Okay Blue Lot, I’m hoping someone on here may be better at figuring this out than I have so far…
Very short version of the story -
In August of 2022 we filed a claim on our vehicle as a result of a hydroplaning accident. It included some exterior damage, along with some damage under the hood that included the radiator being moved enough to warrant replacing the mounting brackets. On this particular model, the radiator is quite a few inches above the bottom of the car, so you’re not going to move it without some extensive damage to the underside and/or front of the vehicle.
We had the car repaired, and thought everything was fine.
Fast forward to June of 2023. Heading to the beach, our car started overheating. Stopped a few times to figure out that the vehicle wasn’t holding coolant. We were fortunate enough / close enough to get to a dealership near Pinehurst, NC. Speaking with the service manager, he said the radiator hose had worn to the point of being busted. Oddly though, he said there wasn’t much of any damage aside from the rat fact that the radiator was pushed up so high.
After a few conversations between the insurance company and the dealership, the insurance company is telling me I need to file a new claim, because all the paperwork showed that all the work had been done after the initial claim in August 2022.
That said, the service manager is telling me that his opinion is that it looks like, those bent mounting brackets holding the radiator on, were probably not replaced. He basically said that if something hit the vehicle that hard to push the radiator up, there would definitely be damage in the front of an underneath the car.
Talking to the insurance company, they’re telling me that that initial claim was closed and I need to file a new one.
Now, my question is, do any of you have any experience with this type of thing?
I’m not trying to swindle anybody, or get something for nothing. I also don’t want to file a new claim if this, indeed was a result of not finishing all the work on the first claim.
I went ahead and file the claim, for no other reason, then to go ahead and get to work, started on getting the vehicle repaired and back to West Virginia. My thinking is that I could go ahead and file the claim, and still try to figure out whether or not the initial work was done, and work through that with the insurance company.
Thoughts?
Very short version of the story -
In August of 2022 we filed a claim on our vehicle as a result of a hydroplaning accident. It included some exterior damage, along with some damage under the hood that included the radiator being moved enough to warrant replacing the mounting brackets. On this particular model, the radiator is quite a few inches above the bottom of the car, so you’re not going to move it without some extensive damage to the underside and/or front of the vehicle.
We had the car repaired, and thought everything was fine.
Fast forward to June of 2023. Heading to the beach, our car started overheating. Stopped a few times to figure out that the vehicle wasn’t holding coolant. We were fortunate enough / close enough to get to a dealership near Pinehurst, NC. Speaking with the service manager, he said the radiator hose had worn to the point of being busted. Oddly though, he said there wasn’t much of any damage aside from the rat fact that the radiator was pushed up so high.
After a few conversations between the insurance company and the dealership, the insurance company is telling me I need to file a new claim, because all the paperwork showed that all the work had been done after the initial claim in August 2022.
That said, the service manager is telling me that his opinion is that it looks like, those bent mounting brackets holding the radiator on, were probably not replaced. He basically said that if something hit the vehicle that hard to push the radiator up, there would definitely be damage in the front of an underneath the car.
Talking to the insurance company, they’re telling me that that initial claim was closed and I need to file a new one.
Now, my question is, do any of you have any experience with this type of thing?
I’m not trying to swindle anybody, or get something for nothing. I also don’t want to file a new claim if this, indeed was a result of not finishing all the work on the first claim.
I went ahead and file the claim, for no other reason, then to go ahead and get to work, started on getting the vehicle repaired and back to West Virginia. My thinking is that I could go ahead and file the claim, and still try to figure out whether or not the initial work was done, and work through that with the insurance company.
Thoughts?
