Auto-Owners Insurance diminished value claims in North Dakota
North Dakota is one of the few jurisdictions that does not allow the standard third-party diminished value claim, and that is true whichever carrier insured the at-fault driver. What remains against Auto-Owners Insurance is narrow, and it is set out honestly below.
Auto-Owners Insurance claims: 1-888-252-4626
Filing deadline
6 years
N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(4)
Small claims limit
$15,000
Your fallback if they refuse
Shared fault
Modified comparative negligence (50% bar)
How Auto-Owners Insurance approaches these claims
Marked varies-by-state on the legal environment, NOT on verified carrier behaviour; confidence is low because no Auto-Owners policy language, DOI market-conduct finding, or court opinion on its DV valuation method was located. Verified context: the group writes in 26 states, and Property-Owners Insurance Company operates in Georgia, Indiana and Michigan. In Georgia, State Farm v. Mabry, 274 Ga. 498 (2001), requires insurers to assess first-party diminished value. Elsewhere DV is an ordinary third-party tort claim the claimant must prove. Treat any claim that Auto-Owners always or never pays negotiated DV as unsupported.
Why North Dakota is different
Unsettled but very unlikely. There are no North Dakota decisions allowing DV under an insured's own physical-damage coverage, and standard policies limit the carrier to repair cost or actual cash value. Given the Sullivan holding on the tort side, a first-party DV theory faces long odds. Treat as effectively unavailable.
What remains
Your options in North Dakota
Read the rule first
North Dakota does not allow the standard third-party diminished value claim, so the usual demand-letter route against Auto-Owners Insurance is not available. The routes below are what remain.Check the narrow routes
North Dakota is an outlier: it effectively does NOT allow an inherent diminished value claim. N.D.C.C. § 32-03-09.1 presumes damages are reasonable repair cost plus loss of use, switching to a before/after market value measure only when restoration is impossible or impracticable. In Sullivan v. Pulkrabek the ND Supreme Court held a plaintiff who took the cost of repair had already received the full statutory measure and could not also recover diminution in value. DV is reachable only by arguing the vehicle could not be properly restored. ND's no-fault act (ch. 26.1-41) limits only bodily-injury tort claims, the DV bar comes from § 32-03-09.1.Document everything anyway
If one of the narrow routes fits your facts, it will turn on documentation: the repair invoice, the history report, and a supported valuation of the loss.
FAQ
Auto-Owners in North Dakota
Does Auto-Owners Insurance pay diminished value claims in North Dakota?
North Dakota is one of the few states that does not allow a standard third-party diminished value claim, against Auto-Owners Insurance or any other carrier. Unsettled but very unlikely. There are no North Dakota decisions allowing DV under an insured's own physical-damage coverage, and standard policies limit the carrier to repair cost or actual cash value. Given the Sullivan holding on the tort side, a first-party DV theory faces long odds. Treat as effectively unavailable.
How long do I have to file against a Auto-Owners Insurance driver in North Dakota?
North Dakota allows 6 years from the date of the accident for a vehicle property damage claim (N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(4)). The deadline is on filing suit, not on sending a demand letter, and negotiating with an adjuster takes weeks, so start well before it.
What if Auto-Owners Insurance denies the diminished value claim?
Put the demand to the assigned claim representative in writing, then escalate to that rep's supervisor and the manager of the local claim branch handling the file. Auto-Owners runs over 100 claim offices in 26 states, so escalation is branch-level, not to a national desk; 1-888-252-4626 is the after-hours reporting line, not an escalation desk. The appraisal clause is not open to you as a third party. Then file a state DOI complaint and/or sue the at-fault driver in small claims. Beyond the carrier's own process, you can file a complaint with the North Dakota Insurance Department, and court remains available for the limited claims North Dakota does recognise.
This page combines our researched profile of Auto-Owners Insurance (reviewed 2026-07-28, confidence low) with the North Dakota rules table (reviewed 2026-07-28). Full sources and citations are on the Auto-Owners Insurance page and the North Dakota claim page. It is general information, not legal advice, and practices change; verify before relying on it.
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