Tires: Tire Balancing, splitting hairs, awkward position

Question
My son was involved in an incident where he changed lanes on the interstate and the driver in the lane he was moving into said she had to go into the median to miss him.  There was no contact and no apprent damage to her vehicle, but she's claimed that she had her front end aligned and all 4 tires balanced as a result.  I'm probably going to help her with the bill, but I was wondering about the validity of the tire balancing.  Am I splitting hairs or does having all tires balanced seem unrelated to an incident like this.

Answer
John,

In the aftermath of an accident, balancing is probably just a check to make sure nothing is bent.  

But I would put a limitation on this.  It is quite possible that the rims were bent before the accident, and you'll wind up having to pay for that, just because you're in an awkward position.

I would negotiate that you'll only pay for the labor of balancing and the alignment - no parts.  I'd further stipulate that if there are parts involved, she had better be prepared to sue, because you aren't going to pay for them.