[s-cars] insurane claim on paint jobe - They want to charge me depreciaiton of 25%

[CyberPoet]

Three thoughts:
1. Get three high-cost paint estimates. Make sure all three are from
various dealerships (porsche, Ferrari, etc) in the area, as they will
have the highest prices, and that will give you a valid starting point
for price setting.

2. Get out pictures of the car before the damages. Use this to argue
that it wasn't 25% paint-depreciated prior to the incident, if it
really wasn't. Stand firm and use the photographs as evidence, taking
the time to remind them that Audi's have superior paint over zinc,
which means that traditional built cars' paints and surfaces degrade at
a much faster rate (thus 8%-12% might be fair, but 25% certainly isn't,
especially given that there is zero rust under the flaked paint prior
to the incident).

3. Then go find the prettiest custom car you have seen and ask the
owner who did the painting for him and what he paid. Go visit that
shop, find the owner and work out a deal. Most paint shops would be
happy to supply an "25% over invoice" in exchange for a high-end $2k
paint job project. Make sure they have experience spraying whatever
paint you want to use (such as the German three-part pearl used on some
Audi's), and that their pricing includes the actual cost of that
specific paint (which can run much higher than they might use for their
cost estimate).

4. Contact DOT and the applicable police to find out if some specific
firm was doing construction or had a tanker spill at that location in
the 7 days leading up to your 'incident'. If so, contact that firm
directly and notify them of your damages and see if they want to handle
it instead/as well.

5. Try using inside strings to get this made right (it is the firm you
work for, after all).

6. Get insurance from a different firm as soon as your policy lapses.
This is BS. I've had to file for similar damages on a decade old cars
(caused by vandalism with brake fluid, but same concept) and didn't
have any of the same issues about percentage deductions through
Allstate nor through Electric Insurance (and Electric had the cheapest
rates I've found anywhere for good drivers -- about 20% lower than
Geico).

Cheers
=-= Marc Glasgow

> Yeah our wedding is on September 5th, 2 weeks away and my car isn't in
> the body shop yet.
>
> Some type of caustic material got "sprayed" or "dumped" on my car as I
> drove under a bridge on 131 (a highway) bear Detroit. The paint is in
> terrible shape, bubbles, pealing paint, lifted clear coat, etc. It is
> going to require a complete repaint.
>
> I am currently working with the insurance company to try and work it
> out. As of last night I was informed that they would be charging me for
> 25% depreciation, meaning they plan on deducting 25% of the estimate
> because they believe my car (being 10 years old) will be in better
> shape after the work then before.
>
> What this means is that the current estimate is in the $3,200 range;
> 25% depreciation is $800 and I have a $250 deductible, so they would
> only pay $2,150 towards the repair.
>
> Quite obviously I am not happy with this development, I have no
> documentation that indicates I would be charged any depreciation, just
> a $250 deductible. Supposedly they sent me a policy book after I
> purchased insurance that describes this on p14.
>
> Being a Financial Advisor, I would have read theat booklet from cover
> to cover, and I would have kept it.In fact I am a financial advisor
> with the company that issued the Auto insurance. My position is that I
> never received the booklet, and that the car if improved upon shouldn't
> be more than 10% depreciation. As we know these cars are normally
> meticuliously maintained, I had a couple small rock chips but other
> than that it was a great finish on the car.
>
> You now know more than the list...I'll copy this to the list to see if
> anybody has had a similiar experience.
>
> Thanks
> Chris