Expert: Charlie Barone - 11/18/2009

Question
My husband parked my car at a parking lot and it was backed into a spot.  When he got back to the car he noticed severe damage to the front and rear passenger panel.  The doors were not scratched at all.  Also the side passenger air bag was deployed.  I filed a claim with my insurance because the car is under my name.  2 weeks later I get a call saying that SIU is handling my case and that they would send an investigator to the body shop to look at my car.  However, my car has been fixed and the body shop already got rid of the scraps.  The insurance called me yesterday and said that the Investigator said the car was definitely moving and it was not parked.  And that if my husband is honest with them then they would try and work with us.  Is it possible for the investigator to identify that the car was moving when a collision happens?  He just looked at a fixed car and not the damage itself. If I knew they wanted to investigate my car I would have told the body shop to not start the repairs so that they could physically see the damage.  Should I swallow my pride and withdraw the claim and pay for the damages myself? From the phone conversation it sounded like they had made up their minds that the car was moving and not parked and that my husband is lying.  Thanks for your help!

Answer
The vehicle's on-board computer may have a record of the air bag deployment, in which case the speed of the car will be recorded. Take it to the dealer and see if they can access the data on the OBD system to support your version of the facts.

An adjuster must have seen the car prior to the commencement of the repair work, so you did your part and they must go with their initial inspection.