A few weeks ago, Michelle and I were sitting in our car at a stop light when another vehicle abruptly slammed into the back of us. After getting out to assess the damage and chat with the other driver, we quickly realized that she seemed to be on some heavy medication or something, that somehow prevented her from noticing that other cars in front of her were no longer moving. The damage to our vehicle wasn’t major, but it was clear that we would need a new rear bumper and possibly some exhaust work as a result of the collision. As such, we did the right thing and called the local police department to file a report.
When fault is so clearly defined in an accident such as this one, the usual advice is to work entirely through the other driver’s insurance company, and to avoid filing a claim against your own (and thus, opening yourself up to higher rates). As such, we reached out to them a few hours after the accident and asked them what the process would be for getting the repairs completed. They ended up offering up their preferred auto body shop (which was very close to my house), and they explained that a rental car would be provided to me when my car was dropped off.
While any car accident is a huge inconvenience, the process from there went as smoothly as possible. I dropped off my car, and drove a rental for 4-5 days while the repairs were completed. When the work was done, I picked up my car, which looked and drove perfectly. I was very pleased with the way that everything was handled until I heard from the body shop a week later. They told me that the insurance company didn’t cover the entire cost of the damaged muffler that was replaced, and that I was on the hook for the remaining $80. I was being subjected to what is known in the insurance industry as a “betterment charge”, because my car was leaving the shop in better condition than it was brought in.
A betterment charge is a tool that insurance companies use to avoid paying for the complete amount of repairs after a car accident. Basically, if a repair is needed to a “wear and tear” part of your vehicle, the insurance company will only pay a percentage of the cost of that replacement part. From their point of view, they are only responsible for returning your vehicle to the condition that it was in prior to the accident, and since you are getting a brand-new part, your vehicle will actually be in better condition after the repairs are completed. Therefore, the insurance company shouldn’t be on the hook for the entire amount. This charge is most often applied to tires, but can also be applied to parts of the exhaust.
Your right, it does. I was not muffler shopping prior to the accident, and had no plans to go muffler shopping in well.. the next 3 or 4 years. I was just sitting at a stop light, obeying the traffic laws, when another reckless driver rear-ended me. This accident was a huge inconvenience for me on many levels, and the notion that a greedy insurance company would FORCE me to shop for an auto-part as a result of their client’s poor driving, is completely absurd.
After finding out about this “betterment charge“, I spoke with a friend of mine who works as a city attorney and often deals with car insurance companies. According to him, this policy is quite standard for insurance companies, and there is little that you can do about it. He disagreed with my revulsion at the concept, because I was getting a brand new part to replace a part that was likely heavily depreciated.
However, my take on the whole thing was that I didn’t want a brand new part. If I wanted to replace my existing muffler, I would have gone ahead and done that on my own before the accident. But I wouldn’t do that, of course, because my old “deprecated” muffler was working just fine and I had no reason to want to replace it. I ended up spending a good half an hour trying to convince the insurance adjuster that the whole concept of betterment charges was absurd and immoral, and she eventually agreed to reduce the charge by 50%, leaving me with only $40 to pay instead of $80. I still find it ridiculous that I would be on the hook for paying anything after getting rear-ended while sitting at a stop light, but clearly the insurance system is rigged to make as much money as possible, and this is just another way to facilitate that.
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