Insurance Question

When you wreck, how do you go about being reimbursed for your car seats? DH totalled his car on Thursday. In speaking with the adjuster over the phone, he told them about the 2 child safety seats that were in the car and would need replaced, and the adjuster said it would be noted... but never asked what they were or how much they cost or anything. Do they send a check based on MSRP, or do I have to buy first, then send them a copy of the receipt or something? We're supposed to hear back by tomorrow about what they're giving us for the Durango, they wouldn't include in with that check, would they? It's Allstate.

Can you tell I'm new to this whole thing? I've never wrecked or anything (I've only owned 2 cars in my entire life).

I had State Farm, and I told them that there were two seats that needed to be replaced and they asked me to email them the links to what they were online and they added that that to the total amount of the claim for the totaled vehicle.

cryswilkins said:

I had State Farm, and I told them that there were two seats that needed to be replaced and they asked me to email them the links to what they were online and they added that that to the total amount of the claim for the totaled vehicle.

Click to expand...

That's the thing too, since I had a Radian65 - would I send a link to the new R100 since they don't make the Radian65 anymore?

Hmm. I know that there are some places that still have the Radians in stock. So I would look to find one and tell them that you paid full price for it x number of years ago and they are discounted now because they don't make them.

Or here:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Kids-Radian65-Convertible-Seat/dp/B000G7YM06/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1323053322&sr=8-3"]Amazon.com: Sunshine Kids Radian65 Convertible Car Seat - Champagne: Baby[/ame]

Or here:

http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=204579189&sellerid=19419624

With my insurance company(a public government provider) I told the call taker that I had a car seat in the vehicle. I then went out and bought a comparable seat(you can replace a My Ride with a True Fit, but not a Scenera with a Radian), brought the receipt and the crashed seat with me to my estimation appointment and they copy the receipt to mail me a check for the cost of the new seat, including taxes.

Depends on your insurance company...

Ours has us replace the seats with something *similar* and send them the bills and the seats to be destroyed. Oh, and they want a copy or the original bill from when you bought them in the first place. I've heard some places only want the straps sent in, which makes me laugh b/c you can just buy new ones, so why ask for them at all!?

It's worth calling the adjuster as they are all different, even with in the same insurance company.

As for old vs new seat, I'd try for the new one since the old one is discontinued, unless you really liked the cover and look forward to having a spare. So, don't forget either way to save the cover (ours lets us).

tam

With Allstate I had to provide receipts if possible. I only had one, so I emailed that receipt, and a link to a similar seat for sale at BRU. It was a separate check from the one for the vehicle. I had to turn in the seats, but they let me keep the covers.

FTR, Allstate was our insurance company in that instance, but dh wasn't at fault. The other party's carrier was being uncooperative, so we went through our own.

I think you'll find it will depend on your adjuster as much as it depends on your insurance company. They all may have written policies but each adjuster will still have their own way of handling things based on their knowledge (or lack there of) of that policy and seats in general.

We have Geico, and the at fault party had Nationwide. I called my own insurance first and was told they had "people certified" to be able to inspect a seat as to whether it can be used again. I laughed at her, but she was probably just spouting policy or what she thought it was, or whatever. I ended up not having to go through them though because Nationwide finally got their poop in a group. In dealing with them, I had one adjuster who kept skirting the seats. "I'll note it." and so forth. For whatever reason, I got a new adjuster and he gave me no trouble at all. We did everything on line, and I never laid eyes on anyone, not even for the check for damages. They just contacted the place where we got our estimate.

Anyway, I emailed pictures of the seat, as well as a pic of the page where Graco states seats must be replaced after any accident. I sent him a link to the seat, but he did his own research and found the least expensive place to order the seat from, lol. Cut me a check for that amount. I kept the seat-destroyed and sold the cover.