Thanks

[SVT10th]

Don't formally accept their estimate yet.

Have you gotten any estimates yourself?
I had to fight my insurance for a reasonable value on the Fiery Juke. They said if I could show them three similar cars listed for more money, they would adjust the value, and they did. (And actually got a very generous settlement.)
So go get two quotes for repair and submit them as examples to your insurance.

A guy at the Nissan dealer told me that claims department people are paid a bonus to get you to accept their initial "low-ball" offer. Then they have two more tiers of offers they can make -- the final one being actual market value.
I don't know if this applies to repairs as opposed to vehicle replacement -- or even if it's actually how it works -- but it seemed to be how it worked for my situation.

[chachee52]

I agree with Jim, don't except the check until you get an estimate from the person you are going to have repair it, or if you can ACTUALLY find a replacement seat.
Although, I do understand that really no matter what, it sounds like your deductible is $500.

[rhoidahl]

Be careful when trying to compare your NH auto policy to Ian's MA auto policy; they are two different animals. Though the comp coverage should work the same way. Sounds to me like Ian has a $500 deductible on comp; if you can, get that reduced to $50 or $100. (And ask your agent why he gave you such a high comp deductible in the first place)...

[chachee52]

Be careful when trying to compare your NH auto policy to Ian's MA auto policy; they are two different animals. Though the comp coverage should work the same way. Sounds to me like Ian has a $500 deductible on comp; if you can, get that reduced to $50 or $100. (And ask your agent why he gave you such a high comp deductible in the first place)...

I am from MA. Usually what happens when i've been in an accident (I've had two this year), they give you an estimate, you choose a place to get it fixed and then if it's more than estimated, they will write another check.
But my first accident smashed my trailer hitch, and I had some one give me an estimate on how much that was going to be to replace before I did anything.
The $500 deductible does stink, but it a common amount.

[TorchredSVT]

I have not gotten any formal estimates yet....I can all but garuntee any place is going to try to repair the seat instead of replace it

I have specialty collectors insurance on the car....american collectors. These guys aren't stupid and know the seat can no longer be purchased from Ford. They are aware it's 10x easier to get the seat fixed than it is to get it replaced. Not to mention the fact, I am not keen on getting someone else's seat that's been god knows where and is in crappy shape.

I pay $525 for the year on on insurance for the cobra with an agreed value of $31k, limited to 5,000 miles....so I am not going to complain to much.

It's not like someone hit the car or the bullet pierced body panels, that'd be a total different ball game.

[chachee52]

And as MA is a no-fault state, reducing the collision deductible should be considered as well, especially where you have no control over the other driver who could be 100% at fault. One more thing for those of you who take the insurance coverage off your Mustang when it is away for the winter, always-always-always keep the comp coverage on ... ... ...

Randy, I'm not quite sure what you mean by this statement. If someone hits you and the other person is at fault, the other person's insurance pays your deductible. So there is Fault. The issue is that there has to be some kind of proof of fault. Example, I was broad sided at a set of lights, I had the green light and the other guy ran the red. On one stopped to help and by the time the cops got there, the other guy claimed he had the green light. The cop could not come up with who did, so we both had to pay the deductible. But if he either a) admitted that he was wrong, or b) someone stopped to report he did, then he pays my deductible.
In a case like Ian's, there is no other person to go after so that person has to pay the deductible.

[rhoidahl]

Yeah, when I looked at it later, I realized I was very unclear in what I was trying to say. So I took the posting down...