car insurance

amyg530

Active member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #1

ok so i've noticed a few of ya'll asking about what seat to get insurance to buy after an accident. what i'm wondering is what insurance companies ya'll use and do you have full coverage to get them to replace the seats? i asked the women at our insurance company the other day when i was renewing if insurance would cover a new carseat and she looked at me like i had two heads, now maybe she just didnt know that seats would have to be replaced and so thought it was a crazy question. and while its no big deal to have to buy a seat if we do get in a wreck b/c we have the scenera (although i would probably get an MA if that happened) once we have britax seats i would hate to have to buy another seat b/c we got in a wreck, or would it be the other persons insurance b/c it was their fault (i'm a damn good driver now that i have kids ) and would they have to get you a new seat or would it depend on their insurance.

does any of that make sense? i tend to ramble when i post

 

R&J'sMom

New member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #2

I have Allstate and I have full coverage. They replaced my seats no problems.
Do you have full coverage or liability only?

 

amyg530

Active member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #3

liability only, but when i asked her even though we had just renewed the policy i doubt the was thinking just mine, but i could be wrong

was it your fault/?

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #4

If you only have Liability insurance there's nothing you can do - the insurance company will not replace your seats. If you have comprehensive, you can refuse to close the claim until the seats are replaced or you get a notorized statement saying the insurance company accepts Liability for any damaged caused by using a seat against manufacturer's instructions.

 

R&J'sMom

New member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #5

amyg530 said:

liability only, but when i asked her even though we had just renewed the policy i doubt the was thinking just mine, but i could be wrong

was it your fault/?

Click to expand...

The accident wasn't my fault. But since I wanted my van fixed right away (the other driver still has not given a statement)and the carseats replaced right away, I put a claim in through my insurance and they will subrogate with the other driver's insurance to get their money back. Since the accident was not my fault, my insurance rates witll not go up.

 

T

thepeach80

Senior Community Member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #6

We have USAA and they're great w/ carseats. We got into a crash once w/ a driver w/ Farmer's Bureau I think and our seat was replaced that day. We had to pay for it first and they cut us a check, but it got replaced no questions asked. Now if we got into a crash now, there's no way I could just go buy 3 new seats and then get reimbursed, but I have it all figured out. lol

 

Chameleon

New member

• Jun 11, 2007

• #7

We got into a wreck with someone who had Farm Bureau also and it was their fault and I had to replace two seats, they also told me to go out and buy seats and fax over the receipts and they cut me a check that day.

We have USAA as well but I've never had to use them for carseats and hopefully never will.

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #8

Our state is a no-fault state. We have full coverage through AAA, and AAA was very cooperative about replacing our seats after crashes.

 

Connor's Mom

New member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #9

skaterbabscpst said:

If you only have Liability insurance there's nothing you can do - the insurance company will not replace your seats.

Click to expand...

Just like they won't pay to fix your car.

 

amyg530

Active member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #10

well we have liabiltly only b/c both cars are oldish (99's) and we are both really really good drivers, and dont plan on getting into a wreck, i knwo that might sound silly b/c thats not something you have control over but if we do get in a wreck its not gonna be our fault. also we jsut really cant afford full coverage on both cars, now if we get something new we'll probably get better coverage but we'll cross that bridge when we get there

 

A

amy919

New member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #11

I think it depends on the individual insurance company and obivously it depends on what type of coverage you have.

I have to say that we had a great experience recently. The driver at fault is with Progressive. I e-mailed Graco and asked for a written statement saying that the seats needed to be replaced and I needed the value of the seats. Within 24 hours, Graco responded. I was actually really impressed.

I called Progressive and they told me to fax them information. They called back 15 minutees later and asked me to drop the seats off and pick up a check at my convenience. They even added the 6% sales tax to the MSRP from Graco. I had the check that same day.

Amy

 

S

southpawboston

New member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #12

skaterbabscpst said:

If you only have Liability insurance there's nothing you can do - the insurance company will not replace your seats. If you have comprehensive, you can refuse to close the claim until the seats are replaced or you get a notorized statement saying the insurance company accepts Liability for any damaged caused by using a seat against manufacturer's instructions.

Click to expand...

Connor's Mom said:

Just like they won't pay to fix your car.

