Remember my car accident? Need help

wendy1221

New member
Well insurance is giving us a hard time reimbursing. I'm afraid we're going to have to get a lawyer. We should have dealt directly with the person at fault's insurance I think. Our insurance co isn't advocating for us as much as I'd like. We only got half of what we paid for a rental back, and the adjuster just called and said they didn't want to pay for new carseats b/c they weren't needed. I took off the covers and threw the seats in the dumpster on a rainy night the night before trash pickup so no one would find them. They sat in my living room until I remembered to take them out a night that the garbage truck would come the next morning. It was extra luck it was raining. :)

Is someone who is a technician here willing to send me an email stating their name, their qualifications (do you get a CPS # or something?) and a statement saying you advised me to destroy the old carseats and get new ones? I would really appreciate it!

He works for MY insurance. They won't be paying the money, I don't know why he is acting like I'm crazy first for replacing the carseats and second for spending $900 on 4 carseats. I told him that that was actually less than the retail price for the 4 carseats we had in the van. He said since no one was in them, they didn't need to be replaced! Can someone please send me an email that I can fax to him telling him why I needed to replace the seats, perhaps that it is NHTSA's guidelines, etc? I would appreciate it so much!!! Thanks!

I really need to get this money back! We put everything on a credit card.:(
 
ADS

wendy1221

New member
By the way, I don't know if you need to know, but I had 4 Britax seats: a Regent, a Parkway, a Boulevard, and a Companion.

To replace them, I bought a Graco SS1, a SK Monterrey booster, and 2 Frontiers.
 

wendy1221

New member
Well, I mentioned to the adjuster that a CPS tech had advised me to replace the seat and he said he wanted a copy of an email or something faxed to him. Or the name of a CPS tech he could call. Maybe I should call the local ones and see if they'd be willing to back me up. They're really hard to get ahold of. :(
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
Is someone who is a technician here willing to send me an email stating their name, their qualifications (do you get a CPS # or something?) and a statement saying you advised me to destroy the old carseats and get new ones? I would really appreciate it!

Could you link to your original thread describing the accident so that, in case someone's willing to do this, they can read about the circumstances of the accident?
 

MomToEliEm

Moderator
Could you link to your original thread describing the accident so that, in case someone's willing to do this, they can read about the circumstances of the accident?

Here was one of her posts (I was looking so I could get an idea of how minor the accident was):

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=56333

Since the car wasn't drivable, it does not meet the requirements of a minor accident as showin at the NHTSA website (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/ChildRestraints/ReUse/RestraintReUse.htm). That should be enough to show the insurance.
 

wendy1221

New member
I actually just called the place where they have car seat checks and the CPS tech answered the phone! In the past I'd had a hard time finding a time getting an appointment, but maybe she was on vacation or something that made it confusing. It's been a while. I had been planning on having the ss1 install anyway. I think it's as good as it gets, but it's not as rock solid as the Companion always was.

So I'm going to see her tomorrow morning to check install and she is going to write up something/print something off for me to fax in. She also said if I give her the adjuster's # she'll call and talk to him. :D She also mentioned she's been a CPS tech for over 25 years, so he'd better take her word for it! ;)

The accident wasn't very bad, but the van did have to be towed, so that automatically means the seats have to be replaced.
 

emandbri

Well-known member
quoting the old post

"But insurance told us to go ahead and replace the seats when we asked and we got them and used them in the rental."

It seems very wrong to me to have them tell you to buy new seats and then tell you oh wait we changed our mind we now aren't going to pay for them. You already bought the new seats, they need to stick with what they said.
 

wendy1221

New member
Yes, I know. I'm extremely irritated right now. The adjuster just called me back and said his supervisor said not to bother with the note or whatever from the tech because their guidelines, which he claims is straight from NHTSA, says that since the seats weren't occupied, they didn't need to be replaced!
 

wendy1221

New member
Well, never mind. I decided to call the other person's insurance directly and the woman was very helpful. :D

I have to fax her the receipts for our new car seats. She said it would be helpful if I have receipts or something showing that I had comparable seats in the van when it was wrecked, but it hopefully won't be necessary. I don't htink I have receipts fo rthe old ones. THey're all registered w/ Britax, though. I wonder if Britax could somehow send me something saying they have those seats on record as being registered to me. Hmmmm.
 

BW1426

Well-known member
Call Britax. They should fax you a letter stating the your seats need to be replaced. I think that's going to be your best bet.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I would direct him to NHTSA's requirements for use after a crash, and also give details about why this accident didn't qualify.
 

wendy1221

New member
I would direct him to NHTSA's requirements for use after a crash, and also give details about why this accident didn't qualify.

I did, and he said since they weren't occupied, it doesn't matter, they don't need to be replaced. :mad:

But it's ok b/c the other ins co, the ones who are covering the at fault car, aren't hassling me, she said she'll send the check as soon as she gets my receipts. Dh is supposed to fax them today.

I did go to my car seat check. The lady was really nice. I had the ss1 reclined just a smidge too much, and she fixed that. I actually knew I had it over reclined a smidge, but the baby's head was slumping. Now that she's quite a bit bigger (amazing how fast they grow at first!) it should be ok.
 

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