Carseat replacement after accident?

Mrs.BoomBoom

Ok ladies,

Give me the law on this one....DH was rear ended on his way home tonight.  Infant carseat was in the car (un-occupied).  No adjusters are available right now to tell us about replacement so I come to you.

 We have an appointment to get it installed/inspected tomorrow morning at 9:30am so if we get him a new seat, I'd really like to do it tonight.  

What does the law say?  Do we get a new seat?  Does it need to be the same seat as the one that was in the car for the accident?

mylifeofkaos

Maybe this will help?

Crashed Carseat Replacement Criteria

With the exception of Britax, most carseat manufacturers state to replace a carseat after any crash regardless of the details of the crash. Here are helpful manufacturer links for addressing the issue of crashed carseat replacement:

Graco says to replace the carseat after any type of crash. Graco's FAQ page is under reconstruction at https://www.gracobaby.com/CustomerSer....aspx?page=FAQ as of Dec. 2008 but Graco owners may verify the replacement recommendation in their manuals and/or by contacting Graco via the contact info. on the linked Graco FAQ page.

Evenflo's FAQ at https://plweb.evenflo.com/faq_detail.aspx?faqid=4544 instructs parents to discontinue using the crashed seat immediately and to contact Evenflo for additional guidance.

Cosco/Safety 1st/Eddie Bauer seat owners can go to https://www.coscojuvenile.com/contact_us.asp for contact information and guidance.

Sunshine Kids recommends discontinuing use after a crash in the FAQ at https://www.skjp.com/products/radianFAQ.php. The crashed seat may also be eligible for the voluntary crashed seat exchange program if it was occupied during a severe crash in the U.S.

Britax's FAQ refers to the NHTSA criteria for carseat replacement after a crash at https://www.britaxusa.com/customer-se...r-seat-basics/

Q: What should I do with my child restraint that's been involved in a crash?

A: Britax recommends that use of a child restraint be discontinued if it has been in a severe crash. We further advise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) position that it is not necessary to replace a child restraint after a minor crash. A minor crash is one that meets ALL of following criteria:

* The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;
* The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged;
* There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;
* The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
* There is no visible damage to the child restraint.

Here is the direct link to NHTSA's crashed seat criteria for replacement, previously cited by the Britax crashed seat FAQ: https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/inju...raintReUse.htm

Please note that the above manufacturer's crashed seat FAQs and NHTSA criteria do not differentiate between an unoccupied and occupied seat. The carseat has been subjected to crash forces even if it was unoccupied at the time of the crash. There could be unseen damage from the stress of the crash that could potentially cause the seat to fail to properly protect your child in the event of another crash.

Insurance Tips

If your crashed seat(s) meet the manufacturer's guidelines and/or NHTSA's for replacement, the at-fault driver's auto insurance company should be contacted about covering replacement(s). If you live in a no-fault insurance state, then you would pursue replacement through your own car insurance company.

Some insurance companies are very proactive about covering crashed seats regardless of the manufacturer or crash details, while others may act as though they've never heard of such a thing. It may also depend on the particular claims representative at any given company, and you may need to speak to a supervisor or more senior claims representative to get the authorization for replacement coverage. The insurance company may instruct you to simply purchase a replacement seat and submit the receipt for reimbursement, or prorate the original purchase price of your crashed seat(s) to determine how much to reimburse you, or instruct you to purchase the exact same model as your crashed seat(s). Be sure to clarify what the insurance company will specifically cover before purchasing a new seat.

If the insurance company refuses to cover replacing the carseat(s), you could present the insurance company with FAQ information or other supporting documentation from the carseat manufacturer and/or NHTSA. If the insurance company is still reluctant after you present manufacturer's or NHTSA's statements, you could also try asking for a document stating it accepts full liability and responsibility if the crashed carseat fails to properly protect your child in a subsequent crash. This is an approach reported to have worked in cases where insurance companies weren't initially cooperative. Also, insurance companies in California and Illinois are obligated by law to replace occupied crashed seats according to these links from the California Insurance Code at
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/app...s11580_011.htm and the Illinois Insurance Fact Sheet at
https://www.idfpr.com/DOI/autoinsuran..._own_claim.asp. The California and Illinois requirements may be useful leverage even outside of those states, especially if your insurance company also operates in either or both of those locations.


