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?

dacouch

Car Insurers do not settle claims on a new for old basis (Apart from cars under a year old), they deduct wear and tear so you cannot insist on it

Kittian_the_Blue

Have a look in your policy booklet - it might give a limit of £100 per car seat.

vaio

Kittian_the_Blue wrote: »

Have a look in your policy booklet - it might give a limit of £100 per car seat.

It might indeed but as the loss was someone elses fault does it matter?

Surely the replacement cost just gets paid by the TP insurance company who can't put arbitrary limits on the amount of cover?

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

It might indeed but as the loss was someone elses fault does it matter?

Surely the replacement cost just gets paid by the TP insurance company who can't put arbitrary limits on the amount of cover?

If your claiming from a third party then normal UK civil laws will apply, these are that they have to put you in the same financial position as you were prior to the claim.

If you have an accident in your two year old car you cannot except them to pay you the value of a brand new car, they will pay you the value of a to year old car. The same principal eg deduct for wear and tear applies for the car seat when claiming off the third parties insurance

jackieb

dacouch wrote: »

If your claiming from a third party then normal UK civil laws will apply, these are that they have to put you in the same financial position as you were prior to the claim.

If you have an accident in your two year old car you cannot except them to pay you the value of a brand new car, they will pay you the value of a to year old car. The same principal eg deduct for wear and tear applies for the car seat when claiming off the third parties insurance

That seems a bit daft though regarding car seats. You can't (or it's not advised) to buy second-hand car seats - you don't know their history as to whether they've been in an accident or not.

vaio

dacouch wrote: »

If your claiming from a third party then normal UK civil laws will apply, these are that they have to put you in the same financial position as you were prior to the claim.

If you have an accident in your two year old car you cannot except them to pay you the value of a brand new car, they will pay you the value of a to year old car. The same principal eg deduct for wear and tear applies for the car seat when claiming off the third parties insurance

I think for once you might have missed the point on an insurance question. The OP is not about wear and tear deductions, it about an insurance company trying to impose an arbitrary maximum value (£100) on the replacement car seat. I suppose companies could limit the cover to their own policy holders but they certainly can’t on third party claims.

Even if it was about wear and tear I’d be surprised if any company could successfully defend making such a deduction on a safety critical item like a baby seat (or seat belt) where the industry advice is to replace if involved in an accident.

apples1

Ii think we will try and stand our ground. seems unfair we should be out of pocket when accident was 100% other persons fault. We won't buy a cheaper seat so it will cost us £50 if they refuse to pay in full for a replacement. Interesting that there are differing views on where we stand. Anyone work for car insurance co?

Kittian_the_Blue

Firstly, I'm not aware of any law that requires the replacement of a child seat after an accident - it may be best practice for medium/heavy impacts but I don't think it is compulsory. Secondly in the OPs note, it is their insurance that advised the seat should be replaced and I presumed therefore applied the policy terms.
If it is the TPI who have made the comment, then it is up to the OP to demonstrate that the seats are damaged. Given that the seats were empty (thankfully) I would think that the potential for damaged is lessened. If they are damaged and claimed for then an arbitrary amount cannot be applied by the TPI - they should calculate on an indemnity basis and make an offer accordingly. Speculating, it might be that they have a fixed offer of £100 without the need for proof of damage

apples1

Have just spoken again to our insurance co. They are still saying they will only pay out £100 max per seat. They will claim it against the other person's insurance but say that they have an agreement with Tesco (who the other chap is insured with) that they only pay out £100 per seat.

I really think this is wrong but I don't know how to check it out. There is nothing in policy documents and it was our insurance co that said they are obliged by law to replace any seat involved in an accident. There is no question of proof of damage as the seats look just the same. The reason they are required to replace them is that damage caused by severe shock to the plastic could not be visible. There is every chance the seats are ok but there is also a chance they are weakend. I won't take any risks as the girl's safety is my top priority and I will replace with the same seat. I just feel it's wrong that we are hit by someone and it ends up costing us money.

Does anyone know how I can find out whether this is correct or not?

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!

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. †