QuestionI got a car accident. it is another party fault. She has liability insurance with Geico. and gecio agree to response for repair the car.But geico adjustors only wants to fix the car with at least one aftermarket part. My winshield was cracked before but had been fixed, and it growed after the accident. the adjuster only agree to pay for half price of the aftermarket price for the OEM is much more expensive. if i do not accept it, they are going to stop rent car for me.
is it normal?
thanks,
isabel
AnswerHi Isabel,
The obligation of the tortfeasor (the party who hit you) is to restore your vehilce to the same condtion it was before the accident. Sometimes that gets tricky if the victim's vehilce has parts that are not satisfactory and in order to repair the accident damage, a new part has to be installed.
Think of a tire. Let's say that the victim has really well used tires and one of them is blown in the accident. The adjuster cannot give the victim a used tire. Instead, she will do one of two things. Either she will include the value of the used tire (in its condition just prior to the accident) in her check payable to the victim, or, if the vehicle is going to be repaired, she will put on a new tire, and charge the victim for what we call "betterment".
In essence, the victim had a near-bald tire and she is getting a brand new tire after the accident. Hence, her position is being made better than it was just prior to the accident. Thus she will have to pay something for the betterment of her condition.
Does that make sense?
Now, let's look at your case with the window. You can get around the problem by having your own insurance company fix it. You will owe the deductible, but you can collect that from the tortfeasor. But if your deductible is far too high, you can compromise in the use of an aftermarket window. If that still does not get the job done and you are stuck with using the tortfeasor’s insurance, then let’s address what should happen.
If you had a window with a crack in it, and all the accident did was to enlarge the crack, then can you CANNOT JUST IGNORE the bigger crack since this recent accident has made it potentially dangerous. Hence, you will have to replace it.
What should you get in return? Probably a brand new window could be construed as betterment, just as in the case of the tires. True, your window did not leak, but it was compromised as it existed. Hence, if you get a window that has no cracks and works fine, then is not your position being improved? That is why you would owe some amount for a new window.
Of course I have no idea if half is right or not. I would offer two things for him. First, try a wrecking yard to see if a used window is available. Second, agree to non-original equipment manufacturer (non-OEM) parts or aftermarket parts. That will keep down the cost and thus you are in a better position to negotiate a lower contribution on your part.
If you are going to accept non-OEM parts, then you should be able to get off with paying something between ZERO and 10% of the replacement window. The reason is that you are willing to compromise in order to keep down the costs of repair, and thus you should derive some benefit from the sacrifice you are making by accepting something less than a perfect repair.
As for the proposal to use aftermarket non-OEM parts elsewhere, that can make good sense if you are driving an older car. After all, there would once again be claims of betterment if you were driving an older car and you got new OEM parts. So, in order to avoid having to pay for betterment, it is advisable to discuss the advantages of using non-OEM parts.
As for the rental issue, they have to provide a rental until a reasonable time has passed to achieve a solid level of competence. The required payment time for the rental would be longer than is proposed by your adverse insurance adjuster. I do have them IF THEY HAVE NOT a couple of pages with good information on the topics your claim raises regarding the kinds of parts the carrier gets to use. Here is some information.
Auto accident expert Dr. Settlement, J.D. explains http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0456.htm Auto Accident Collision Repair Shops & Insurance Adjuster Relationships.
Rental replacement car during http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0458.htm auto body repair time.
Diminished value insurance claim http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0455.htm explained by Dr. Settlement, car wreck insurance expert.
I trust that my time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