Disposing of a Crashed Seat

Trash pickers may be tempted to re-use or sell your crashed carseat at a yard sale, eBay, Craigslist, etc. To discourage this, remove the cover, cut up the harness, and write "CRASHED - NOT SAFE TO USE!!" in multiple places on the seat's shell. Then discard the various parts in dark trash bags over several weeks of trash pickups, or inquire if your community can handle recycling the plastic shell and other plastic parts. Your insurance company may ask you to turn in your crashed seat, but ideally you would take the seat apart and use the marker on the shell before you turn it over to prevent reuse.

If your replacement carseat is the exact same model, you may want to save the old seat's cover as a spare, or you could try to sell the cover to a buyer with the exact same model seat. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much a buyer is willing to pay for a gently used cover if it's a popular or discontinued pattern. If the carseat was unoccupied at the time of the crash, you may also want to save the internal harness as a spare if your new seat is the exact same model. If the seat was occupied during the crash, however, then definitely cut up and discard the harness.

NHTSA Position

• NHTSA recommends that child safety seats be replaced following a moderate or severe crash in order to ensure a continued high level of crash protection for child passengers.

• NHTSA recommends that child safety seats do not automatically need to be replaced following a minor crash.

• Minor crashes are those that meet ALL of the following criteria:

  • The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;

  • The vehicle door nearest the safety seat was undamaged;

  • There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;

  • The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND

  • There is no visible damage to the safety seat

• Clarifying the need for child seat replacement will reduce the number of children unnecessarily riding without a child safety seat while a replacement seat is being acquired, and the number of children who will have to ride without a child seat if a seat were discarded and not replaced. The clarification will also reduce the financial burden of unnecessary replacement.

 

Mrs.BoomBoom

Oh, and DH seems fine.  I'm sure he'll be sore.  Car's just got a little rear (side) damage.  Air bags didn't deploy.  He drove home afterwards.

Mrs.BoomBoom

Looks like the letter of the law says they may only have to pay for it if it was in use.  Since Graco says to replace after any accident, I think that's what we'll do though...and fight for the money later

Thanks.

altreu

I'm glad your DH is OK, and that Q wasn't in the car for the accident!  

I really just wanted to tell you how adorable your new siggy pic is!  He is a super cutie!  

fjaril

I was in an accident earlier this year and the other person's insurance covered the replacement. I just had to send them a picture of the seat destroyed. I also had the option of leaving it at the adjusters office, but I wanted to keep my cover and wasn't sure they'd let me.

 

Good luck and glad everyone is ok!

 

ZoeMay06

I just had to do this a couple of months ago. We were ready to upgrade to a convertible seat anyway so we replaced the infant seat with that. The insurance co looked up how much the infant seat we had was listed for on BRU's website while I was on the phone with them and then they sent us a check for that amount a couple of weeks later. We only got reimbursed for the cost of the seat that was in the car at the time (the infant seat), but we were able to purchase whatever new seat we wanted to replace it with, and pay the difference. Kyva was in the car with me when it happened, but I don't think that matters...they still have to pay to replace it regardless. Oh, and we have State Farm. So glad DH is fine and you and Q weren't with him!

Mrs.BoomBoom

altreu:

I really just wanted to tell you how adorable your new siggy pic is!  He is a super cutie!  

Thanks

Mrs.BoomBoom

Thank you all!

DandaLion

Replace it. Most insurance companies aren't going to hassle you over it (for a few hundred dollars to not have them be liable in case something happened to the seat in the crash ). I was in a crash the morning LO was born, we called the insurance company and they had us go buy a new seat asap, and we faxed them the receipt. They had direct deposited our reimbursement by 4pm the next day. No questions or hassles. We were able to have the carseat recycled and saved the cover to have as a spare. Glad your dh is ok!