The laws over insurance repairs and frauds prevention how it works?
Question by : The laws over insurance repairs and frauds prevention how it works?
I mean we all know that whoever faults at accident gonna pay for repairs from their insurance.
However my questions is what if I buy used car that have little damages on it. As I drive on road, maybe a month later somebody cause accident to my car and police rule out it’s their fault.
So how can their insurance pay for my car repair from new accident if I already have damages on my car before I buy them?
According to a law, once accident happened the insurance only pay for repair from new damages not from old damages. It’s insurance fraud if they pay for whole repair that is not part of their causes.
Example: I buy a car with rear bumper damages, just little paints and dents on rear bumper. When the accident happen, it cause rear bumper to fall off and it needed new bumper, how can insurance pay for new bumper if some of it was already damages when I buy those car?
They might write off but if car is value at 10K and cost repair is 800 dollars then it cheaper to fix but how? How without insurance fraud?
Best answer:
Answer by rick29148
Some of the car insurers that insure YOUR car will take pictures of your car when you insure it, for just that reason. Especially if the company hasn’t insured you before. On the other hand, if you already have a dent in a body panel, & this accidence further damages that same panel, if the repairs shop replaces that panel with a new one, then that is not fraud, unless you tell ‘them’ that the old dent was new damage. Body repair guys are also real good at looking at damage & telling if it’s new or old. Replacing a body panel with a new dent costs just the same as replacing a panel with a new dent & an old dent.
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There’s a big difference between bumps and scratches and knocking bumper off. That’s not fraud also by law whoever hits you in rear is their fault. Don’t worry so much drive and enjoy. Insurance doesn’t look for previous damages on parts damaged in a wreck.
If the new damage is enough to warrant replacing the part then it doesn’t matter if there was previous damage and it’s not considered insurance fraud. If the accident in your example ripped the bumper off, that is enough new damage to warrant replacing the part, regardless if there was already dents and scratches in it.
The same theory applies to any panel on the car. If you had a dent in your door and someone hit you causing enough damage to warrant replacing the door, the door would get replaced because the new damage is severe enough to warrant it.
It would be insurance fraud if you tried to have old damage fixed on a panel not damaged in an accident.
Most insurance companies use highly trained adjusters to estimate the cost of repairs of damage from accidents. The adjuster is an employee of the company and has the authority to make decisions about what damage will be covered or not covered by the company. The adjuster will be able to tell the difference between new damage and old damage. If the adjuster makes a conscious decision to cover the damages then it is not really insurance fraud as he is acting as an agent of the insurance company.
There are a few ways to look at your bumper scenario. One argument is that the new damage warrants the replacement of the bumper, therefor the previous damage is irrelevant.
On the other hand the insurance company may take “betterment” which basically says that you’re on the hook for any previous damage or wear & tear on a part/panel being replaced.
The role/job/responsibility of an insurance company is to make you “whole” which means returning the vehicle to pre-loss condition. That’s why they take betterment on damage parts OR on suspension/rotating parts.