rear-ended

[69MyWay]

Sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds like you are now on the right track. I am an insurance professional and see this happen all the time. I would like to believe that I have never "low balled" or attempted to pay anybody less than what I owe. However, value is in the eye of the beholder.

I was going to share some suggestions with you if the car was considered a total loss. No sense though, since they are going to fix it.

I was in a bad car accident in May of this year. Being in the business has not made things any smoother for me. My car was totalled out (not a Vette). I have the same old neck/back - whiplash pain. My real concern is my right shoulder. It looks like there is some kind of rip or tear in there.

Just remember, claim adjusters are people too. If you take an aggressive angle, or threaten legal intervention-chances are you will simply delay your own claim. There is a time and place for legal assistance. Usually when you have hit a brick wall and have exhausted all means of reasonably resolving the issue.

Don't ask for anything out of the claim that you would not be willing to pay somebody else if it was your fault---ie, all over paint job, new tires, repairs of unrelated damage. The adjusters are bound by law to only pay you what was damaged, nothing more, nothing less. This often appears as if you are being cheated-especially if your paint has some fade to it already.

Good luck. Let us know how it all comes out.

 

[Nut]

Good News

Hoss,

Glad things are working out. Let us know when you're back on the road and I'll slide over from the Peoples Republic of Maryland grab some of the other NVa troops including our CAC leader and hook up for eats and stories.

Regards......... Nut

 

[schnelkc74]

Rear-ended

Sorry to hear about the collision.

I'd like to tell you my story...I purchased a 74 convt about 3 years ago, and 9 days after I bought the car I was hit by a lady trying to turn across traffic. Nearly totaled the car, I had the body shop talk very highly of the car to the adjuster to make sure they wouldn't total it. Needless to say, the car was in the shop for 8 months, and the insurance company (USAA Casualty Ins) wouldn't pay to have the whole car painted, or pay to fix the front cowl area that had to be repaired before the front clip was put on, or a for a rental car for eight months. It wasn't a fun experience, but after it was all said and done, I have a really nice car now with a $3500 paint job, that I drive on a daily basis. So, the moral of the story is that yes you will get ripped off by the insurance company, and you will have to pay some out of pocket expenses to get the car fixed right. But, in the end you'll own a better, nicer car.

BTW, about 3 months after I got the car back I was then rear ended at a stop light. The guy was only going about 5mph when he hit me, and amazingly there was not a thing wrong with the car, not even a scratch!

Hope everything works out...

 

[69MyWay]

Schnelkc74,

Please remember that the purpose of insurance is to put your auto / home....whatever, back to exactly like it was miliseconds before the accident. If your car's paint is faded and you are rear ended, the back of you car should be painted to repair the damage. Unfortunatley, body shops have not figured out how to age paint so that it matches the paint that is currently on our vehicles. I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with USAA, my family has had them for years and loves the company.

At least the body shop did a great job on the repair work.

I am also glad to hear that the car held up to a low speed accident and was not hurt. That is great news for any C3 owner.

Enjoy the Forum.

Nikki
(Chris' better half)

 

[77vette]

Update......I met with the guys at Stingrays Autobody on Saturday and seemed quite impressed with them and their work in progress on other vettes there. They said they would have to get the Estimator back out there and take another look with them present as he missed some things..... one being, staightening the frame, which is a concern I have, but they said not to worry. They want to go ahead and paint the whole car so it will look like new and the same all over. I told them to give me a price for out of pocket expense and I will decide then. It appears that the insurance will cover repairs and paint from the doors back. So far, everyone has been very cooperative....I'll keep you all posted...Hoss

 

[69MyWay]

Do you have any pictures of it?

 

[77vette]

Chris....go to "members rides" and "search" 77vette..... I was too distraught to take pics of her after the accident....Hoss

 

[schnelkc74]

Chris,

I completely understand the insurance companies point of view. However, I feel all three things I mentioned should have been paid for by the insurance company. First, if you only paint half the car, the paint won't match, hence the car will not look like it did did a millisecond before the crash. Second, the body shop said that the front clip could not be attached without fixing the the cowl area (which may or may not have been damanged in the collision), without attaching the front clip the car obviously wouldn't have been the way it was before the accident. Finally, they would only pay for 30 days of a rental car, I talked to several body shops and given the damage they all said that it would take 5 to 8 months for repair. Unfortuatly, the insurance company views the car just as it views a 1998 toyota that can be easily repaired and they say there is no way it should take so long.

