Question

So I got a letter saying my car seat needs to be replaced in the case of any accident (whether the seat is occupied or not), gave it to insurance, and apparently Geico just doesn’t care and thinks the car seat company just wants to sell more seats . Any idea what I do now?  

Answer 1

Was it a recall? Or was your car in an accident with the car seat?  

Comments

@rhizopod both, which I think is part of the problem

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@anetta I think it depends on where the damage on the car is and where the car seat was positioned within the car. It also matters if the car was drivable or it. There are lots factors. However, if you don’t feel your child is safe keep pushing it.  

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@milkwhite she said there was barely any damage.  

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@rhizopod oh I guess I miss read. So the car seat won’t be replaced by insurance in that case would be my guess.  

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@anetta They should pay for a new seat their Insurance company

Answer 2

Threaten to get new insurance. We had issues with our insurance originally saying we could get a new car seat but then suddenly not being aware of that and when we threatened to get new insurance they suddenly paid for it.  

Answer 3

Any accident deemed minor-minor to moderate it’s fine. If the accident was under 30 mph and not on the side of the accident they may not cover it. You can look on the car seat website and it’ll explain better. If the site/policy of the car seat company states it needs to be replaced with your situation all you need to do is print out/email the pages to the insurance company and they legally have to replace a new car seat that you purchase. They will ask for a receipt. Hope this helps

Comments

@munn sent them the letter, they don’t care

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@anetta I would call. If the car seat company has a policy and your accident guidelines fall in the category of replacement I’d ask to speak to management. Seems weird bc it’s a reputable company.  

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@munn I talked to the supervisor for the adjusters and he got hung up on the fact that there was minimal damage to the car and the seat was unoccupied so didn’t care what the car seat company says or that I had a letter saying it should be replaced.  

Answer 4

I have geico and they replaced my car seat with out an issue. They actually made me leave the car seat in the car for them to take when they came to look at the car. My car was totaled though.  

Answer 5

Yes! Car seats need to be replaced after any accident.  

Comments

@eire not all. Depends on situation. Almost all companies have policy on website and/or you can call. Britax is all I buy and I was in a small rear fender bender and the company said that the seats are fine. Of course every situation and seat is different tho  

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@munn yes. Our other car seat in the car is a britax, so I pointed out to insurance that one was fine, but graco says always, no matter what

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@anetta it’s the law in Illinois to replace car seats.  

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@anetta ok but logically that doesn’t make sense - is Britax fine due to better quality or because where the car was hit? Is Graco just covering their butt. I mean it was the same car in the same accident. As a mom I’d replace both or neither unless I was given a reason why one is ok but the other, 2 feet or less away, is not fine.  

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@chism I’m just trying to do what the car seat manufacturers say. Because it meets the requirements for a minor accident, britax says their car seat doesn’t need to be replaced, graco says replace no matter what.  

Answer 6

Try calling them and saying the carsest company says the seat is no longer useable hence your property was damaged and needs to be replaced. If not you want a letter from them saying they will be liable if your carseat fails in the future as the carseat company no longer can guarantee it.  

Comments

@hoyden asked about getting a letter. They won’t give me one.  

Answer 7

Unfortunately if the damage to the car isn’t severe they won’t. From what I’ve seen it isn’t worth fighting. I’d just buy a new one unfortunately.  

Answer 8

Ours refused to replace ours, too. We ended up having to buy new ones ourselves.  

Answer 9

Keep pushing. I’ve heard that geico has any officials reputation for being stingy. If they won’t pay for the seat I would get a new company. I wouldn’t want to be insured by a company that thinks they know better then the manufacturer that did the safety testing.  

Comments

@isosceles150 right now it’s the adjuster that’s being difficult, and when I went to talk to the supervisor, he was rude, and told me he’d give a manger my info to contact me, but it felt like he was just trying to get rid of me.  

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@anetta also I too have geico and want to switch, they’ve been hard for me to deal with as well.  

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@anetta you could file a complaint with the department of insurance since management didn't help . Send the letter to them. They will review it.  

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@anetta that sucks

Answer 10

It’s the law in IL! I work in insurance! Demand a new one!  

Comments

@panettone82 even if the crash was super minor and no one was in the seat?  

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@anetta I replace them even if minor. I don’t want to take the liability. And neither should they. I was in a minor rear ended accident recently and the other insurance paid to replace mine and my son wasn’t in the car. I’d say it’s not worth the risk of keeping and telling Geico to follow the laws

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Its actually not “law” In IL to replace a car seat if the accident was minor as she stated it was “barely anything” and the seat was not occupied and the area impacted was not on the door nearest the seat unless there is visible damage to the seat. The only exception to this is California. -Insurance adjuster here.  

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@counterespionage yea same. I understand if super minor no. But I’ve always demanded a new one and got one. But I guess each company different I always replace for the seats but we were trained to

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@panettone82 I’m definitely a lot more lenient than some of my coworkers for a car seat replacement too. When you are a mom it changes your perspective as an adjuster!  

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@counterespionage for sure!  

Answer 11

Hi Katie, I am an insurance adjuster and a mom of two littles in car seats. I know you want the seat replaced and I know the car seat manufacturer website recommends it. That is typically to CYA for them. They can’t say only replace for for moderate or severe accidents because what is minor to me may be moderate to you. It has a grey area that can be subjective to consumers who don’t have accidents all the time, so to be safe they recommend replacing for everything. The car seat manufacturer also doesn’t differentiate between states and say replace if the accident happened in CA but not IL. Since there are a couple states that require any seat be replaced regardless of severity, the car seat manufacturer just goes with those broader guidelines. The dept of insurance has specific guidelines to determine differences between minor and moderate accidents. It’s not a state law in IL to replace a seat that was not occupied and was involved in a minor rear end accident. Filing with the dept of insurance likely will not change the outcome. If you have proof that your accident was more severe than the insurance company has deemed it may be worth your time, otherwise you would honestly be wasting your time. You may get more headway with a manager and they may take care of it for customer service but based on the DOT/State guidelines it does not sound like something that is actually owed in this specific situation. When companies pay for things that are not owed rates go up across the board for everyone. I know this isn’t what you want to hear and I hope the manager takes care of it for you but I wanted to offer you maybe more info/perspective  

Answer 12

As an insurance person, what I would do is one of two things: ask them to put in writing that they are not willing to pay for a replacement car seat that was involved in this collision or send them a certified return receipt letter confirming conversions with so and so claims handler and so and so supervisor on such and such dates confirming that Geico is unwilling to pay to replace a car seat that was involved in this collision and thereby they will be assuming all risk associated with any injuries sustained by any occupants of that car seat in a future collision whether you are their insured or not because the car seat manufacturer will not assume any liability for a car seat that was involved in a previous collision. Be very specific in dates, names, everything. And send it certified return receipt. Trust me. If I got that letter, it’s cheaper to send you the $100 or however much a new car seat is than to have that letter sitting on my supervisor’s desk. The potential exposure is so much more than the $100. If they say no, you can also file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Insurance. It’s common knowledge to replace a car seat after an accident. Duh. Good luck.