Carseat use after an accident

[ckso]

I just had a major accident where I rear-ended a truck. The front airbags deployed and the car has been deemed totaled. Thankfully everybody is ok.

I had 2 carseats in the back. One was a Graco infant carseat that was occupied and the other was a Britax convertible seat but was unoccupied at the time of the accident.

I have 2 questions:
1) Does both carseats have to be replaced? Or just the one that was occupied?

2) If the unoccupied one needs to be replaced, does anyone know whether insurance typically is required to cover to cost to replace? My insurance is telling me they will only replace the occupied one but NOT the unoccupied one unless there was visible damage. They're telling me it's still ok to use.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[ett]

Both car seats should be replaced, and the insurance company should cover it. I was in a rear end accident last year (more minor than yours; airbag did not deploy). My car seat and booster were not occupied, but insurance company replaced both of them.

[hillview]

Originally Posted by ett

Both car seats should be replaced, and the insurance company should cover it. I was in a rear end accident last year (more minor than yours; airbag did not deploy). My car seat and booster were not occupied, but insurance company replaced both of them.

Who is your insurance company? I'd ask to speak to a supervisor
/hillary

[ckso]

Originally Posted by hillview

Who is your insurance company? I'd ask to speak to a supervisor
/hillary

I have mercury insurance. The adjuster is telling me they will only cover the unoccupied seat if there were physical damage and that I have to take a picture of the damage as proof. It really doesn't make sense to me since I thought damages to carseats are usually not visible.

I can try talking to a supervisor but I'm worried they'll somehow find a way to make things more difficult for me like increase my rates more than what they're going to do anyways because of the accident???

Anybody have experience with this??

The unoccupied seat we have is a britax so not cheap. I was told it's Ok to use but just not sure

[bubbaray]

Graco says replace after any accident and makes no comment on occupied or not. Britax has criteria on their website, which IMO makes it confusing. However, if your car was totalled, that meets the Britax criteria, so it should be replaced too.

Tell your adjuster that you want a letter from them telling you that they accept all future liability of injury to the child from your use of a seat that has been in a major crash. I would write the leter to the president (putting in your claim number, etc).

GL!

[bubbaray]

Britax acceptable to use after a crash criteria:

http://www.britaxusa.com/support/faq/after-a-crash

A. BRITAX recommends that the use of a child seat be discontinued if it has been in a moderate to severe crash. We further advise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) position that it is not necessary to replace a child seat after a minor crash.

A minor crash is one that meets ALL of following criteria:

1. The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site; AND
2. The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged; AND
3. There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants; AND
4. The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
5. There is no visible damage to the child seat.

Your crash does NOT meet these criteria b/c the airbags deployed and I'm assuming the vehicle was not drivable if it was totalled.

As for your rates, I would assume they will go up if you were at fault.

[TwinFoxes]

Even if they don't pay, I really think you should replace both. I hope everyone was ok, and sorry about the accident. Scary!

[Smillow]

Originally Posted by ckso

I have mercury insurance. The adjuster is telling me they will only cover the unoccupied seat if there were physical damage and that I have to take a picture of the damage as proof. It really doesn't make sense to me since I thought damages to carseats are usually not visible.

I can try talking to a supervisor but I'm worried they'll somehow find a way to make things more difficult for me like increase my rates more than what they're going to do anyways because of the accident???

Anybody have experience with this??

The unoccupied seat we have is a britax so not cheap. I was told it's Ok to use but just not sure

I would email them links to the carseat manuals that specify replacement. It really isn't their decision - it's the manufacturers.

[ZeeBaby]

Has anyone had any luck have the britax seated replaced when none if the above took place? I was rear ended yesterday.

[AnnieW625]

I would replace the seat and honestly I would try and keep your costs as low as possible so I probably wouldn't report either car seat loss to your insurance company. I would just replace them now with some cheaper seats like the Graco My Ride or Britax Roundabout 50 which are both on sale at Target this week for $100. The more money spent on repairing your car and the car you hit will only impact your insurance. If the other truck doesn't file with your insurance company I'd also consider paying out of pocket to keep the accident off of your record.

Originally Posted by ZeeBaby

Has anyone had any luck have the britax seated replaced when none if the above took place? I was rear ended yesterday.

If you are in California the state law says that the seat must be replaced by the insurance company. Even if you aren't in California you need to register with the loss and fight the insurance company to replace the seat; did the air bags go off, and how damaged was your car? If your airbags didn't go off then the seat still might be usable, check with the manufacturer. WCS if they don't reimburse you before settling out your claim bargain with them for an additional $200 or whatever the cost of the seat is. A good adjuster should give you that much. You should also get paid for time and suffering even if you work so you can always get money back that way if you go to the dr. when you are suppose to be at work and your work pays you your full salary (I was rear ended at a high rate of speed once and had no back pain until 48 hrs. post accident, which is often quite common even though I used company sick leave for the accident I still got paid time and suffering). If you don't work outside the home I don't know how they handle that though.