Anyway, just my two cents.

 

[rpounds]

I'm glad to hear that you are not suffering any lasting problems from your ordeal, horse. With that aside, it is too bad about your vette. It is truly irreplaceable. Can you find another like it? Oh, I'm sure that you can . . . but it is never the same, is it? Sorry for your loss. Keep the faith!! You'll be back on the road in no time!!

 

[69MyWay]

Re: Chris,

I completely understand the insurance companies point of view.

I hear what you are saying. My awesome wife actually replied to your previous post on this subject. She happens to know a lot about insurance by listening to the stories I tell about stuff that happens at work.

In theory, the insurance company is obligated to indemnify the individual for the damaged property (no better, no worse-the milisecond before thing). It all depends on if you are going through your own coverage, or the liability of the other party. I think often people feel like they are getting ripped off by their own company because there are limitations on what the collision or comprehensive policy covers (ie. max limit on rental per day and time limits of 30 days etc). That boils down to the contractual obligation.

On the other hand, if you are going through the liability carrier for the responsible party, they are obligated to pay the entire loss subject to the limit of liability available on that policy. This is where it gets tricky. Very few insurance adjusters have any clue as to what it takes to paint a car, much less fiberglass repairs and paint. They will often impose "make believe" limitations on maximum rental allowed, repair time, and parts used. I know from changing my front clip, it takes a long time and there are tons of other factors involved. Eight months seems excessive, but if the shop has documentation and shows steady progress, I believe I would allow that under a liability situation.

They often forget that their job is to protect the individual that harmed your property from personal liability. That means, you have the option of rejecting the insurance payment and file suit direct against the individual that caused the loss. Therefore, you can claim all of your direct damages as a result of loss, no time limit, no strings attached. However, attorneys are rarely intersted in handling property damage cases. Mainly because they can't get 1/3rd of your settlement if 100% of the settlement goes to fix the car. Thus, they are truly only motivated by any injury that can be developed for the purposes of a pain and suffering settlement. Some will get you in the door to talk about your property damage dilema. By the time you leave their office, you will have an appt. to see a chiropracter.

In Florida, the minimum property damaged liability limit is $10,000. That can cause a problem from the liability side. That is if you choose to work through the other person's insurance the most they can pay is $10,000. In that event, you may get your rental cut short, limited repairs, etc. Nobody wins in these situations. Note to everybody, you should carry at least $50,000 property liability coverage (just my .o2).

I am one of the few insurance adjusters that has hands on experience with collision repair, paint, and the custom car world. As a result, I am often used as a resource for others. I try to help bridge some of those gaps where the other adjusters don't understand what is really involved in a repair and the customer is stuck in the middle.

Don't know if I am making any sense here. This is a huge subject and needs to be handled on a case by case basis in relation to the facts of the loss, coverage (first party or liability), and parties involved.

Paint is a major problem. The law is the same for most all states on this issue. Insurance (collision or liability coverage) tends to follow legal decisions of the past. It is possible that it would not be that big of a deal. However, at least once a week we get somebody with a car that already needed a new paint job with some damage on the car from an accident. Instead of being reasonable, they start shouting for an all over paint job. Yes, these tend to be older Vettes and other collectible cars. By the time you come along with yours, there have already been hundreds before you making the same argument. The insurance may agree to paint the whole car, but they are going to charge depreciation which amounts to the owner coming out of pocket for the difference.

Okay, before you totally hate me, I have to tell you I have bridged that gap for several people for specific reasons. For example, cars with pearl paint, custom candy colors, and obsolete colors require all over paint jobs to match after a collision. However, I will only throw my weight in on these battles if I can tell the old paint has been cared for and is not in need of replacement before the collision.

I have also had a handful of customers stick it to me after going out of my way to help. Of recent, I got involved with a claim on a Vette that had a pearl paint scheme. I helped convince the other adjuster to go ahead and pay for an all over paint for some minimal door damage with no depreciation.

