Hot Rods Insurance claim on old patina paint question

Bad luck for me. One of my neighbors ran into my 63 Cadillac during our last snow storm. He crunched the front fender and ruined the side molding. He was nice enough to stop and give me his insurance information(American Family). Their adjuster says he will only buy me a used fender and paint it. That sucks because I have a very straight car with great looking faded maroon paint. The whole car matches. The only way to make the car look good is a new paint job. American family Insurance sent me a check for $835.00 and hopes I will go away. I don't think this is right. I mailed it back. Can you give me help on my options?

 

It's a 63. They will only buy a used fender. Hmmm.

No help here, bro, I don't think you're entitled to a free total paint job.

Good luck.

 

I think you just sent him back a good amount of money, the patina looks the way it does after years of weather. you car wasnt sporting a fancy paint job, adn a healthy patina dont mean squat to the value of a car as the insurance companies see it, so why would they pay to paint your entire car, when according to them, it already needs a paint job?
You want a good patina again, get that $835 back, replace the fender, use the rest of the cash at MAACO or Earl Schieb for a crappy paint job, and let it sit out in the elements again, in a year or two, it'll look just like it did before.

 

new painted fender... scotchbrite... 1 2 3 go

 

Can you even BUY a fender and paint it for 800 & change? Doubt it. Where did he get his quote on the fender? make him back it up by purchasing said fender. But no, you do not get a whole paintjob.

 

I have been involved with the insurance company before and you can not win. They have put laws in place to protect them from "unreasonable demands" and while you may get a couple hundred more, you will not get them to paint part of the car that was not damaged by their insured. Good luck with the fight but in the end take the cash and deal with it. You will sleep better at night.

 

in the eyes of the insurance man, your car is worth LESS with old faded paint...it sucks, but its the way it is.

call around to a few body shops and see what they'd charge you JUST to remove your wrinkled fender and install another. then what they'd charge for the paint. then add that to the price of a fender and trim... THAT is the amount you should get, no less

 

Thats not true. When my wifes car was hit, the adjuster tried to use prices to replace the car as far away as Pennsylvania instead of fixing it. I said fine, ship the car here from Penn and we have a deal. Apples and Oranges, in the end it was cheaper to cave in and pay us what my 2 shops quoted here locally.

 

That's not patina, that's oxidation!

Rub out the rest of the car carefully with a good cleaning wax and it will look nice and shiny just like the newly painted fender. As a Cadillac should. (It' ain't a Model A hot rod dragged out of the dessert, for God's sake!)
Just rub it out BEFORE the fender is painted, so you and/or a painter have a shot at getting a good match.

Bummer about the wreck, but why would you want to carefully preserve a lack of proper maintenance?

 

You are the man then, because they beat me down like a dog and said that they would not paint my whole truck. I called the Georgia Insurance Commisioners office and was told that their adjustment was "fair and reasonable" and that there was nothing more they could do for me. I am glad to see you beat them into doing the right thing.

 

hey atomic....my thoughts too.... cady= SHINE...

 

If there is a hint of an injury, you have a bigger bat to swing against the insurance company. A close friend was in a front ender. They straightened his frame and painted the doghouse. A very acceptable match, but he pitched a bitch until they painted his whole truck.

You really need to pick a number and tell them that is what you will settle for. If they don't have a target amount, they will low ball you.

I got $26,000 for a 1956 ford that got smacked. It was in primer with no interior. Medical brought it to an even $30,000.

You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. I told the agent that called me to hang up and talk to whatever level of supervision they needed to approve my amount, and to not call me until they had a check ready for pick up. I have played in this game before, and you need to act like you know what you are doing. No stuttering or bs on the phone. Tell them you do not approve of any voice recordings.

 

they are reqiured to bring the car back to the condition it was in before the mishap. Since it's impossible to match the fender back to the car, I would think they will haveto paint the whole car

 

Maybe show a picture of the damage. Is it possible that the fender could be straightened. By the way I'm not too crazy about the faded paint job. It would look better shiny. Caddy needs shine. Maybe if you could replace or straighten the fender your self and add a little money you could get a decent paint job for not much money. Nice Caddy by the way.

 

Atomic hit the nail on the head with a BFH!!! (BIG F'N HAMMER)

 

You need to find the right painter. Someone that could try to replicate the patina for you. NOT a body shop. I've matched the hood on a 89 Ford pickup for a guy a few weeks ago. It matched perfect from some left over paint I had. I got lucky, but someone good should be able to get it pretty close.

 

Sorry dude, that's just how it goes.

Your best bet is to tell them you want the car buffed so it matches the fender. That's the standard remedy for this situation, not a new paint job.

Oh yeah, go talk to the neighbor and let him know you sent the check back because the agent's not being reasonable. If you don't settle with the ins company, your neighbor is the one who gets sued. Don't say this outright, that's not cool, but he'll get the gist of it. Once your neighbor makes a call to his agent asking why they're pissing off somebody he lives next door to, and why they're exposing him to financial liability, the adjuster may become more agreeable.

good luck

 

Nope, you just have to beat them down with logic, when logic gets them flustered they contradict themselves and start caving in before they know it. 1st step is to get them to step on their dick.

