ptbarnett

I have posted here for awhile, but thought I should relate my experience with a mishap....

The last weekend in May, we were returning home from the Hill Country area in Texas. Our route took us along a 4-lane highway. It wasn't a limited-access highway like an Interstate, so the shoulders were small, the tree line was almost right next to the road, and there was no median. It was about 7:30 AM, on a clear day.

I saw a flash of brown a split second before I hit a coyote with the left front corner of the car, then ran over what was left. It happened so fast there was no possibility to react. We stopped a couple of miles later, and I looked at the damage: the lower part of the fiberglass bumper was crumpled and the fog light/turn signal was broken. The guy at my insurance company told me it was a good thing I didn't have time to react. He had processed claims from people that swerved to miss an animal on the road and ended up doing more damage when they lost control.

I took it back to the dealer where I bought the car, and they gave me an repair estimate of about $3500. On closer inspection, the left front quarter panel was warped. Since it was aluminum, the only way to completely fix it was to replace it. And, unbeknownst to me, the air intake for the engine was next to the left wheel, and it was missing.

Unfortunately, my insurance company required me to take the car to a local collision repair shop for an estimate. They refused to even look at the dealer's estimate, and really low-balled the estimate: claiming they could repair things like the fiberglass bumper that was collapsed at the corner. The guy was really rude, so I just took the estimate and left. Under my state's law, the insurance company can't dictate who does the repair, and since I had paid the small additional premium for original part replacement, they couldn't force the use of cheaper parts.

The car was in the shop for about two weeks. There was a bit of a delay, because the turn signal/fog light assembly for the RLX Hybrid is about $1100, instead of the $400 they estimated. The Hybrid version is LED, while the PAWS version is not LED -- accounting for the difference in price. The price of an LED headlamps is even higher....

The car looks as good as new -- they did a great job. They forgot to order the "Hybrid" badge for the left quarter panel. I just have to go back and have it reapplied.

George Knighton

I'm glad it ended satisfactorily.

It's an old story, the one about insurance companies trying to force you onto cheap shops and cheap parts.

What insurance company was this, just so we know?

RLX-Sport Hybrid

My understanding is that animal hits are under comprehensive not collision coverages. No that this classification matters, but a comp accident I believe has less of an effect on your insurance rates. I could be wrong, but that is my understanding.

Geico is the other carrier in my claim and they are notorious for being cheap on repairs. They have been excellent in my case since their insured was at fault. In fact now I am getting sales materials to see if I want to change to use their coverage. Ummmmm....... No thanks.

TampaRLX-SH

I am glad it finally worked out to your satisfaction. With the right vendors, car repairs are amazing. Too often the worse part is the paper chase that insurance carriers and regulators put us through. As usual, what is supposed to mitigate fraud winds up punishing all people.

It is not only the insurance carrier in most cases being the rub. The state's regulatory arm also has impact, which may make the carrier appear as the bad guy.

In Florida, we have horrible regulations on insurance and warranties, all to the pain in the a$$ of the consumer. We have Charlie Crist (Mr. spray tan - change parties on the fly) who majorly influenced insurance regulation in our state.

As a result, I pay extra premium to have the right to choose who repairs my vehicle, even if not fully covered by the carrier.

ptbarnett

You should be correct. We actually discussed this during my initial call to the insurance company: if I hit a moving object, that's considered an unavoidable accident and I'm not at fault. This includes (live) animals and things that fall off a truck. I think it's a reflection of what I posted earlier: if someone loses control while trying to avoid a moving object, the damages and injuries are likely to be greater.

Of course, since I didn't take the low-ball bid, they might find a way to increase my rates. Or perhaps the discovery of the higher costs to repair the RLX Hybrid will cause a rate class change. This is the first claim I have EVER made on an automobile policy, aside from a windshield chip repair. I had been with another insurance company for my entire adult life, but left them after they raised my homeowner rate almost 50%. We've only been with this one for a couple of years.

So for a few hours, I was wondering if they would drop us altogether as bad risks after we made a claim for lost jewelry (we have a rider on our homeowner policy). My wife was in tears after she realized her wedding/engagement ring had slipped off. We went back to the two places she had been shopping and had given up. It turned out it slipped off into the clothes as she pulled them out of the dryer, and found it as she was folding them.