Collision repair paid for by insurance company

Factual Questions
1

Answers from auto insurance and collision service professionals preferred, please.

Hi. On Monday morning, while I was driving home after dropping my daughter off at school, I was rear-ended by another driver. Her front end was totaled, while the rear bumper and bumper cover on my Edge were scratched up pretty badly (and a small hole punched into the bumper itself). We exchanged insurance information, and I called my insurance company and got referred to their preferred body shop. My agent told me that the company insists on factory parts for collision repair, and that I would be responsible for a $500 deductible. :frowning:

So I drove to the shop and had their guy take a photo of the damage. I told him that I was interested in working it out so that the repairs could be done without my having to leave the vehicle overnight (because I don’t have reimbursement for a rental car on my policy). He said, “But if you were rear-ended, that’s going to be taken care of by the other driver’s insurance company.” Cool! :slight_smile: Also, I don’t have to pick up the deductible! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

So I drove back home, called my insurance company, had them close out the claim they had opened, then called the other driver’s company and had them add the damage to my car onto the claim the young lady had already opened. By that evening, I had heard from the claims adjuster that they were accepting the liability, and I made arrangements to bring it in to the body shop on Tuesday, for the estimate to be made and agreed on (and to rent a car).

It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that the estimator from the insurance company showed up, but they got their work done pretty quickly. In addition to replacing the bumper and bumper cover, they are replacing some of the hardware that comprises a “shock zone” (or something like that), and the left side exhaust system (bent muffler).

Here’s the thing: the exhaust components are being replaced with factory parts, but the bumpers are being replaced with aftermarket components.

Is this common, when the other driver’s insurance is picking up the entire tab, as opposed to when a deductible is involved? Or am I letting myself be screwed over by instructing the body shop to proceed?*

I suspect that having an aftermarket bumper on this is going to make it unacceptable to CarMax for later when I want to sell it to them. Is this an issue I should have fought the insurance company over before telling the body shop to proceed, or can I go after them for a little extra cash on account of excessive depreciation?

Thanking you all in advance for any assistance/enlightenment you can offer me.

*I didn’t have any choice about that, btw. Even though the insurance company is reimbursing me for the rental, the hold on my credit card is bringing me about as close to my financial edge as I’ve been in four years. I’ve got to get this rental over with ASAP.

2

According to Edmunds.com there is normally no difference in quality between oem and aftermarket bumpers. Couldn’t tell you what Carmax will say though.

3

Although I am not an insurance industry professional, in my experience as a consumer, when someone else damages your car, you still work through your insurance company to file the claim.

4

Not in my experience. It was 100% the other guy’s fault, and my insurance said “Only call us if you have a problem with his insurance company.”

5

You can, but it’s usually better to work through the other person’s insurance company.

If you go through your company, you have to pay your deductible, and you may or may not have coverage for something like a rental car. You gotta pay for that stuff out of pocket and get reimbursed later. If you work with the other company, they should cover those costs from the get go.

This doesn’t apply if you’re at fault or if fault is disputed.

Too late now, as your acceptance of their reimbursement likely contained a waiver of future claims. Not sure the other company has an obligation to meet your request to use factory parts if you had requested it at the time.

6

I got sideswiped by someone in a rental car, and worked through my insurance company. I did pay the deductible, but got reimbursed for it very quickly.

7

I don’t know if this will still work, but about 20 years ago when my car was rear ended by a truck I got the estimate at the dealer which was based on manufacturers parts. The other insurance company paid that amount in full.

8

The accident itself is going to be what devalues your car at resale/trade-in time, not (in my experience) an aftermarket bumper. It will look exactly like a factory one and the person who does an evaluation of your car is not going to (again, in my experience) be able to tell if you don’t tell them. The fact that there will be an accident on your car’s history is where you will lose value. I was in auto sales for 9 years and have done many trade appraisals. I’ve never once heard a sales manager ask if repairs were made with OEM or aftermarket parts. It may make a difference in higher end vehicles but for a Ford, I think you are fine.

9

Now you get directed to a shop which is connected to the insurance company, and which transmits claim information electronically. I would guess that they are obligated to follow the insurance company rules, which might involve using the cheapest approved parts. When I got hit I was directed to a web page with the network shops and got to choose one. No more going around getting estimates.