In this vein, I would not expect the guy with the Caddy to walk away with a fresh paintjob. It sounds like he likes his patina. Very few shops could or would replace that fender and get the car looking like it did, patina matching, the quote would be OUTRAGEOUS just to get you to leave, next best solution for the Ins company? A fresh warranteable paintjob

 

Make the stupid ass neighbor that hit it come over and rub it out ,after all it was his fault not the Ins. co.. Everybody that whines about Ins. co's not catering to their individual wants are the first ones that scream their guts out when rates have to increase.

 

I would say you were lucky to get anything from them at all. Most normies don't look at old cars with the same sense of passion that we gear heads do. To them, its just some old junker. You should have kept the check. It was a nice gesture on their part.

 

They aren't required by law to repaint the whole car. This would not be back to square, this would be an unjust enrichment.

 

Well seeing as you can't get a new fender for it you will have to deal with a used one. Can the existing one be fixed? and I think you did good to see the $800 bucks, but you may not now that you sent it back...good luck.

 

Another great reason why I have Grundy to cover Big Olds. He gets hit, Grundy pays to repair damages to my satisfaction. I don't have to bother dealing with an insurance comany that doesn't have my cars best interest at heart.

After the dust settles I would look at Grundy or Hagerty for your Caddy's insurance. Sure is a real nice looking car, wouldn't want to take the chance of not getting her fixed right if something else happens.

 

I might be tempted to take it to an alignment shop and get it checked, chances are its gonna be out? maybe or maybe not from the hit? geta quote for re alignment, add it to the claim and maybe it gives both sides a little more room for negotiation.
Its there job to try and get off with minimal payment to you, never think anything else.

 

Should have kept the check... The people don't care about these cars like we do. Insurance companies do if they see the high level of maintanence, but not in the case of "patina". I hope this don't piss you off.

 

Well thanks for all of your input. I can see that many of you would just take the hit and call it good. A few of you think I might be getting the short end of the stick. In the business it's called making the claimant "whole" and their offer isn't cutting it, in my book.

It's not that I am too lazy, or not capable of giving my car a shiney paint job. But, I've got hot rods with shiney paint jobs, and I don't really want to take the time to make this one shiney. You see there's this 32 three window that I am in the middle of, and my paint jobs take lots of time and energy.

My caddy was fine just the way it was, and now it's not. American Family is not making me happy. I can, and will, get over it. Only you guys who do your own paint and body work know what I have in front of me.

 

I dealt with insurance companies on claims like this for over 20 years. Faded paint is NOT considered in regards to a color match, as they say it is up to the car owner to maintain the paint on their cars. If you failed to wash and wax it regularly, and keep it from oxidizing, that's your problem. The MOST I've ever seen an insurance company pay for a color match is 1 hour, period. Out here, that's like $100. Sorry, it's a rigged game, and guess who the games rigged for? Do we have a bunch of lobbyists roaming the halls of congress? NOPE, but guess who does? Maybe take the car to the best shop in town and get an estimate. Maybe take it to a couple, and get estimates. Without an estimate from a professional in a quality body shop, you really don't have enough ammo to go at the adjuster (I love that name..), do you? Do your homework, get some estimates, and show them to the insurance company. Otherwise, you're at their mercy, amd being merciful ain't what they're about. I used to do restorations and collision repair on classic and older cars, and insurance companies used to bring me stuff 'cuz I knew how fix the old stuff, so I've dealt with the faded paint issue. Here's what I used to do...get a computer match from a good automotive paint store or shop as a starting point...either way, it will not age the same, and will look like a police car in a year or two...sorry you have to deal with this crap, but no ones going to do it for you, we gotta look out for ourselves when it comes to dealing with "adjusters"...good luck!
PS: Another tact might be to contact YOUR insurance company and open a claim. They may pay you, and go after the insureds company for reimbursement. Dealing with your own company is always easier cuz they want your business. The other compnay wants to pay as little as possible. Your company might be less hardnosed about it...just a thought...

 

Went to AAA of So Cal. to register my patina'd Blue 34 coupe. Yes its faded chipped and funky. Their insurance sales guy heard the word patina and flipped! They couldn't put it on the collector policy so instead in went on our regular policy.

CA. and other states have a screwed up law that dictates that you need put money in their partners hands. I will continue to look around for a company that doesn't care what kind of paint a car wears. My camaro that also wears faded paint will need some color if they accept it, That I agreed to as it should be in shiny paint.
They're coming by to take pics today.

 

It doesn't sound to me like DenverDave is hunting a free paint job. He just wants his car put back like it was. The insurance company should pay the cost to put it back like it was before the hit.... Restored patina & all.

If I had a patina'd car that got hit, the first estimate I got would come from Josh Shaw.

JH

 

put the new fender on and paint it, then the next day rub a coat of good wax on it. The it'll turn flat as a chalk board. or use satin paint, insurance companys suck anyhow. I did body work for years and got tired of arguing with them pricks. so I quit.