Child's car seat to be replaced following accident

apples1

Someone drove hard into the back of us a few weeks ago. Thankfully our girls were not in the car at the time although their car seats were fitted in the back.

The other driver admitted all liability and repairs to our car are being paid by his insurance. Our insurance co told us that legally they have to replace all car seats that have been in an accident as damage my have occured but not be visible. Our toddler's car seat cost £150. They have said they will only pay £100 (per seat) for a replacement seat but we obviously want the same as we had. Can we insist or is it just our loss for buying an expensive seat?

Lil306

apples1 wrote: »

Someone drove hard into the back of us a few weeks ago. Thankfully our girls were not in the car at the time although their car seats were fitted in the back.

The other driver admitted all liability and repairs to our car are being paid by his insurance. Our insurance co told us that legally they have to replace all car seats that have been in an accident as damage my have occured but not be visible. Our toddler's car seat cost £150. They have said they will only pay £100 (per seat) for a replacement seat but we obviously want the same as we had. Can we insist or is it just our loss for buying an expensive seat?

Insist it

The insurers are just being snivvely, it's not your fault they insured a muppet. The person admitted liability so the insurers have to pay out in full not partial.

Insurers try the same things with cars that are lightly damaged, they write them off because it's cheaper than paying to repair it in full. What they don't disclose is providing the car is C/D they can be bought back.

I'd say the insurers are trying to worm there way out of it and you should insist you want a like for like

eschaton

apples1 wrote: »

someone drove hard into the back of us a few weeks ago. Thankfully our girls were not in the car at the time although their car seats were fitted in the back.

The other driver admitted all liability and repairs to our car are being paid by his insurance. Our insurance co told us that legally they have to replace all car seats that have been in an accident as damage my have occured but not be visible. Our toddler's car seat cost £150. They have said they will only pay £100 (per seat) for a replacement seat but we obviously want the same as we had. Can we insist or is it just our loss for buying an expensive seat?

how many times do you need to make the same post ?????

apples1

Goodness that was a bit uncalled for. I posted on the insurance board and then realised that it maybe should have gone on the motoring board. To be honest I still don't know which is correct. Sorry if two posts (under relevant subject headings) offended you.

drew2k9

as has already been said, go for exactly as much as you are entitled to, the seat you bought is the one being replaced, so you should get the full value of the seat.

keep on at them until they pay out, you will get the money dont worry!

apples1

update - ok after trawling the web and getting some useful info from ROSPA I have now found out that it is not a legal requirement for insurance companies to replace car seats. I am pasting one of the pages below for anyone else interested. I will order replacement seat and pay the extra £50 myself. At least I know now! Our insurance company is Aviva and they contribute £100. Others pay in full but I guess there are some that pay nothing so maybe we are lucky! Sorry again for duplicate thread. Here is link to other thread so please continue on there
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2307033


Child Car Seats Should Always be Replaced After an Accident (ROSPA): After a minor accident, a child car seat may look completely unharmed. The seats appear rugged to the naked eye, and are usually kept in the rear so are not the first item you check for damage after an accident anyway. However, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) conducted studies that confirmed it is essential to replace such seats after an accident, even if no damage is visible. Even minor impacts can weaken the structural integrity and restraints of the seat making it inadequate for further use. Since at least 2005 it has been ROSPA's position that child car seat replacement is a legitimate accident cost that should be covered by insurers.

Yet, there has not been substantial consumer pressure to gain such replacements. In a press release, Direct Line revealed as many as 20% of Britons do not consider it necessary to replace a child car seat after an accident. These findings were backed by a survey by similar survey conducted by Churchill Insurance (Direct Line's sister company). A Churchill Car Insurance spokesperson asserted that this trend was putting substantial numbers of children riding in cars in danger.

To ensure the safety of child passengers, drivers may now take advantage of the fact that many insurers often replace car seats free of charge. These include:

◊ Churchill
◊ More Th>n
◊ Direct Line
◊ Sainsburys (which even allows trade in of old but undamaged seats for new ones)
◊ AA
◊ Privilege
◊ AIG
◊ Aviva
◊ RAC Direct
◊ Cornhill Direct

A thisismoney and Daily Mail article reported that Sainsbury's and Aviva are especially notable, since they will replace a child car seat after an accident even if there is no visible damage to it. This is part of the companies' bid to discourage drivers from selling or buying second-hand child car seats and provide an added convenience to customers. These two firms were also implicitly commended in a ROSPA letter concerning child car seat replacement (available at www.rospa.co.uk).

Replacing an old seat will also insure that the child car seat you have meets meet new EU safety standards that went into effect in 2006. †

atrixblue.-MFR-.

i would insist that they pay the amount paid for the seat its not your fault he hit you.

drew2k9

are you not claiming off the other drivers insurance policy rather than your own as it wasnt your fault? if it was your own fault then i would take the £100 offered, if it was someone elses fault then try to get the full value of the seat.

cheekychappy

Ask the insurer to provide the exact seats in lieu of cash, that is what would happen on home insurance...and it was not your fault, so why should you be out of pocket.

plane_boy2000

If the other part has admited liability then they should put you back in the position you were in before the accident. I would push this, and if they are not forthcoming tell them that its probably best if your own insurers deal with the claim. Chances are your own insurers will bump the claim up so for the sake of £50 they will pay up.

Same thing happened to us and they said they would only supply the chepest equivilent replacements, but I pushed and got what I wanted.

driver22uk

Things of safety are designed to break & take stresses and ANY weak points are a danger.
Especially when kids are involved!!

Do you have kids ???