Auto Insurance Claims: Fradulent auto repairs, salvage yard, salvage yards

Question
I will try to keep this short. I was rear ended at no fault of my own while driving my older vehicle. The steering column was broke among other minor repairs. The insurance adjuster denied my first estimate and asked that I take it to a certain repair shop. I did so just because I wanted my vehicle fixed not sitting waiting. I also agreed to let them replace the steering column with a used one due to the age of my vehicle (1986), as long as it was fixed. I was told to discard any keys I had because the new used column would come with different ones. After the "repairs" I was told it wasn't much better but that was the best used column they could find. After driving it home that night I decided not only was it not fixed it was exactly the same, so I decided to try the spare key I still had...it fit perfectly. So the next morning I went to the repair shop and requested my old column back, which they gave me. I could tell even as they loaded it in the back of my truck there was something terribly wrong. I took it immediately to my regular repair shop. He confirmed several things. The key in the column I picked up from the other shop didn't fit my truck and was different than my spare and still had the salvage yards tag on it, it also had a salvage yard marking on the column itself and he called and verified from them that it was their part that they had sold to the other shop. He also examined my column and it showed no signs of human hands touching it, no dust or grime was disturbed. He also showed me the bolt that holds on the column, it had not been touched, still rusty and greasy. I don't know where to go from here. I don't trust the other shop to repair it again, I don't feel I should have to pay for someone else to repair it. I also believe the shop should pay for intentionally defrauding me and the insurance company. Where do I start and how do I find out what my rights are as an injured consumer? By the way I am still forced to be driving my truck with a broken steering column that can be moved up and down and side to side, I don't feel it is safe but I have to go to work. Any suggestions please?

Answer
Hello Lee,

It does not sound as though your column is broken. It sounds like a typical GM problem in which the 4 bolts inside the column came loose from grabbing the steering column to enter the vehicle. This is not an accident related problem and is consistent with using the steering column to hang on to enter the vehicle.
Now, you did not state what type of vehicle this is, but from your description, it sounds like a GM.
If the insurance company felt it was accident related and paid for the column, you need to find out why the shop did not change it. You need to review the estimate. If it is figured for replacement and the shop won't do it, you need to report it to the insurance company, but you have to give the shop the opportunity to make it right first.
I have repaired thousands of loose GM steering columns and not one was damaged from an accident.
The only time the steering column would colapse was with a hard frontal impact and it would not be loses. It just would not shift into PARK.


Rob