Question Replacing seats after a fender bender

[SillyLily]

I was in a very minor accident on Saturday. I was backing out, and another vehicle backed into me. I drive a sedan, he was driving a Chevy Avalanche. The three car seats in the car were a Radian, a Britax Chaperone, and a Maxi Cosi Priori. All three seats were occupied. The accident was at very, very slow speeds (I was stopped, he was probably going between 5-10 mph). It was enough to make my car jump, but that was it. There were no injuries, the airbags did not deploy on either vehicle.

Normally, I would feel perfectly comfortable with continuing to use the seats. However, I am concerned because I just got an estimate on the damages to the car, and they are $4,400! I just can't wrap my mind around continuing to use seats after an accident that may have "totaled" my car. The damage seems fairly minimal to the naked eye, but it was obviously more severe than I realized.

Should I continue to use the seats? Or should I ask the insurance company to replace them? Is it worth it to fight with the insurance if they balk? I am sure this will most likely be ruled "no fault" or "both parties at fault" since it was a parking lot accident and we were both backing up (although my insurance may fight it, since I wasn't moving when he hit).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[safeinthecar]

First, I would want to get a breakdown of the repair costs and a second opinion if the damages may be high enough to be a total (unless you *want* a new car anyway). That total seems awfully high for a 5mph crash.

Barring that, your seats do meet NHTSA's criteria for a minor crash, which is also endorsed by Britax. The other two car seat manufacturers say replace under all circumstances, but you could certainly make the choice to follow the NHTSA guidelines since there are conflicting opinions on the subject. In any case, the seats should be covered as part of the insurance claim if you do decide to replace them.

 

[steph_s]

:yeahthat:

Also, depending on where you were hit if say 2 of the back panels (top and bottom) and the bumper needs replaced this is the reason for the high repair costs. My dad just replaced the lower part of the back panel on his car and it was $1200 alone just getting the part (he did the labor).

 

[babybeesmama]

The SAME thing just happend to me 2 weeks ago. I just got my car back after 4 days at the shop and $3,990 later....The insurance company replaced my car seats (even one I had in the trunk) without a fight, just told me to send them the costs for the new seats!!! It was very easy and I think that more people are becoming aware of the 1 crash life that the insurance co doesnt fight it as much anymore! Good Luck

 

[SillyLily]

Thank you for the replies! I am going to ask the adjuster about it, but I don't think I will fight them on it.

The insurance estimator came out, and his estimate was only $2400, which is a bit more reasonable. I have a feeling it will end up being more, because he said if they have to blend the paint on a couple of the panels then it will add at least another $500. Plus there is some damage behind the bumper that he could not see all of, so it depends on if they have to replace anything in there.

Unfortunately, the adjuster doesn't seem to be returning my calls. Lovely. And apparently they sent me a check for the estimate minus my deductible?! In the past, they've always paid the body shop directly (I've been rear-ended once, and someone tried to steal one of our cars a little over a year ago). I don't think I'll cash the check, because I haven't even had a chance to talk to them about the at-fault issue! Grrrr...

Oh, and I'm kind of upset about this because we were planning on selling the car in a few months. I'm sure this is probably going to make the car worth a lot less.

 

[Pixels]

Do NOT cash the check until you are 100% satisfied that that's all they need to pay. Cashing the check is the equivalent of accepting their settlement offer.

With mine, the insurance initially sent me a check. Then I had the option of cashing the check and not fixing the car, cashing the check and getting the work done at any body shop I wanted, or signing the check over to a pre-approved body shop. The benefit of using the pre-approved body shop is that (1) the insurance co will guarantee the work for as long as I own the vehicle (2) the body shop agrees to do the work for what the insurance co is paying and (3) any additional damage that isn't found until work has started will get added on, and the ins co pays the shop directly for the difference.