I brought an estimate from a body shop for repair of the vehicle, and my original receipts for the cost of the bull-bar and bull-bar installation.
I brought some ebay print outs of sales of similarly equipped vehicles that sold for well over blue book value.
They brought an attorney, and an expert witness who was an expert in vehicle valuation. However, when I questioned the expert on how they valued vehicles, they relied solely on blue book valuation, and dealer sales. Their valuation methodology does not take into account any private sales at all.
I argued that a highly modified vehicle is an enthusiast vehicle that is unlikely to end up on a dealer lot, and is more likely to trade hands in a private sale.
I also argued that they presented zero evidence on the sale value of a modified vehicle. While I only had a few ebay transactions to point to, these transactions were the only evidence at all of the value of a modified Disco. They only made vague generalizations that modifications don't increase the value of a vehicle. However, their expert didn't have an explanation for why the ebay sales I found were going for more than twice the blue book value, other than the fact that they were modified.
I was aided by the fact that the insurance company's lawyer really sucked bad. She lacked basic communication or courtroom skills, and mostly just mumbled and repeated the same arguments over and over.
