Lightly Rear-ended at stoplight, had kid's carseats in car do I need to replace them

Question

I was hit by a driver going only about 10 miles an hour, no damage done to the back of my car, but I did have my kid's car seats in my car (they were in them) and I cannot find on the net if the manufacturer suggests replacing them after being rear-ended. A few years ago someone bumped my car in a parking lot and my insurance agent told me they needed to be replaced because it could compromise the harness/buckle that holds them back. The woman that hit me refused to give me her information (so I had to call the police), and they made a report, can I go after her insurance to get the cost of these if I have to replace them? I know it sounds petty but they were those convertible car seats that go from newborn to when they don't need them anymore and they were nearly 200 each. So spending another 400 doesn't seem like fun to me when she was at fault.

Answer 1

I've never heard of having to replace the seats unless it was a major accident.  I doubt a fender bender at 10mph would damage the seats.  Just to err on the side of caution, however, I would find a Phone number for the manufacturer and call them.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

Since your not at fault the other insurance company should pay and there would be no deductible involved for you.    It doesn't matter if you slowed down or not. She failed to maintain proper distance and that is why she rearended you.  It is still her fault.

Answer 3

The damage to your property, isn't subject to a deductible on HER policy.  So SHE has no deductible.  You could always request from her insurer, that they replace the car seats.

But frankly, if you have no damage to your car, I can't see how there's any damage to the car seats.  The manufacturer is just 1.  covering their a**, and 2.  hoping to sell two more car seats.

Take your car to a body shop, ask them to take a look and see if there's any damage.  

Answer 4

Make use of google to collect some related links or you could try to use answer engines like yahoo answer or answer.com to get some related answers.nonetheless,If you like some direct resource,here is a good resource from my own experience.http://car-insurance.easyideas4u.info/ca...

Answer 5

Actually even at low speed you have a lot more to worry about then just car seats.  The bumper material in a car is only designed for one accident and one accident only, even if it is a small accident, chances are your bumper material is destroyed.  The reason I mention this is because this is far more expensive to generally replace then a couple of expensive car seats and it is very often neglected.

Answer 6

You should note that there IS NO DEDUCTIBLE (for you or her) for damage done to your vehicle when she is at fault (which she is 100% if she hit you from behind). There is only a deductible for her to repair her OWN car.

Please, don't be foolish. You need to file this claim under her insurance. I pray you already have her insurance information and/or police report. Too many people get screwed when they are hit from behind and do not understand how insurance works.

The insurance will pay to replace your rear bumper which almost surely needs to be as well as the car seats (which DO need to be replaced after ANY accident)

I know you are trying to be nice and I applaud you for that, but I've seen too many nice people get screwed and I don't want that to happen to you. Worse case scenario is there is no damage to your bumper and the repair shop can verify that so if you get hit again you don't have MAJOR damage due to an already damaged bumper.

As for fault, I think you probably already realized this, but she is a teenager and this is probably her first accident/claim.  When you hit someone from behind you are at fault pretty much every time (unless maybe you reversed into her).  It is her responsibility to maintain a safe distance and remain aware of the flow of traffic in front of her.  If she was not able to stop as quickly as you than she was failing to do one or both of these things.

***For those who have said I also need to replace the back bumper, how do I go about getting her insurance company to agree to this. There is no notable damage to the back of it, and I told the police I didn't see any damage on it...how do I get them to replace it if they don't "see" anything wrong with it?

Take it to a dealership shop and have them take a look at it.  Advise them of what happened.  They should be able to determine if the foam inside is cracked, but I suspect that it is as this foam is meant to be break very easily (so it can absorb most of the shock of a collision).  That way even if they determine that it is 100% fine, at least you KNOW.

**By the way, I did a little research on the child restraint issue and came across the following website http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/c...

which indicates you may NOT need to replace your car seats.

Answer 7

I don't know if you need to replace them or not because I am unfamiliar with the manufacturer's recommendations. However, if there is any doubt in your mind--put the burden (and the liability) on the insurance company by reporting it to them. You are absolutely correct that you should not have to shell out $400 when it wasn't even your fault!  

Meanwhile, I would look the manufacturer up on-line and send them an email asking the question in case the insurance company baulks. I'm so glad everyone was okay.