10

I work at an insurance company. This is called steering, and it is illegal. Perhaps you misunderstood or perhaps the rep explained it poorly, but you never *have *to use a body shop in your insurance company’s network. They can provide incentives to do so. A couple of those may be deductible reduction or a guarantee of the repairs for as long as you own the vehicle. But they *cannot *require you go to any particular shop. When there is an accident, you have the absolute right to choose the shop that repairs your vehicle. If you choose a shop outside their network, they have to allow it. Usually they will send an appraiser out then, to make sure the shop you chose is on the up-and-up and isn’t inflating their estimates.

Use of aftermarket parts is the default choice in the vast majority of states, no matter whether you pay your deductible to your insurer or whether the other party’s insurance is paying for your damages. Insurance companies always try to minimize their payouts.

If you insist on having OEM parts instead of aftermarket, you can have them. You’ll have to pay for the price difference between them, though. http://www.carsdirect.com/car-insurance/car-insurance-policies-and-oem-vs-aftermarket-parts

11

I know you didn’t want responses that are anecdotal but I got sideswiped by a car coming in the opposite direction several years back; he suddenly swerved right into me. We both pulled over, the guy asked, “what happened?” and I replied, “you hit me.” It turned out he’d blown a tire right at that moment and lost control momentarily. No police were called. He gave me his insurance information, I did not give him mine. His insurance came out that day to assess the damage, did not ask for my insurance or anything else, told me which repair shop to go to, and they fixed everything.

Which was pretty lucky for me, as unbeknownst to me at the time, my insurance had lapsed and I had none.

12

Call the other guy’s insurance company and tell them that you had OEM parts that were destroyed, not aftermarket, and want OEM parts to replace the destroyed parts. Plus you had annoyances and inconveniences in taking your car to various dealerships to get estimates, and don’t feel that a simple repair will make you whole. State that if you aren’t satisfied, you might have to call an attorney and sue their insured to get fully compensated.

*IANAL, this isn’t legal advice. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

13

It can go either way. My parked car was once hit by a loader; the contractor’s insurance company took care of everything. Another time I was rear-ended in a whiteout by a truck; their insurance company was balky, so I had my company deal with them. Both times, I was made whole.

14

Ok there is a lot of misinformation in this thread. I am in insurance but my state may differ ect ect ect.

Ok try to understand that the insurance company actually does not have to do anything for you. They have no contract with you and if they say never mind we don’t like you and wont fix your car… what are you going to do? You now have to sue and for a small claim it is just not going to happen in most cases.

Now practically they are going to try to do what a court would make them do if you sued them. So if a judge would tell them to put on OEM parts they will do that as a matter of course.

But in reality the insurance company can even put used parts on your car because you have used parts on your car right now. If your car is 5 years old and they put a 2 year old part on it what is the loss to you?.

Regarding aftermarket parts. they will not hurt you in the least when you trade or sell your car.

Athe question of the company "steering "you to a shop, it is legal and sometimes preferred, you usually get a better warranty and more clout with the insurance company behind you. If you take the money and a shop messes up you are stuck if a prefered shop messes up the company will see it is made right.

Hope this helps

Don

15

Thanks to all for the responses. I now no longer have second thoughts about having told them to proceed with the work.

16

I’m not an adjuster, but I take auto claims from all 50 states.

But they cannot *force *you to use a shop in their network. That’s the “steering” I am referring to. They can suggest a particular shop, and offer financial incentives and a better guarantee for going there. They can certainly *request *that you get an estimate done at one of their shops. But you can refuse to get an inspection done at their shop, at which point they will send an appraiser to make sure the estimate is in line with the damage. The vehicle owner absolutely retains the right to have their repairs done atthe facility of their choice.

Any insurance company who did this on a regular basis would be sued into oblivion for bad faith *so *fast.

17

Very much agree. I pay premiums so that if I screw up, my insurance company protects me. If they don’t do that by trying to short change the other guy and thereby opening me up to a lawsuit and possible exposure of my personal assets, that’s the very definition of bad faith.