Insurance question
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
My car got side-swiped the other month, scuffed up my left-rear bumper. Insurance said they'd cover it but, when we took it to the body shop, they noticed that our back bumper already had cosmetic damage to it. So now our insurer is saying that since the bumper already had existing damage, they won't cover the full cost of the repair (which will require them replacing the entire bumper).Keep in mind: if the bumper was completely pristine previous to the accident, they would have paid to replace the entire thing, no question. But since we had some scuffs and scrapes prior, now they're hitting us with a $500 charge, basically on some, "we're not going to pay to improve your car above and beyond what the accident caused." I'm assuming this is some business-as-usual policy but it seems like bullshit to me. Assuming the insurer doesn't budge, does it make sense to find a different body shop that can fix the damage without replacing the whole damn bumper?
Comments
what kind of car is it? most bumpers on (new-ish/non luxury) vehicles are pretty simple to remove and replace. You can check around the interwebs for a new bumper and expect to pay $150-$200-ish to have it painted with the OEM paint. Tell the insurance company you'd rather take the difference between the repair estimate and the pre-existing damage charge over having them handle the repair.(press them on the $500, that seems a bit high) then go the DIY removal/replacement route to get your car back into shape-- you might even make a little $$$ (depending on the replacement bumper/paint cost,) which would be nice, since your premiums will probably go up after all of this is done.
Reminds me of a friend of mine in Arizona. She needed surgery for something (eye related) and her provider was going to cover her until they pulled out that she once 4 years ago told her doctor that she had a sore back for a couple of days from lifting something heavy.
Coverage denied!
My wife recently discovered that her health insurance doesn't cover anything related to her eye. Anything else is covered, but if your eye pops out, you better figure out how to put it back in yourself. WTF?
But I hate how they toy with you...
Oh, we'll cover you no prob! 2 dayz later.. Well, we have some bad news for you... Remember when you told the doctor you fell and hurt you leg 8 years ago? So now we can't cover you for your cancer treatments. Sorry
i assume they're referring ("decal") to the clear plastic film that a lot of manufacturers place over the paint on the bumpers to guard against small scratches, etc. (the easily scratched and damaged bumper surfaces are a result of bumpers typically being thin plastic, literally a "cover" over the actual reinforced functional bumper)
if that's the case, then yeah, that's what I'm suggesting-- you can look around online for replacement rear "bumper covers" (the plastic bumper) for your specific make and model to get an idea of what they cost. if you do order it yourself, you'd have to take it to a body shop to get it painted, but the install is pretty easy.
(unless they are referring to the yellow carpool lane decal on older prius models rear bumpers, but I thought that was a california specific thing, and don't see why that would make a difference to a body shop)