My Wife Was Rear-ended in an Automobile Accident and We Got Two Estimates Including One From The Dealer For Repairs and Yet the Other Person’s Insurance Company Only Offered a Fraction of Each - What To Do?
Two weeks ago, I was consulted by a woman whose vehicle was rear-ended while her son was with her and thankfully she suffered no injuries. However, her vehicle sustained rear-end damage. She was advised by her BMW dealer that the cost of repairs would be approximately $2,400 and another shop wrote the estimate at close to $2,000 allowing for a supplement. The insurance adjuster for the defendant’s company evaluated that it would cost approximately $1,100 at most for the repair and wanted to use used parts. The property damage adjuster is responsible for writing the repair estimate for your vehicle after a car accident. The insurance company is liable for all property damage related to the accident. In this scenario although liability was clear, the insured attempted to settle on his own without his insurance company for a fraction of a fraction offered by his insurance company.
Simply put, if you are involved in an automobile accident through the fault of another, you are entitled to be paid full value for property damage and do not have to use used parts. You are also entitled to reasonable automobile rental charges incurred as a result of the accident, as well as the costs attributed to the accident such as towing, storage, etc. In the defend, delay, deny culture embodying the mentality of insurance companies these days, if there is a tremendous disparity between the estimates of your body shop, another shop, and what the adjuster writes, a red flag should go up. In most cases, the insurance company is trying to negotiate on an uneven playing field and if you are not injured and do not have an attorney to take your case, they are betting that you will accept the lowest fee and that they can get away with using used parts. In fact, don’t be bullied by these individuals. You can even file a small claims court complaint if the matter in question is under $10,000.00. If in fact you were seriously injured you should contact an experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyer as well.
