Auto Insurance Company California

Reader’s Question:

I have always been worried that my car can never go back to its original condition after an accident even if my car insurance company here in California gives me the right amount of money. Is it possible that my car can be restored to its pre-accident condition?

Anton

Chula Vista, CA

The Automotive Service Association (ASA), an automobile business group, argues that your car could and must be brought back to its pre-accident condition.” The ASA points out some steps restoration services must do to certify a “suitable” and “quality” repair of your car: Repairers should utilize the best refinishing and paint products and experts; they must utilize just the very well experienced welders who fix according to the car manufacturers’ suggested measures; and they must pin down all damages on the car. In other words, the ASA argue that the repair must be a comprehensive overhauling to original condition.

Car manufacturers, including those in California, use up a lot of money on equipment that accurately brings into line the car parts and paints the exterior of the vehicle. Body shops, including the most highly developed, could not afford and don’t have the room for manufacturer-type equipment; hence, the person who will do the repairs cannot bring back your vehicle to the manner it was after it has been manufactured. Repair shops don’t have enough money for the modern equipment that car manufacturers have. Repair shops do their work manually and when you do it that way, you need to have a good look at it. An average individual might not have the ability to spell the difference in the quality of the restoration, but experts can.

Diminished Value – Filing a Car Insurance Claim in New Jersey

Reader’s Question:

I heard about this diminished value of a car after an accident from someone here in New Jersey. Are car insurance companies responsible for the diminished value if the policyholder files a car insurance claim?

Paul

Passaic, NJ

The discussion about diminished value has been in frenzy for years since majority of car insurance policies were mum about the subject matter whether car insurance companies are responsible for any or believed decrease in car’s value after an accident, even if the car has been fixed to its pre-accident condition. Car insurance companies fight that diminished value would not be covered, but policyholders don’t agree. And there have been a lot of court cases in which the policyholders battle with their car insurance companies about diminished value compensation.

However, the Insurance Services Office or ISO, the agency that gives insurance forms and data, has written a policy language that car insurance companies could now use in 45 states (New Jersey included) and Washington, DC that legitimately takes car insurance companies not liable for diminished value compensation in bodily damage coverage car insurance claim. In some cases, auto insurance policies work this way — the ISO puts forward sample property or casualty guidelines to state insurance departments all over the US that make it easier for car insurance companies to change and simplify their car insurance policies. A number of state insurance departments should authorize the report of the ISO prior to a car insurance company taking on any guidelines suggested by the ISO.