Auto Insurance Claims: Full Body Sectioning, state department of insurance, own insurance

Question
2005 Prius rear ended. Allstate was the other driver's co. The welded rear half of another Prius to our front end. They gave us no information other than telling us it was a safe procedure. We have had it into Toyota dealer 3 times in past two weeks. Only got car back June 15th. The car does not run right check engine light and other warning lights keep coming on. We are afraid the car is not safe and are incurring all kinds of expenses. Allstate is stonewalling us. We live in Virginia. What can we do.

Answer
Hi Kevin,
This is the reason why you should always have your own insurance
company repair your car following an accident.  They will subrogate
against the adverse company for the return of their costs and your deductible.
The main reason for using this procedure is that when repairs are
done by your own company, the claim is never closed.  If at any
point in the future a problem arises that can be attributed to the
accident, your company must provide repairs.
By dealing with Allstate, the odds are that you had to sign a "release of all claims" when the car was repaired which means that
they are "off the hook".
 
You should immediately file a complaint with your state department
of insurance.  You should also talk to your own company and learn
if they can provide any assistance.

This procedure is called a "body clip" and is NOT an acceptable method of repair in many states.  Such damage usually causes the
car to be considered a total loss.  The insurance company then brands the title as SALVAGE and sells it at auction.  Sometimes the
purchaser uses it for parts, other times they do a body clip and
resell the vehicle after it passes safety inspections but the value
is only 50% of the same car with a clean title.  Insurance co's.
will not put comprehensive or collision on such vehicles.

I have been in this business since 1964 and I can't count the
number of cars that I have seen split in half at the weld after
being "T-Boned".

This type of repair has severely reduced the value of your car
and you do have grounds to file an additional claim against
Allstate for Diminished Value.  Such a claim is a long hard fought
battle and if you are able to win, the amount will only be 10-15%
of the dollar amount of the cost of repair which is not adequate
to compensate you for the true reduced value.

I hope that you find this information to be of help.  Your feedback
by rating my response will be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area