Auto Insurance Claims: Indirect Automobile Accident Damage, lincoln dealership, 2004 lincoln ls

Question
Recently our 2004 Lincoln LS was involved in a collision.  A person ran a red light and struck my vehicle in the driver's side front wheel at approximately 30-40mph.  The initial damage to the vehicle that was visible was to the fender and bumper but after inspection at the autobody shop it was determined that the whole left front suspension needed to be replaced.  The other driver's insurance company agreed to the damages and the vehicle was repaired.  Once we picked up the vehicle we drove approx. 1 mile before the vehicle began jerking erratically and the check engine light came on, the engine seemed unresponsive at times when accelerating so we turned around and drove it back to the collision shop.  There they checked the engine codes and since they couldn't determine the problem they took the vehicle to the nearby Lincoln dealership where they diagnosed a bad Throttle Body Control, $580 installed.  After replacing the throttle body the Lincoln dealership said the vehicle was still running rough and after checking further they have determined that a cylinder was misfiring.  

Prior to the accident we had no known problems with this vehicle and of course now the other driver's insurance company is not claiming responsibility for either the throttle body control or the cylinder.  At this point I am trying to research how indirect accident damage is handled in a claim like this.  I clearly find it hard to believe that "coincidentally"  both of these parts managed to fail at the exact same time, in an accident and not be the result of the accident itself!  The insurance companies stance is currently that there is no proof that it was damaged in the accident so they are denying coverage.  The mechanic at Lincoln has stated that it is possible that there was damage as a result of the force of the accident but there is no way to prove what exactly the cause is.  Do I have any recourse here?  is the burden of proof on me and not them?  Are there any studies on indirect accident damage that could help me convince the insurance company or a court of law should it go that far?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Answer
Jamie,

It probably is not a coincidence that your engine problems occurred at the same time as the collision damage. However, there are no studies I can point to which will correlate the two types of damage, although it is common enough that insurers pay for it all the time. What I would recommend is that you address this with the party that caused the damage. Send them a letter by certified mail with a copy to the liability carrier demanding that they pay the cost of repair. See if that works.

The burden is on you to show the damage was caused by the other party. It is a little like a hand of poker in these situations, as the cost of defending their policyholder may exceed the cost of paying the claim. So take your best shot and be prepared to go to small claims court.

Charlie