My friend was in an accident w/her kids

Thank goodness she's been so diligent about keeping her kids safe!

Yesterday, my friend who lives in TX, was T-boned. She was on her way home from the Blue Bonnet factory (for those of you familiar with TX) and came to a 2-way stop. There was a hill to her left and a flat road to her right. She looked left, looked right, but didn't look left again. She started out into the intersection when she saw a car come up over the hill, but it was too late to do anything. The speed limit on that road is 50mph, but I'm sure the other lady put her brakes on for a second or two before impact.

She was hit on the driver's side on the 3rd row. She had her 3 kids and her parents with her. Everybody's fine (thank goodness) except for some cuts/scrapes and bruises. She and her 2yo were taken to the hospital to get checked out because her neck hurt, and her 2yo bit his tongue and had pretty bad burns from his harness.

Now for all the technical info that most of you will want to know.

They were driving an '01 Odyssey. The seating arrangements went like this:

K driving / her dad-passenger

2yo son RF in Evenflo Triumph 5 / empty

6yo DD (E) Radian 65 / her (tiny) mom / 6yo DD (A) Radian 65

The twin on the side of impact (E) was actually the one least injured. She got a little burned from the harness, but was fine overall. Her mom got bruised up a bit from being in between the 2 Radians. And her other DD (A) got cut up a bit on her face from her glasses. And her harness burns were fairly severe also. She was reading a book that ended up flying out of E's window after it was broken from the crash. K found it on the ground after the accident. (They spun around several times before coming to a stop.)

She's going today to buy new carseats. The insurance hasn't gotten back to them yet about whether or not the van is totalled, but I'm guessing it will be.

I suggested Nautilus's or Frontier 85s for her 2 oldest and either a Radian, a TFP, or a My Ride for her 2yo. Are there any others I should suggest? She liked the idea of having something for anti-rebound since her DS is only going to get bigger, but I gave her the MR suggestion since it has a higher weight limit also. I'm not exactly up-to-speed on all the new convertibles right now.

Any idea how insurance works with this? Will she get to choose any new carseats or will they only give her a specified amount of $?

I was rear-ended 2 weeks ago on i-85 in downtown Atlanta. I was with my 2.5 yo son at the time. He was in a Roundabout and my newborn daughter's base for her Combi Connection was installed (the carrier was at home). The at-fault driver's insurance company asked for receipts, which I sent them. The infant carrier cost us $130 and the Roundabout was $200. So I asked for $330. The adjustor refused. He found a new base on Amazon for $60 and a Roundabout on Amazon for $170. End result: we're getting a check for $230.

Usually insurance will pay fair market replacement value for the seats: chances are if she wants to upgrade from a Triumph to a Radian or TFP, she'll have to pay the difference.

If she wants a Radian for the 2yo, she could get one either through insurance or the SKJP's crashed restraint exchange program (if she can wait to get it, using a backup or borrowed seat in the meantime). Another option would be the TFP (anti rebound bar). I don't recommend Britax convertibles because of the lack of legroom, but that's the other choice for rebound control.

The 6yos could probably be in boosters, depending on maturity. Though often after a crash, everyone is scared for a while and the knee-jerk reaction I expect is that they will want harnessed seats. Nautilus, Frontier, or maybe Maestro if they're small kids and willing to get dedicated boosters later.

State Farm replaced my seat after my accident (2001). I told them that the seat I had (was a 1999-2000 DOM) was no longer sold, they told me to go buy a new seat at Toys R Us (any seat I wanted) and bring the accident seat AND the box to the new seat along with receipt and they cut me a check on the spot for the amount of the new seat. (I bought the most expensive seat our rural Toys R Us had LOL)

Their rules may have changed since then though.

jourdysmom said:

State Farm replaced my seat after my accident (2001). I told them that the seat I had (was a 1999-2000 DOM) was no longer sold, they told me to go buy a new seat at Toys R Us (any seat I wanted) and bring the accident seat AND the box to the new seat along with receipt and they cut me a check on the spot for the amount of the new seat. (I bought the most expensive seat our rural Toys R Us had LOL)

Their rules may have changed since then though.

Click to expand...

And one reason the rules changed is because of people taking advantage -- insurance ought to "make things right" not upgrade.

When I had my accident, fault was found to be 60/40 with me taking 60% of the blame. My insurance company would not replace seats due to the fact that I did not have homeowners from the same company. I replaced my seats on my own. I hope your friend has better luck

When I hit a dear this winter, my insurance replaced my seats I had a titan, and 2 RNs in the car. I didn't have reciets so I was allowed to find the seats online and those prices were the replacement price I was given back...

When I had my accident, I bought the same exact seats at BRU and they took those receipts. I don't know how it works when you want different seats.

It depends on the company policy. I know when I had to replace seats, the insurance co told me to get the new seats, bring them the old and they'd write a check right away (based on my receipt). But I replaced with the same seat. Call the insurance company and ask what they want her to do. Maybe they'll just replace the value of the seats she already had (what do you do with the Triumph, it's not sold anymore?), but she can buy whatever seats she wants with the money.

The insurance company told her they'd give her like $100 per seat, which is kind of frustrating since her 2 Radians were worth more than that. But I think she's going to go with a Nautilus for each of her older girls and then she was still deciding on which convertible for her son.

Chex said:

The insurance company told her they'd give her like $100 per seat, which is kind of frustrating since her 2 Radians were worth more than that. But I think she's going to go with a Nautilus for each of her older girls and then she was still deciding on which convertible for her son.

