Diminished Value of Georgia has released its 2014 list of insurance carriers who offer the best and the worst service and payouts on diminished value auto claims.

Diminished Value of Georgia is an independent car appraisal company specializing in loss-in-value claims. Most of the vehicle valuations generated by the company are offered to the general public. Diminished Value of Georgia offers free tools on its website to assist customers in determining the compensation they are entitled to, such as a diminished value calculator, as well as definitions and instructions on how to file a claim for diminished value of their vehicles.

The diminished value of a car is defined as the quantifiable loss in value that a vehicle incurs after a car accident or other incident (such as fire or flood). An insurance company is required to reimburse the insured party for the actual amount of loss in the value of the car as a result of the damage. Diminished value is different from depreciation in that it is sudden and unexpected. Depreciation is the predictable loss in value of a vehicle over time. When an insured party files an auto claim, he or she should seek compensation from the insurance company for diminished value.

"We process a large number of claims every month," says Tony Rached, owner of the Atlanta-based company. “There is a distinct variance in the insurance companies that rank at the top of the list from those at the bottom.”

Below is a list the company compiled that ranks insurance carriers based on how easy and fair their diminished value processes are, according to feedback received from Diminished Value of Georgia’s clients.

The Best (insurance companies that offer fair and reasonable diminished value payouts in Georgia):

1. Geico 
2. AllState 
3. Progressive 
4. Nationwide 
5. Country Financial

The worst insurance companies, these are carriers that underestimate diminished value and therefore offer extremely low payouts in Georgia.

The list ranks carriers based on four main criteria: 

• Fairness of the initial diminished value offer
• Timeliness and efficiency in processing the claim and settlement amounts
• Quality of the appraisers hired by the carriers on first-party claims
• Overall customer satisfaction