Question On reimbursement for seats after an accident

First off, I'm new. Hi!

My husband was in a minor accident about 3 weeks ago. Someone turned into the driver's side of our car, hard and fast enough to throw off our alignment and cause him to nearly hit parked cars on the other side of where he was hit.

We had our 2 MySize 70 seats in the car, thankfully no kids in them. As Graco says to replace seats after any accident, that is what we did. I need to know how we can get the other drivers insurance to reimburse us. They just sent us a check for repairs on the vehicle, and we used some of that to buy new seats. Along with the check was a letter essentially saying they needed to know why we wanted our seats replaced.

So, advice would be great. Obviously Graco says to replace the seats, and it looks to me like Utah law says to follow manufacturer recommendation, albeit vaguely. Here's the wording for our law:

Utah's Child Restraint Law states: The operator of a motor vehicle operated on a highway shall provide for the protection of a person younger than eight years of age by using a child restraint device to restrain each person in the manner prescribed by the manufacturer of the device

So, yes? No? Am I massively misinterpreting it?

If they ins company is just asking WHY they need to be replaced I'd copy the page from the manual saying that they need to be replaced after any accident.

ETA - not sure how bad the accident was, if it meets the NHTSB criteria you could send that also: http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/childrestraints/reuse/restraintreuse.htm

If your accident doesn't meet those requirements I wouldn't send them, if it does then it's additional documentation that they do need to be replaced. Graco's statement about needing to be replaced after ANY accident trumps the NHTSA criteria. There are some carseat manufacturers that allow the seats to continue to be used after minor accidents. (hope that didn't make it more confusing for you)

aeormsby said:

If they ins company is just asking WHY they need to be replaced I'd copy the page from the manual saying that they need to be replaced after any accident.

ETA - not sure how bad the accident was, if it meets the NHTSB criteria you could send that also: http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/childrestraints/reuse/restraintreuse.htm

If your accident doesn't meet those requirements I wouldn't send them, if it does then it's additional documentation that they do need to be replaced. Graco's statement about needing to be replaced after ANY accident trumps the NHTSA criteria. There are some carseat manufacturers that allow the seats to continue to be used after minor accidents. (hope that didn't make it more confusing for you)

Click to expand...

The door closest to my oldest daughter's seat had some paint from the other driver on it, but I don't think that counts as damage. By NHTSA guidelines, it was indeed a minor accident.

The letter the insurance company sent us says this:

You have requested that both car seats in your vehicle be replaced as a result of this accident. Please advise the reason you wish the car seats to be replaced, and advise if they suffered damage in any way.

I would send a copy of the page in the manual saying they need to be replaced per the manufacturer and say you can not be 100% sure they did not suffer damage in any way.

mamamonkee said:

The door closest to my oldest daughter's seat had some paint from the other driver on it, but I don't think that counts as damage. By NHTSA guidelines, it was indeed a minor accident.

The letter the insurance company sent us says this:

You have requested that both car seats in your vehicle be replaced as a result of this accident. Please advise the reason you wish the car seats to be replaced, and advise if they suffered damage in any way.

Click to expand...

If it qualifies as a minor accident I would just copy the page from the carseat manual stating that the seats need to be replaced after any accident. It's usually in one of the warning section.