My accident and the offer they made me. *Long*

[Abo Bob]

Should I take the money or fight?

On the way to the SAU christmas party a woman in a golf changed lanes into me pushing me into the kerb.

Damage was paint rather than dents in several places and between the insurer, assessor and smash repairer in this regard they have been great. Almost the whole car is getting resprayed due to the difficulty in perfectly matching the pearl paint.

Other damage was to the wheels. Front drivers side one broken spoke; front passenger side gutter rash all round, (one chip approximately 1 cm across was already there); rear passenger small gutter rash and a smallish chunk taken out from the middle of one spoke.

The woman who hit me admitted fault both at the scene and when she rang the following day. From what I gather her insurane company has also admitted fault already.

So anyway, I have been offered $750 for the damage to my wheels. They reckon that because of the one small chip I already had that they don't have to cover the damage to that wheel. I paid $1600 for them second hand about 9 or 10 months ago. I can't get matching rims as they don't make them anymore.

They expect me to be happy with 2 rims of a different sort and one damaged one, or to sell my good rim and the damaged one (for what? $10!!!) and buy a new set myself with the not enough money they are offering.

What do you all think?

[NXTIME]

You have the right to ask them to return your car to its condition pre-accident. Having 2 different rims does not encompass this. I would ask them for either more money, or 4 new wheels (and they can have yours).

[OKBANANA]

Dont take the money, fight it.

[D-G]

well if it was her fault then take her to court and you'll prob dig deep into her pockets there, but its really your choice on this. theres not much you can do with 2 rims, except look stupid. =]

[Birnie]

I'm thinking, who are you insured with?!

I hope it's not the same as me!

Please PM me if you get the chance.

Something lke this is enough to start looking elsewhere.

What a crok of shyz !

[666DAN]

Why should you be disadvantaged because someone can't drive, fight it!!!! You have every right to have the car the way it was pre-accident.

[GTR R35]

Adam,

Do not fight it yourself, MAKE your insurance comapny fight them.

This is what you pay the premiums for, they are your agent and should go into bat for you.

Insutrance comapnies are lazy and want you to do all the work, when in fact its their job to chace the money.

GEt some quotes from Tempe Tyres on rims you like and send them a quote to replace all the wheels. Also make sure you include the cost for new tryes as well as they may be damaged.

Do not get mad.....GET EVEN

[Birnie]

It's the Golf/woman's insurance company who won't cough up right?

[Bass Junky]

who is the Golf's insurance company?

[Gizmo73]

give them the 4 wheels back to re-coupe costs/do whatever they want, and get them to fully replace your wheels to pre-accident condition...

[ferni]

Aren't you some kind of lawyer Abo Bob? sorry if your not just got the impression you know a bit about law from previous posts of yours...

I guess its up to you ... settle less headaches and be a bit out of pocket for a new set of rims ( you are getting a free respray out of it as well etc.. ) but i guess you do have the right to say that's not acceptable and that the car should be returned to the same condition it was in, same rims or money to replace the rims of the same value.

[silva33]

I have had the same situation happen to me... i did not accept the car untill i was happy and the insurance company backed me the whole way...

Id say call the insurance company and let them deal with it, they wont be stuffed around like you may be if you try to deal with it in person.

[Kel]

Funnily enough, I've also just been through the same situation.

When the poor Zed got hit a few months ago, 3 large chunks got taken out of the wheel.

There was some minor, pre-accident scrapes on the edge of the rim, thanks to a moment with a gutter :Oops:

I offered to contribute a reasonable amount towards the cst of repairing the wheel but the assessor said there was already some damage so they wouldn't fix it at all.

After some *heated* and *interesting* discussions with the insurer, they have agreed to pay for the repair.

The point we kept making was that the wheel was damaged in the accident and the insurers involved had a responisbility to ensure all damage was fixed and we weren't disadvanataged.

If they can't repair your wheels to their pre-accident condition, they need to offer you a complete set of rims to the same value - you can't be left worse off because of the accident.

If they're still giving you grief, try http://www.dispute.com.au/htm/youth07022001.html

Haven't tried them myself but heard they get results.

[Duncan]

:werd: what she said. same situation actually!

places can apparently repair pretty bad wheel damage, they weld up the damage and sand it back to a smooth surface, then recoat the wheel. Vision in Artarmon are doing the repair for us, but I can't comment on how it is coz its not done yet

In theory it will look as good as new......

Personally? I argued until I was blue in the face, but if they had refused in the end I would have just taken what I could get

[Abo Bob]

Vision are doing my car too but because the wheels are chomies they can't be done apparently.

I have some more legal advice from my Barristers (I'm a Barrister's Clerk) and I'm going through the 'Dispute Resolution Process'. Will keep you all informed.

[Bass Junky]

Send them the quote on how much it would cost to get them sent back to AMERICA to have the chrome properly applied and see how much they like it.

American's do chrome the best.

[leb]

Make the bitch pay, thats what i say - She should have checked her blind spot, even i know that, and I suck at driving

[Dizzo]

Was the vehicle fully comp insured? If so, then the insurance company should fight for it on your behalf, and in the mean time(like right now) you should have gotten a quote for the damage and then had it assessed and then the assessor should have given you the green light to go and book it in with your insurance company's recommended smash repair place(see if the insurance guarantees the work if you go through a recommended repair place).

Were your wheels listed on the insurance policy? For $1600? I would assume if you yes to both of those, then you should get $1600... not $750. Who offered you $750? The other person or there insurance?? With Fully Comp, they fight it for you, they pay for damage and then they get the money in court later(this is what I would assume). They get the money off the other person's insurance company. But who told you $750, if it was your insurance company, then I would tell them that you insured the wheels and they are worth 1600, provided you let them know of course.

If it was the other person, or the other person's insurance that rang you and told you this, then I would not discuss it and simply give them your insurance claim reference number and tell them to talk to your insurance company, not you, as they should fight it, not you. Provided you are Fully Comp insured.

My car goes in next week, after someone backed into me. So this is where I am getting my info from.

[siksII]

your car and rims should be in exactly the same condition they were in before the accident, so dont settle, make them pay 1600 so you can buy a new set.

duncan:

the zed has the original wheels right? they are forged so by getting them welded up they will be much weaker (i wouldnt drive on one..) than they originally were, if i were you i would have gotten a replacement rim...

it may look the same but it will lose lots of strength.

[R33Hesh]

mate, fight.. if its get bad take it to court u'll win it with no effort.