Expert: Ron Cercone - 6/10/2009

Question
I have a 98 honda civic and it was hit by another car on may
16, 2009. The other party was at fault and admitted it.
Since i do not have a comprehensive coverage in my
insurance, I filed a claim with the at-fault drivers
insurance. The accident damaged my passenger side rear door,
my front bumper and rear bumper on the passenger side. Prior
to the accident i had some scratches on the front bumper but
there were no damages in my door and rear bumper. My car is
still drivable and i got an appraisal from the insurance
company. According to their estimates they have a 50%
betterment deduction on every damage. SO, I went to a body
shop for a supplement process. The rep  told me since there
is a betterment deduction in the estimates from the
insurance company, I might have to pay something out of my
pocket even after the supplement. He looked at the damages
and didn't find any reasonable base to deduct the betterment
in the estimates. So, he asked me to call the insurance
company and ask about the betterment deduction. When i
talked to my adjuster and the claims supervisor there, they
told me they must deduct the betterment because the vehicle
is very old and the paint too.  To repair the damage they
might have to paint the other parts too and since the
vehicle was already old, I must pay for the extra repair.
Overall, they were trying to say that after the repair my
vehicle will look better than what it was before the
accident so i have to pay for it. The paint in my car isn't
bad at all. It still shines and looks good. I don't see a
reason why would i have to pay to fix the damages that i
wasn't even responsible for. Just because my vehicle is old
doesn't mean that anyone can hit my car and not pay for the
total damages. If i had never been in that accident I would
have never have to repair the car and it would be all fine.

The amount of estimate from the insurance company differs a
lot from what i received from the body shop. And the
insurance company is trying to rip me off through this
betterment deduction.

What can I do? What are my options?

This is in Texas.


Answer
Hello Andy,

I could not agree  more with you. The "standard practice" in auto insurance claims is to only take betterment (same as depreciation) on items like batteries, tires and engines and mechanical parts, NOT paint, faded or not. If a fender has old dents, then the adjuster should just not include their repair in his estimate, and if you want the old dents repaired, then you pay for that yourself. The company you are dealing with is really a low quality insurer. Now that insurer would technically probably be allowed to deduct for paint depreciation, if this had to be decided in court. But I'm just telling you what the "standard practice" is. Your only argument might be the amount of depreciation taken.

As to your shops estimate, make sure they did not include fixing the old damage in their estimate to be presented to the insurer.

Why not do a rating on this insurer and the adjuster and the supervisor at www.insuranceclaimhelp.org? You don't have to fear being cancelled since they are not your own insurer.