Car Accident-Claim Denied After Car Taken Apart

[CALTCAgent]

Hello,

I had a family member that had an accident. The Bureau of Automotive Repair(BAR) and Insurance Department complaints have been filed. So far the BAR has said the Body Shop should not have taken the car apart when more damage was noticed. The claim should have been approved first for more work before disassembly. However, they can't force the Shop to put the car back together to the condition when brought in.

The insurance department has not responded for over a month.

Insurance:

They didn't have collision coverage because the insurance company told them they had to have either uninsured motorist or collision, not both. They were confused.

Details:

They reported that they noticed the car damaged in the front bumper area and hood after being parked.

The car is taken to the body shop. A claim is approved for an initial amount by the insurance company. The bumper/grill is taken off. There is more damage than originally approved for that is visible. The claim doubles in cost. The body shop starts taking parts off-safety bar, radiator, lights, etc.

The insurance company denies the claim at this point They say they need to investigate by looking at a "black box" on the car. They can re-create the accident. They possibly feel it was not reported accurately. No air bags were deployed. I suspect they feel it is a collision by the family member and not a comprehensive claim as reported.

The Body Shop won't put the car back together so it can be driven away or parked on the street. They say its not safe and they can't get the parts back on. So the car sits there.

Is there anything that can be done at this point to solve this problem ?

 

[fed up]

You are an insurance agent with a family member that was confused about coverage. Okay, that happens. You have filed the complaints using your knowledge of insurance law. I think I would pull the vehicle out of the shop that has it, get another shop I have done business with or discussed the situation with to do a complete estimate and get the vehicle repaired out of pocket. If the carrier relents and agrees to pay your family member get reimbursed. If they stand firm on the denial your vehicle is already fixed and on the road.

 

[adjusterjack]

So far the BAR has said the Body Shop should not have taken the car apart when more damage was noticed.

What authority does the BAR cite for that opinion and is there any penalty against the shop for it?

The insurance department has not responded for over a month.

It generally takes more than a month for any insurance department to investigate and respond to complaints. In this case I don't see that the insurance company is doing anything wrong so the insured's will probably get a letter saying so.

They didn't have collision coverage because the insurance company told them they had to have either uninsured motorist or collision, not both. They were confused.

Are you the P&C agent that sold them the policy? I hope not, because his E&O is at risk. There is nothing confusing about the difference between Uninsured Motorists Property Damage Coverage and Collision Coverage.

Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) pays for the damage to your car from an accident with an uninsured driver who is at fault. The limit is $3,500. This only pays if the uninsured driver is identified. Collision, of course, covers any amount of repair up to the Actual Cash Value of the car. Easy for an agent to explain the difference so as not to confuse the client. On the other hand, the client may have understood the difference and took the lower cost coverage and is now trying to finagle the insurance company into paying for the repairs.

The insurance company denies the claim at this point They say they need to investigate by looking at a "black box" on the car. They can re-create the accident. They possibly feel it was not reported accurately. No air bags were deployed. I suspect they feel it is a collision by the family member and not a comprehensive claim as reported.

You got that right. And the insurance company is doing nothing wrong by taking that position.

The Body Shop won't put the car back together so it can be driven away or parked on the street. They say its not safe and they can't get the parts back on. So the car sits there.

And eventually will incur storage fees that the insurance company will not pay.

Is there anything that can be done at this point to solve this problem ?

I agree that the family member should either pay for the repairs or have all the parts put inside the car and get the car towed out of the shop to avoid storage charges.

Bumper, grill, radiator, lights, safety bar - That's no comp claim, it's collision. And that's how I think this will play out.

 

[CALTCAgent]

What authority does the BAR cite for that opinion and is there any penalty against the shop for it?

Good question. BAR says that disassembly was not signed on the Body shop forms. Therefore they say there is a law that says they must put back together. The only thing that was signed was to fix the car. This is tricky because the claim was denied. The Shop says they discovered more damage when taking certain parts off (radiator, safety bar). However the extra damage was immediately visible with the bumper/grill off.(frame, safety bar, radiator, lights)

BAR says they can only fine the shop when they show a pattern a bad behavior. So this complaint would have to be added to other complaints and then they could be fined. They said a $5,000 dollar fine was possible. The shop does not seemed too worried.

Are you the P&C agent that sold them the policy? I hope not, because his E&O is at risk.

No. I don't have a P&C license. Just helping them sort this out.