Click to expand...

:thumbsdown: If I were her, I'd push for more. WHat's the insurance company?

vonfirmath said:

And one reason the rules changed is because of people taking advantage -- insurance ought to "make things right" not upgrade.

Click to expand...

Well when you have to drive 2-3 hours away to go to a store to buy a "normal" seat, and the Toys R Us you have sold only 2 brands at the time and you can't get anything else. You do what you gotta do... My original seat cost $130 because it was an "Eddie Bauer" and DH demanded it because his truck was an "Eddie Bauer Edition", and they no longer sold those anywhere, let alone here in "hickville". I think the rel=placement seat was like $150 or 160. Not like replacing a Scenera with a Radian KWIM?

brookelynn2005 said:

When I hit a dear this winter, my insurance replaced my seats I had a titan, and 2 RNs in the car. I didn't have reciets so I was allowed to find the seats online and those prices were the replacement price I was given back...

Click to expand...

mine refused But according to Britax, there wasn't enough damage to the area where they sit to need replacement...

My one deer was $3200 in damage, but all fender hood, headlights etc... my last was about $2300, and was all the same area LOL

No airbags blew, and no damage to their doors...

We got rear-ended on April 1. I had a 2006 Decathlon in the car. I went to Target and found a MA on clearance for $197 and some change. The insurance company wanted the original receipt for the DC well sorry I didn't have it. So I spoke to the adjustor and told her how much the DC and MA cost. Faxed the receipt for the MA and got the check in the mail a few days later. The adjustor also thanked me for finding a seat on sale!!

first thing I'd do... contact SKJP... they'll probably replace the seats themselves (crashed seat exchange program)

and, saving the EFTA in case the insurance company demands it, along with a print-out of proof of what it retails for, I'd probably get either another one or a Radian for the 2yr old.

if she has no spare seats for the 6yr olds, I'd go ahead and get a highback booster for each until she can hear back from SKJP... cause from what I've seen, they will replace them.

Michael9 said:

I was rear-ended 2 weeks ago on i-85 in downtown Atlanta. I was with my 2.5 yo son at the time. He was in a Roundabout and my newborn daughter's base for her Combi Connection was installed (the carrier was at home). The at-fault driver's insurance company asked for receipts, which I sent them. The infant carrier cost us $130 and the Roundabout was $200. So I asked for $330. The adjustor refused. He found a new base on Amazon for $60 and a Roundabout on Amazon for $170. End result: we're getting a check for $230.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't pay you for a carseat that wasn't in the car either. Gee, why is insurance so high?? Good for them for only paying you for the BASE that was in the car. You're lucky to get anything for the Combi - most insurance companies only pay for carseats that were occupied at the time of the crash. Why gripe about the Roundabout just because the adjuster found it on sale? You're still getting the exact same seat back?

@Raegansmom4

Thanks for your judgement. I am just trying to do the best that I can for my children. I didn't cause the accident and am just trying to get my family back to where we were. Sorry if that bothers you. For your information, Combi requires replacement of the base--occupied at time of crash or not. The base comes with the seat--it's a "system." I am not excited about purchasing a base on ebay that possibly has been sitting in some hot/cold warehouse for the last three years. I'm troubled because most bases are not marked with DOM. I bet that a lot of moms on this site would ask for the same thing in my situation. That's why I asked for replacement of the entire system. When the adjustor refused, I accepted what he offered but not happily.

I paid $200 for the Roundabout. The at-fault driver took that seat away from me. I asked the insurance company to pay me exactly what I paid--nothing more and nothing less. I wasn't griping. I was simply trying to provide the OP with some insight on what to expect.

It's perfectly fair to expect replacement of the base. You could have purchased a base new from several reputable retailers or probably directly from Combi. There is no reason to replace the bucket portion of the seat since it was not involved in the accident.

I do agree that what you experienced is probably pretty typical. You received fair market value for what needed to be replaced. That's fair.

Michael9 said:

@Raegansmom4

Thanks for your judgement. I am just trying to do the best that I can for my children. I didn't cause the accident and am just trying to get my family back to where we were. Sorry if that bothers you. For your information, Combi requires replacement of the base--occupied at time of crash or not. The base comes with the seat--it's a "system." I am not excited about purchasing a base on ebay that possibly has been sitting in some hot/cold warehouse for the last three years. I'm troubled because most bases are not marked with DOM. I bet that a lot of moms on this site would ask for the same thing in my situation. That's why I asked for replacement of the entire system. When the adjustor refused, I accepted what he offered but not happily.

I paid $200 for the Roundabout. The at-fault driver took that seat away from me. I asked the insurance company to pay me exactly what I paid--nothing more and nothing less. I wasn't griping. I was simply trying to provide the OP with some insight on what to expect.

Click to expand...

What bothers me was you were expecting the insurance to replace the entire system when the bucket seat was not in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Bases are very, very commonly sold separately. Most parents purchase an additional base to have for a second vehicle - bases are made to work with the same model, so they are not less safe than the one that came attached to the seat. Bases do have a date of manufacture on them. Target or any other retailer that sells Combi probably also sells the bases - no need to go to ebay. I never, ever said the base shouldn't be replaced. Again, your Roundabout was replaced - probably with a newer date of manufacture than the original, so you probably "made" money on the deal. If it had a specialty cover, you could have saved the cover.