Insurance quandary

[JimBee]

A kid jumped from a garage roof onto the roof of my 93 (854 GLT 5 speed manual), denting it so the whole roof sags and is down about a half inch at the middle rear edge of the sunroof.

Insurance estimate to repair? $2700.00. In a case like that, since the metal around the perimeter of the dent can be stretched making it hard to pop back up, the standard fix is a new roof, repaint, etc.

Since the car isn't worth that much, Allstate would total it. That's my winter car; it does run great and still from 15 feet away it's emerald green color and sport wheels give it some esteem, I would like to keep it and somehow rework the dent to get it leak-proof.

So I could buy it back for salvage value, which I likely would. Allstate has been good to me. I've had a couple of glass replacements and they provided immediate reimbursement. But now this.

My concern is what might happen to my insurance rates. Has anybody had similar experiences? Any thoughts?

[scot850]

Sorry to hear of yet more mindless damage to a car. I take it you have no idea who was responsible so the little beggars' parents can fork out for it (unless it was one of yours!!).

Best thing to ask Allstate what their position on this would be. Some insurance companies up here and in the UK where I used to live, have a first claim forgiveness. Don't know if that is the case in your insurance.

Glass is sometimes treated out-with the normal accident claims process. So have you already made a claim or are you waiting to do so?

Neil.

[JimBee]

Thanks for your thoughts.

I forgot to mention two things: I do know who the kid is. Fortunately, my neighbor saw the group climbing on garage roofs and chased them down. One of them jumped on my car roof. His uncle lives nearby. He came to the scene and dressed down all the kids who were in that group. The kid's mother was there, too and said she'd pay for it. They are avoiding me, of course.

The other thing is, I have $500.00 deductible insurance and the street value of my car with $170k miles probably doesn't exceed that, or not by much. There's a mint looking 93 on ebay, same GLT package, 5 speed, 126k miles, with 15 bids, now up to $730. If it was the same color as mine, I'd bid on it since I have all the upgrade parts to keep a 93 going forever.

So it looks like my best option will be to have a body shop try to get the roof up as cheaply as they can, then take the boy's mom to small claims court if need be to recover that cost.

[850 LPT]

My first car was a Ford station wagon that had a big dent in the roof. My dad and I fixed that by bending a flat bar to the shape of the roof and in a way that would create pressure under it. We screwed the ends to the inner roof rail sheet metal in the area of the door handles. This was covered by the headliner and worked perfectly.
I'm not sure if you can picture this but it might be a solution for you, unfortunately I do not have any photos. You or a mechanic would have to be a little creative because the Volvo might look a little different, but once you remove the headliner I'm sure it can be popped back up again. Where are you located by the way?

Just a thought.

Dirk

[101]

So it looks like my best option will be to have a body shop try to get the roof up as cheaply as they can, then take the boy's mom to small claims court if need be to recover that cost.

I agree - that is your best option. Involving your insurance company in the claim may raise rates and/or result in a salvage title on your car (not that it would matter much on a 1993).

Get an estimate and send it with a certified, return receipt requested letter that gives the offending party 7-10 days to pay up. If they decide to ignore the request, file the small claims court case.

Junior may have to get a summer job to pay for his error in judgement. At the risk of sounding like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, I'd say that sounds like a good life lesson to me!

[erikv11]

Just want to mention that if the insurance company totals it due to the value being less than the expense, that doesn't give the vehicle a salvage title. You can buy it back for scrap cost and drive it/register it just fine etc.

I agree that involving insurance is probably not a good move given the numbers here, but worrying about a salvage title is not among the variables you need to consider.

[JimBee]

Interesting points raised. "Junior" is actually 8 years old, a bit early in life to be climbing up on roofs. I heard today from his uncle—my neighbor who the kid was visiting—that he'd been collared in the local SuperAmerica for shoplifting, so he's not off to a good start. According to the uncle the mom and her 2 kids are living in a homeless shelter. I spoke with her by phone today and she actually sounds sensible and responsible and again apologized and said she would pay for the repair. How she plans to do that remains to be seen.

The uncle will help me pull the headliner and we'll see what the body shop can do with it from there. Hopefully, the moon roof panel isn't damaged.

[abscate]

You can probably get a cheaper fix from a body shop not involving new roof. Mom doesn't need this bill in her life right now.

[tryingbe]

My concern is what might happen to my insurance rates. Has anybody had similar experiences? Any thoughts?

Conversation you should have with All State.

All State then will chase down the boy and his mother for the money.

[Ozark Lee]

As far as the your rates go I would suppose it depends on what coverage you have and what provision they would file the claim under. I travel back and forth to the Lake of the Ozarks often and it is a deer haven. Between my wife and I we are up to 8 or 9 claims for hitting a deer or, in a couple of cases, the deer hitting us. In all cases those claims were filed under the "comprehensive" coverage and there have had no impact on our rates. If the claim is deemed to filed under "collision" coverage then they do ding you on rates. I'm sure that varies from state to state since each state has their own set of insurance rules and their own insurance commission. A kid jumping on the roof would likely be a comprehensive claim.

The only way I have kept the car if the claim is filed is to buy it back from them after they total it. State Farm won't pay for a "patch it up" repair directly so I get it back with a salvage title and then do the substandard repair myself. The title doesn't mean anything to me anyway since the next stop for my cars is usually the salvage yard anyway. I drive them until I can no longer justify making a major repair and then donate them for the tax deduction. The exception to that rule is my '94 with the stick - I love that car.

...Lee