Post-crash help for a friend in NC??

A friend of mine was in a little fender-bender 3 weeks ago in NC. The booster her son uses was in the car, but he wasn't in it, so the insurance co. said it didn't need to be replaced.

On Sunday, they were in another accident. This one much more serious ($5K worth of front-end and rear-end damage from hitting a pole, bouncing off and hitting another car). This time, her son was in his booster seat. According to her, insurance told her "since he's in a seat that uses the seatbelt and not straps that he doesn't need a new one." I can hardly believe that is true--is it?

Thankfully, these two incidents have made her realize that "He needs a better seat ANYWAY so I think we'll be getting a new one soon... but that's what insurance said..." (Her son is 4.5, 43 or so pounds, don't know how tall.)

They're REALLY REALLY strapped for cash, though, so I know money is of concern. They lost everything they had in the floods that happened in NC last year, and have started from scratch. She'd love a Nautilus for him but they simply can't afford it.

Anyway, can someone tell me if the insurance company is correct, or what she can do to fight that?

Booster seats do absob crash forces, so he needs a new seat period. She shoud contact the seat manufacturer and ask for a letter on their letterhead for her insurance.

Susan

I am in NC and I don't believe that there is a law mandating insurance replacement after a crash. I would recommend that she call the insurance customer service line as if she was inquiring about a policy and see if the insurance company normally replaces carseats after a crash. If so., she can go back to her agent with that information and the page from the manual that states the carseat/booster cannot be reused after a crash.