anyone get GEICO to replace car seat after a minor accident?

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Our minivan was involved in a minor accident today. Slow speeds, T-boned at an intersection, and the baby was not in the car at the time. No one was injured, there is damage to the passenger side door where the bumper of the other car crumpled it in.

GEICO tells me they will replace the seat, but only "around $150" and if I want to get a fancier seat it is at my own expense. I explained that I have a Britax Marathon and would be replacing it with the same, which costs $250.

Has anyone else had a Britax replaced by GEICO? Did they pay the full amount?

I'm going to call Britax on Monday to see what they say. They might say it is still usable since no one was strapped into the car seat at the time of the accident. In the meantime, I'll be using our other seat, a non-LATCH Roundabout.

(This doesn't apply to my situation, but while I was poking around the Britax site, I found a page that says they have a program to replace seats that have been in serious accidents. You have to apply and they don't replace all seats, just ones that meet certain criteria. I thought that was interesting.)

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Joolsplus2]

Oh gosh, how scary! I hope you're OK, and I'm so glad Logan wasn't with you in the car.
It sounds like Britax will say your seat is still perfectly safe, but that's not reasonable for Geico to say that, I'd try for a higher-up to give you approval for full replacement value.
Anyway, here's an interesting discourse on Geico http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppcarseats/?msg=52864.1 (sorry I sounded so suspicious, but really, I've heard these stories, you just never know what people's motives are!)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[kijip]

It is unfair that they will give you less than full replacement value. I would speak to a higher-up and insist that they cover the full cost. As for Julie's link to the Geico post...YIKES...makes me glad we are switching insurance from Geico to Prudential...

[ismommy]

Karen,

I am sorry you were in an accident and very glad Logan wasn't with you. I have had Geico replace 2 car seats from 2 seperate accidents. Their drivers were at fault both times. The firts was a very minor fender bender- rear ended. The second was bad when a driver ran a red light cauisng almost 6 grand of damage to my car. Thankfully neither time Bella was in the car. Anyway - geico is a nightmare to deal with and I hope that they will replace your seat.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I called Britax, and they say the seat is safe to use. She pointed me to this website:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/ChildRestraints/ReUse/index.htm

How do the car seat techs feel about this? What makes me leery is that as I poked around the NHTSA site, I found a lot of outdated information. (one article was about the importance of keeping up to day, and it was written in 1997!) So I'm not sure I trust the NHTSA website for info.

I think that if GEICO will replace the seat, I will go ahead and get a new one anyway. Better safe than sorry, I always say.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Joolsplus2]

Don't worry, that NHTSA recommendation is brand new (of course, so is their seat "grading" system, which most of us despise, so that's not saying much, is it?).
Ultimately, though, you can go with either Britaxes recommendation safely, or insist on a new seat from Geico...do what YOU are most comfortable with.
Here's an interesting video, the first link, if you have Realplayer, where they show seats surviving crashtest after crashtest without any degredation of performance (which is good, since most people have no clue at all that seats generally need replacing...at least their kids aren't in some kind of extreme danger... )
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-ppcarseats&msg=51026.1&ctx=0
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Emmas Mom]

I've never worked for GEICO but I have worked in Claims for two other auto insurance companies....it's always been the position of the companies I've worked for that the car seat is to be replaced with a comparable seat. I'm not sure what the deal is with GEICO but I'd argue it. If you can prove you had a Marathon I'd expect them to buy you a new one!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

We took the van in for the insurance estimate today and the GEICO insurance adjuster said all we have to do is show him the receipt for when we purchased our car seat (the one that was in the van at the time of the accident) and he would cut us a check. We don't have to give him the seat, he says GEICO has no use for it and doesn't want it.

I'll update again when all of this actually happens.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[Joolsplus2]

Well, that's cool. I guess if it were me, I'd save every part of that seat except the seat shell...you can literally re-use the cover, harness (she wasn't in it, there was NO force applied to it in the crash), HUGS, lockoffs, you might even be able to take those out as spares. Or put it in the corner of her room intact for baby dolls to ride in, lol (we had an Evenflo Medallion that my kids outgrew the 13 inch harness slots for at age 2, but it had this huge base and great recline, so i left it in their room to play in. they were never too too interested in it, so i finally sent the cover to a mom who needed one and bid my first seat a fond farewell. Now, for some reason, I still have the harness adjuster in my file cabinet...I guess I couldn't let go completely, lol)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx