Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 11/23/2009

Question
I own a two door vehicle with comprehensive coverage.  My left rear quarter panel was damaged and my insurance carrier paid the local area fair market amount to repair the left quarter panel and blend the paint on the left door minus my deductible.  Before I could have the vehicle repaired I sustained damage on the left front fender.  Comprehensive coverage once again.  The carrier is willing to pay for the repair to the left fender however, because the first incident was not repaired the carrier does not want to pay to blend the left door as they say it will be double payment to blend the door.  I must pay another deductible as this is another incident, however they are treating the repair process as if it is all one incident by only paying to blend the left door for the first quarter panel incident.   Is this correct on their part?

Answer
Hi Bradley,

Yes, it is correct. Since the first repairs were not completed, the insurance company will not pay for the same procedure twice in one repair operation. The are essentially telling you that you must have the damage from both incidents repaired at the same time wich will cause some overlap in procedures. This is a typical outcome this this type of situation.

The only argument you may have is that in the first claim they were going to blend the door but now that they are also going to paint the fender, they should increase the paint time for the door to include full paint time for the door. When you get the vehicle into a shop for the repairs you should give the insurance estimates to the body shop and tell them to contact the insurance company on your behalf. The insurance company will likely not discuss this with you but only with the shop that is actually going to do the work.  

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh