Auto Insurance Claims: 3rd Party Insurance Company Claim, party insurance, autoshop

Question
Good Evening

My car was hit in a parking lot while I was in a place of business, the cop actually saw the person who hit my car and stopped them to get their information from them.

To make a long story short, I got the information and made a claim with their insurance company. The car was sent to the body shop and their insurance companies appraiser appraised the damages. However, the dealership said that it "looks to be prior damage and we cannot fix the current issue without fixing prior damage". So the insurance company let me know that they can pay what the damages cost to get it fixed and they won't pay for the other work the dealership will have to do.

I was in an accident a year ago with the vehicle and it was fixed by an autoshop. However, even if their is prior damages, there would not have been ANY damages had they not hit my car.

So my question is, can they refuse to pay for the total repair?

Thanks

Crystal

Answer
Hello,

I understand your point about if the car had not been hit by this car, you wouldn't be dealing with the prior damage.
You ask if the insurance company can refuse to fix the car with the prior damage. Yes they can.

If the car is drivable, take whatecer you can get and check around if there is a local body shop hungry enough to fix the car entirely for what you get. Dealers do not merit the high prices they charge.

You are very lucky the cop got the driver's info. Usually on private property they don't get involved.