloss is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nationwide. The company’s name is used here only to identify it.

Virginia: Bickel v. Nationwide (1965)

The policyholders bought a new 1963 Oldsmobile and insured it with Nationwide the same day. Four days later it was in a collision. After several weeks without agreement on the claim, they had the car repaired at a garage they chose, with Nationwide’s approval, for $695.40. Two automobile salesmen testified that the car had been worth between $2,050 and $2,400 before the collision and was worth $1,700 after the repairs. The owners conceded that the repair work had been skillfully performed. They argued that the measure of their loss was the difference in market value before and after the collision.

The court disagreed. It said the case was an action on an insurance contract, so the policy governed the measure of recovery and the rules for claims against a negligent driver did not. The policy capped Nationwide’s liability at the actual cash value or “what it would then cost to repair or replace the property or such part thereof with other of like kind and quality,” and let the company pay in money or repair or replace the damaged property. Awarding the difference in market value, the court said, would read the company’s right to repair out of the policy. It affirmed a judgment limited to the cost of repairs, storage and towing, less the deductible. See the Virginia page.

What the court left open

The opinion states that this was not a case of an insurer having a car repaired and then denying further liability when the owner complained that the repairs were incomplete or defective. That, the court said, would be a different case. The trial judge had also said he would have sent the question to the jury if the repairs had not been complete or workmanlike. The ruling covers a repair that both sides agreed was properly done.

Ohio: Nationwide v. Shah (2004)

A Nationwide policyholder crashed a loaner car from a dealership while his own car was being repaired. Nationwide paid $15,769.29 for the repairs. The dealer then sued the driver for the car’s diminished value under its rental agreement, and Nationwide asked the court to declare that it owed nothing more. The Ohio Court of Appeals (Fifth District) affirmed judgment for Nationwide. It said the dealer’s “claim for diminished value is based upon the Rental Agreement Contract and not the accident,” and that, having paid for the property damage, Nationwide “was not liable for the extraneous ‘contract’ damages.” The ruling is about that contract claim and that policy. It does not decide what an at-fault driver owes for diminished value under Ohio law; the Ohio page covers that.

Kentucky: Tomes v. Nationwide (1991)

This case is about repair parts, not market value. Nationwide estimated the repair of a 1979 El Camino using a used rear fender, and the owner wanted new parts. The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed judgment for Nationwide. It said the owner “could only reasonably expect to have as good a vehicle as he had before the collision,” and that where a car “has depreciated considerably, it is not reasonable to expect the insurer to pay for new parts.” It noted that the owner did not claim the used fender made the car look or perform worse. The court also noted that Nationwide’s policy at the time was to use new parts on vehicles driven 15,000 miles or less. If your repair used used or aftermarket parts, the repair order shows which ones. See the Kentucky page.

How much weight to give these rulings

Bickel interpreted the policy wording in front of that court under Virginia law. It is more than sixty years old, and policy forms change over time. Shah and Tomes each answered a narrow question on their own facts. None of them describes how Nationwide handles claims today, and it does not carry over to other states, where courts have read similar wording both ways. Read your own policy, including any endorsement that mentions loss in value, and check diminished value laws by state.

If a Nationwide policyholder hit you

Then Bickel and Tomes are not about your situation. You are a third-party claimant, and the question is what your state’s law lets you recover from the driver who caused the damage. In Virginia, the Supreme Court addressed that separately in Averett v. Shircliff (1977), a case between two drivers that approved a jury instruction allowing the reasonable cost of repairs “with reasonable allowance for depreciation” where a car can be restored by repair. First-party vs third-party diminished value explains why the two kinds of claim are treated differently.

Submitting a claim to Nationwide

When we checked in October 2026, Nationwide’s auto claims page offered filing online and said a claim can also be filed by phone or in its mobile app. If the property damage claim is already open, send the diminished value demand in writing to the adjuster handling it, under that claim number. How to contact an auto insurer explains how to confirm the right contact, and the demand letter guide lists what to send.

Evidence, and what to do if you disagree

Whether a claim is open to you is a legal question for your state and policy. How much value the car lost is a factual one, and that is what a diminished value appraisal documents, from your repair records and comparable vehicles. It is evidence, not a promise of payment. If you and the insurer cannot agree, see after your appraisal and how to file an auto insurance complaint. The steps shared by every company are in filing a diminished value claim with any insurer, and the State Farm guide shows how courts in nine states read similar repair-or-replace wording.