This wonderful customer then took the $3,000 plus extra dollars, had the shop simply repaint the car a straight color and laughed all the way to the bank. It would not be so bad, except how he begged and begged for our help to get back his pearl paint.

Alright, sorry for writing a book here. Like I said it is a deep subject and emotions run high on both sides. The final thing I would like to add is directed at the shops. Often the body shop will get the problem started. Modern techniques, and paint process make it possible to match virtually any paint. However, some shops are still old school and don't have the ability to do so. Instead, they will dog the customer and tell them how the car will never look right==then the customer jumps on the insurace company, then the battle starts. In the end, guess who profits????? Would that be the shop......yes. Some are really good at this cat and mouse game. They will end up over inflating the job and they don't care who pays the extra $$$$$-you or the insurance. I guess that is just another way of pumping up the bottom line for the body shop business.

Feel free anytime to bounce insurance situations off me. I may not give you the answer you want, but I will do my best to give it to you like it is. Also, I am only licensed in Florida. So, I can only give you my opinion of what should or should not happen in other states.

Chris

 

[77vette]

Chris... thanks for your insight....it helps to know what I may be up against. Today I spoke to the folks at Stingrays Autobody and their estimate is up to around $6800, the estimators was $4500. They hope to get the estimator(insurance co.) to accept it. And yes, they are already talking about doing the whole car to make it look right. I told them to work up a price for me and they said they would as soon as they knew what the insurance covered.?:confused In the mean time, I'm driving a Buick Regal rental car......BORING...Thanks, Hoss

 

[Eric]

Hey Hoss,

Just to make sure you're getting a straight deal from the shop, you might want to shoot an itemized copy of the estimate to Corvette Specialists in Alexandria just to see what they say.

 

[77vette]

71Shark....funny you mentioned them. I already had my experience with Corvette Specialists. I had my vette in there about a month ago to have a radiator installed, left rear trailing arm assembly installed and timing set. They installed rear shocks also without my blessing. Sixteen hundred dollars and six weeks later,I get the vette back. On the way home I noticed my tach didn't work and the antenna was missing. I circled back and had them reconnect the tach and put my antenna back on. I think they take on too much business for the number of employees they have. There were a lot of excuses for receiving wrong parts, delayed parts, etc. By the way, the vette still ran hot and the engine still ran rough. I've decided that they will not be getting anymore of my business. Thanks anyway. Hope to see you at Burger King soon. Hoss

 

[Eric]

I think they take on too much business for the number of employees they have. Hope to see you at Burger King soon. Hoss

I think that ruins a lot of businesses - not knowing when to turn customers away.

As far as Burger King goes, I hope to be there this Saturday unless it rains. I have to do some electrical work for a friend on Saturday AM but it shouldn't take more than 3-5 hours so if all goes well I should be there by about 5:30. Fortunately for me, I live about 2 miles from BK so even with my brakes as yet unrepaired (don't worry they work) I still feel okay going there.

 

[schnelkc74]

Chris,

Thanks so much for the info. I wish I knew you when I had my collision. I do live in Florida and I did go through the insurance company of the person at fault. I wasn't aware of some of the things you were talking about. As an added note on that, I didn't actually get a rental car because I had another vehicle, which I found out from the body shop that they should pay $10 a day for (which I'm sure is much less than a rental would have been anyway). I had to bring that up to then, and that's when they agreed to only pay for 26 days without a car or $260.

Again, thanks for the info!

 

[69MyWay]

Re: Chris,

Again, thanks for the info!

You are welcome, sorry though for writing a whole book. I have to always add that part about Florida so a person in another state does not attempt to use any of that kind of information without checking the local laws and regulations.

There are some cases now before the Supreme Court (appeals process) regarding diminuation of value. That is, making a claim above and beyond just the repairs for the amount of value a car may have lost as a result of being damaged. This is an even deeper subject (like pain and suffering for your car). Keep your eyes open, because it could become law. If it does, a lot of people will be happy about the $$$ they get. It will also drive insurance premiums out of sight.

Stay tuned.