Click to expand...

this is if you only have liability AND the accident was deemed YOUR fault (or no fault to either party if your state is a no-fault state). if you only have liability AND there was a police report that proves the other party was at fault (or if they openly admit it to the police officer writing up the report), then that party's insurance is responsible for covering all damage to YOUR property, including replacing the carseats.

however, if you only have liability and the pther party is at fault, sometimes YOU are the one who has to badger the other party's insurance company to pay out for the damages they are liable for (that's why they call it liability, lol), since you don't have your insurance company to fight on your behalf and the other party's insurance company may try to weazel out of paying out.

this exact scenario happened to me once (one month after dropping my collision coverage, my car had just turned 8 years old ). the other party hit my car and even according to the police report, they were clearly at fault. their insurance didn't want to pay out for my damage, they claimed they "didn't believe" the police report and were believing what THEIR client said instead. i said FINE, and i had my lawyer draw up a demand against the other driver, sending a copy of a demand for payment (on legal letterhead) to his insurance company, with the clear threat of a lawsuit. they issued me a check for 90% of the damage ($2400). good enough for me. :thumbsup:

 

lynsgirl

New member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #13

thepeach80 said:

We have USAA and they're great w/ carseats. We got into a crash once w/ a driver w/ Farmer's Bureau I think and our seat was replaced that day. We had to pay for it first and they cut us a check, but it got replaced no questions asked. Now if we got into a crash now, there's no way I could just go buy 3 new seats and then get reimbursed, but I have it all figured out. lol

Click to expand...

:thumbsup: We have USAA also and 2 years ago, dh and the kids got rear-ended by a cargo van. USAA said go ahead and replace the seats and send in the receipts (I faxed copies). I got new seats the same day. The same scenario would be slightly different today, since we're no longer using any credit cards at all and I'm still building up my various savings funds for things , but I'd likely use money from our emergency fund and replace it once I got the check. 4 seats that all cost $250+ is not the same as $15 boosters and a $40 Scenera, $$-wise .

On a funny note, we had a claims adjuster who needed some retraining, as she was the rudest, most abrasive woman I've ever dealt with at USAA. Turns out she had only been with them a few months, after 20+ yrs at some other insurance carrier and their coverage and CS policies were somewhat different . I expected her to yell at me (again) for how much the two Britax seats I was replacing cost. Nope. She very sarcastically questioned me about the *Touriva* I replaced! What was the deal with it? Why so little for the one seat? Geesh, if I'd known she'd get witchy about *that*, I'd have sprung for another MA!

 

amyg530

Active member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #14

lynsgirl said:

4 seats that all cost $250+ is not the same as $15 boosters and a $40 Scenera, $$-wise

Click to expand...

yeah thats why i'm worried, its no big deal to replace a $40 seat but once we have britax seats the last thing i want is to go out and buy a regent and then get in a wreck and have to buy another one. although my inlaws are really good about buying stuff for us, my MIL already said shed buy the regent and didnt seem to care that its so freaking pricey. of course all it takes it to say 'm thinink about getting such and such and they will be like, can we order it online for ya'll and they do. i think they feel bad about not getting to see us as much as they would like

 

T

thepeach80

Senior Community Member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #15

Since replacing several expensive seats seems a problem for some, here's the plan I have concocted, lol. We have a baby store in town that carries all of the seats I currently use (Radian, Safeseat, and BV). My plan was to go there, pick out what I needed and have them write out a purchase order or something that showed what I was buying and how much the total was and then take that to the insurance company and have them cut a check to that baby store, not me. Then I could take them the check and get my seats taht way. I think too much about this...

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #16

I didn't mention it in my earlier post, but wanted to add the AAA claims rep. didn't seem to care which seat I purchased to replace our crashed one as long as I surrendered the crashed seat and provided the receipt for reimbursement for the new one. Our crashed Marathon was replaced with another Marathon each time, and I was allowed to keep the cover from the crashed seat. :thumbsup:

 

R&J'sMom

New member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #17

If you keep your original receipt fo the seats can't you just fax it over for reimbursement? That's what I did, and they cut me a check right away and I went and bought replacements. When the replacements came, i surrendered the old seats to the claims adjuster. That way you don't have to fork over a huge sum of money for replacement seats.

 

lynsgirl

New member

• Jun 12, 2007

• #18

Jeanum said:

I didn't mention it in my earlier post, but wanted to add the AAA claims rep. didn't seem to care which seat I purchased to replace our crashed one as long as I surrendered the crashed seat and provided the receipt for reimbursement for the new one. Our crashed Marathon was replaced with another Marathon each time, and I was allowed to keep the cover from the crashed seat. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

I wasn't sure if USAA was going to ask for the crashed seats and in the event that they were, I wanted to be prepared. I cut the straps and tether, took the buckle tongues and chest clip off, etc and kept the covers. I didn't *think* they'd try to give them to "someone in need," but since it had just been discussed somewhere else that that had occurred (different insurance agency, though), I didn't want to take any chances. However, they just told dh to make sure he disposed of them properly and didn't reuse them. He assured them it would be taken care of .