How to handle the insurance company after an accident

[JohnM]

Hello All,

I was in a accident with my Cobra last week. The other driver was cited for "Failure to Yield" and is insured by Nationwide.

I called the Mfgr of my brand of Cobra...Antique & Collectable. I talked with Joe who recomended a collision shop by him...Ed Barnes at Batavia Collision. Joe mentioned that Ed also builds some Antique & Collectible Autos turn key for customers, so is very familiar with the car

The local adjuster from Nationwide came out to look at my car after it was towed home!! and took some photos. It was a fender bender....but the nose of the car is shot along with one fender. There are also some cracks at the various mounting locations of the body to the frame, as I think the body shifted from the impact.

The local adjuster is fine with having the car shipped up to Batavia and letting the adjuster up there deal with it.

Does anyone have any experience in dealing with the insurance companies in regard to Cobra accidents?? What should I expect from them....since I am the wronged party.

I have posted some photos

Thanks for any info you can pass along

John

[xlr8or]

You should expect to be fully compensated for any losses related to the accident. And have the car repaired to the condition it was in prior to the accident as a minimum.

[JohnM]

Hello Tourque Junky

That I understand...I guess I am asking has anyone had somewhat major damage repaired before....The collision shop says they can cut off and replace the front end by firewall or door edges...has anyone had that done and how did it turn out.

Do I have to worry about stress cracks at these new splices etc. I can probably hold out for new body...but if I don't need that, use that part of the repair budget for some upgrades

John

[Chaplin]

I'm not that familiar with A&Cs, but isn't the body removable from the frame? If so, it might be cheaper-- and come out a lot better-- just to have A&C send a new body and have it painted than to cut out the damaged sections and graft in replacement panels.

[ENTDOC]

I would let the collision shop make that decision. My GT40 was hit at Road Atlanta and that person had Nationwide, and I must say they were very good to deal with. The initial adjuster quoted me 400 dollars to fix it and it turned out to be 3200 dollars, but they paid no problem. I also filed for "loss of value" as you should. An appraiser decides how much your car is devalued by the accident and Nationwide cuts you a check for that amount. They of course do not mention this , so it is incumbent on you to do so

[JohnM]

Hello ENTDOC

thanks for the heads up on the "loss of value" never thought of that.

The car is being picked up this Sunday to be transported to the collision shop. I should know more next week

John

[JWheaton]

Chuck,

Your GT is now officially a POS. Its been wrecked!

.....how much you want to sell that devalued clunker for?

Jamie


P.S. Great advice. Not something I would have thought about.

[fsstnotch]

All good advice!

Any chance we could see some pics? I've only seen pics of 1 wrech cobra and the bodywork had already been started so... i was just wondering had it held up.

[JohnM]

Here are some photos...I hope I have attached these correctly


John

[eddytheb]

Hi guy Eddy here from Batavia Collision Center Would you guy be interested in see a post on how I go about fixing this car? I thought it might be kina cool if I posted photos of the repair step by step here on the forum. Let me know if its something you would like to see I will be sending photos to the owner so why not here.

[fsstnotch]

Ouch! that sucks!

Eddy, that would be kinda neat to see the progress!

John, I just noticed that you are from Cleveland! It dawned on me to look where you are from when I thought about batavia collision! I used to do civil war re-enacting in the batavia cemetery. Anyways, I'm from Erie. Actually looking at buying a house in the Girard or McKean area in the next few months. Once I get back from Iraq and stuff, we'll have to go for a cruise!

[Gordon Levy]

Most adjusters aren't hard to deal with. They mostly just throw there hands up in the air and ask how much. They don't have a book that covers it.
By the looks of it it should be $6000-$8000 to repair.

[Madmiles442]

John,
Sorry about your crunch. Luckily, appears mostly cosmetic.
How was the driver cited for "failure to yield"?
Around here, if there's not injuries or thought of drunk driving and both cars are drivable, the cops don't respond. Trade the insurance info and be on your way. I've been fearful of needing backup for the insurance company that their driver WAS at fault and have wondered how to make sure they get cited.
Thanks.

[JohnM]

Hello MadMiles

I was going to the Tuesday night car show at Solin Commons....a very large show 1000 + cars every Tueday. This was the first time this year that I went

the other driver was Noth bound while I was South bound. It was a 7 lane hwy...3 on each side, with a center turning lane ...it was heavy rush hour trafic at 5:20pm. He pulled into the center turning lane, to tun onto a side treet feeding a restuarant on my side....and because the traffic was so full...someone on the inside lane, my side, stopped to let him cross...well he thought he could shoot across all three lanes...well lane 2 the middle lane next to me slammed on his brakes...and then he shot in front of me. I think because we are so low to the ground he probably couldn't see me in the inside lane. While slamming on my brakes (something in my pedal box broke, as the brake pedal is just flopping around!!) I tried to swerve onto the road, I would of t-boned him square on the side if I didn't swerve... I almost made it, but not quite. My front driver side hit his pasanger front fender at an angle...I pretty much hit him...thats why he got the ticket

John

[olddog]

It is my understanding that the A&C body is a stressed body, meaning it adds support to the rigidity of the frame. It should be understood how the body structure is being used, before someone cuts parts out and grafts on new parts.

[eddytheb]

Thats not a worry the frame is very heavy duty the body is also one will not effect the other. Another nice thing is I am only 40 min from A&C so I can get and use what ever it may take to get this car right again. I think it will be fun to post the way its done for all to see hopefuly it may help some others some day.

[CHANMADD]

I crashed my car in 1996.The right rear fender, left front all the wheels and one sidepipe were destroyed.I took 2 tree's in the median down, so it was a pretty good smack,which resulted in a few stitches and broken ribs.The idiot that I am ,I was not wearing my seatbelt at the time, goes to show Huh! I repaired all the fibreglass myself and sent it to the paint shop.The only accident related problem I have today is that the body shop,unknown to me smeared my door (which had been in 12 pieces)with bondo,sh*t!!. My cars body is an unstressed body and besides the door and the normal 18 year old paint chips and a few stress cracks (hardly noticable)it still looks pretty good.If you can get a new body out of the claim that is what I would do for sure,but a good repair would'nt be too bad either!

[JohnM]

Hello All

an update on the insurance claim. It has been quiet from the insurance company after they received the estimate from the collison shop to do the necesary repairs and replacemnt parts and as per my request to quote on a total body replacement.

The most recent e-mail this morning from the adjuster is..... "I am still awaiting the vehicle valuation report which is done by an independent company per New York State law. It is taking longer than normal due to extremely rare vehicle type"

Does anyone have any input on how to handle this...what I need to look out for? What happens if they want to total the car?

any help is most appreciated

thanks

John

[sharpe 1]

If they total it, buy it back from the insurance co., and fix it if you really like the car

[fsstnotch]

Originally Posted by sharpe 1

If they total it, buy it back from the insurance co., and fix it if you really like the car

or just build another....