Rear Ended

Has anyone been able to talk their insurance into replacing a destroyed rear bumper ($3K+ repair costs) with an aftermarket steel rear bumper? I feel like I've seen this done before. Figured if you're saving the insurance company money on repair, they'd support the idea/ Any insight/thoughts would be welcome. Thanks!

 

You could ask them to cut you a check for the amount of the repair, then you're free to do whatever you please with the money.

 

California, now insurance company will send you check for estimate of repair and you have choice to do what you want to do.

 

Never hurts to ask, but it's already in the fine print of your policy most likely, go read it. A lot of policies have OEM language written into the policy language that will repair/replace body panels/bumpers with OEM quality not necessarily OEM original. Unless otherwise specified you won't get anything but what's in your policy regardless if it saves them money or not.

 

How does the insurance know that you fix it or not when you claim on another rear ended scenario?

I mean is when this happened in the past after I fix it an agent from insurance met at the body shop to verify that its fixed. So if I had to claim again my insurance know I fixed it last time.

If I think of a worst case scenario I took the check and installed an after market bumper today and tomorrow I got rear ended again and claim one more time. How would I prove that I fixed previous damage and not asking for a claim for the same accident? A fraud person can find a damaged bumper for free and ask for money again right?

Just trying to understand insurance problems.

 

Gotchya, buddy said they're replacing with OEM original. We're in Colordado. I'll have him read the fine print of the policy, but they've already lined up a location for him so I'm not sure how much wiggle room there is now.

 

Ask them to write you a check for less than the OEM cost of the repair and consider it fixed. As for another potential fix, save the receipts.

 

I had a conversation with my agent about this last year when I inquired about a windshield replacement and the built in defroster for the wipers. Since there isn't an OEM quality version of the windshield they would replace with OEM original, but if I had to replace my fender they would replace with OEM quality, unless the body shop insisted on OEM original because it would save them more in labor costs as OEM quality parts don't always line up as well. I was left with the impression the body shops have the most pull when it comes to what parts go back on the vehicle.

 

I had hail damage one year -- I had a soft-top Jeep at the time so the damage was minimal...hood only and a tiny rip in the top. Nevertheless, the agent came out, looked at the Jeep, estimated the cost to repair the damage, and wrote a check on the spot. I asked if I needed to find a shop or go to the dealer or fix it myself. He basically said it doesn't matter -- the check makes me whole again, and what I did with it was my business. Many years before that I was rear-ended in stalled traffic on the highway in Houston. The guy behind me stopped in time, but the guy behind him didn't. The impact totaled both cars behind me, but my truck wasn't damaged. The heavy steel bumper ('89 Dodge pick-up) already had dents and I told that to my agent -- he said it was covered nonetheless since he didn't have any proof of existing dents prior to the wreck, he wrote a check, and said I could replace it or not.

Perhaps different policies and different agencies handle it differently. I've been with Famer's since the early 90's and this has been my experience ever since.

I suspect if you took the check, installed what you wanted, and then got hit again they'd expect to see some receipts. Your best bet is to talk to your agent, tell them you were planning on upgrading the rear bumper and this looks like a good time to do it, and then ask what they need to insure it... photos, receipts, etc. Propose the exact scenario to them you've described here -- there's no harm in asking... this kind of situation is a common thing.

 

Years ago on my 3rd Gen I got rear ended at a stoplight and it pushed me into a car ahead of me. The rear car had a badly mangled headlight and fender where he hit my trailer hitch. The front car had a mangled plastic bumper where my front OEM steel bumper rode up on it and creased it badly. I had a slightly damaged plastic trim cover over the front bumper recovery hook and didn’t see any other problem. That 3rd Gen was very robust.

Anyway, the insurance adjuster looked at it at their recommended body shop. I described the accident and he was familiar with the other vehicles’ damages and said I’d need a new front bumper. I could have it done at this (high quality) shop and they’d pay them directly for it with OEM parts (I had that coverage in my policy), or I could take the money and do it myself or have someone else do it. I said I’d do it so he cut me a check right there for $1100. I took the 4Runner to my mechanic for the repair. He checked everything out and said there’s no damage other than that plastic cover. I spent $30 for a replacement piece.
Ka-ching!