OK, bear with me on this.
History-
-I was hit on Wednesday October 31, 2012. I was not at fault, the other person was. Damage was to my driver door and fender and bumper. I immediately called her insurance (The Hartford) to start the process of filing a claim. I had a body shop picked (Performance Collision) for the repairs but it is it not one of their "preferred" shops. I was told I needed to take the car to one of their preferred shops or wait for an adjuster to come look at the car before I could take it to Performance.
- On Thursday, I took the car to ABBRA in Buckhead to get an estimate/quote to satisfy Hartfords requirement.
- On Friday, 11/2, the car was dropped off at Performance. We went over the damage and I pointed out that I had Speedfilm apply a paint protection film to the bumper and that they needed to remember to add this into the repairs.
- On Wednesday 11/7, an adjuster from Hartford went to Performance to look at the car since Peroformance wanted to fix it correctly by replacing parts. ABBRA's estime just had to fill and paint the damage.
- On Wednesday 11/7 I get the estimate/suppliment from the adjuster via email, look over it and see a quote for a NEW OEM MAZDA door skin and a used fender written up. I immediately called Mazmart to check what their prices were on those parts compared to what the insurance company authorized for. Insurance quote was $844 for a new OE door skin and a LKQ fender (used fender) for $217. Mazmart came back with $(a much lower amount) for a new door and $(a much lower amount than list) for a new fender. I immediately called Performance back and gave them the contact information for Mazmart to order the parts through. Mazmart can order parts directly through Mazda NA just like any Mazda dealership or other parts supplier can. The difference between the LKQ fender and a new OEM one was very little.
- On 11/8 I received an email from Performance confirming the reference to Mazmart for the parts and how the savings on the door skin could cover the slight difference in the fender
- On 11/28 the parts were available at Mazmart for pickup and were picked up by Performance.
- On 12/5 the car was painted.
- On 1/8/13 Speedfilm applied the paint protection film and Performance called to tell me the car would be ready for pickup on 1/9
- On 1/10/13 I picked up the car from Performance. I could not pick it up on 1/8 because of my work and school schedule.
I had been told that the paint needs to be fully cured before the film can be applied because of the out-gassing process of the paint as it cures and that 30 days is standard for paint to fully cure. Speedfilm said the curing period is set by the bodyshop. I had the rental car for 72 days. When I dropped the car off at Performance, I was taken over to Enterprise to get my rental car. I provided Enterprise with my claim information, made my deposit and got my rental car. Little beknown to me, there was a failure in communication between Enterprise and Hartford and no reservation number was made to Enterprise for my rental car. So I get a call from Enterprise on Thursday 1/10 stating that they had not been able to get in touch with the insurance company about billing for the rental car. When I picked up the car on 1/10, I went to Enterprise to get everything straightened out. I managed to get in touch with Hartford and get them to call Enterprise. On 11/16 I get a call from Enterprise telling me that the insurance company had only alotted and paid for 11 days of rental car coverage, leaving a $x,xxx.xx bill remaining. I called Hartford and asked them what was going on and they are standing by the fact that "I had the rental car too long when I didn't need to" and that they are not liable for covering the remaining days.
My side-
- The car was in on 11/2, Hartford's adjuster didn't look at the car until 11/7 and parts were order no later than 11/8 or 11/9. Parts arrived on 11/28 to Performance. That is 13 days right there and it's all justifiable for ordering/shipping time for parts. The car was painted on 12/5 but even then, it would need to be "finished up" after paint. The insurance company is telling me that I "could have just driven the car while I waited for the paint to dry before applying the protection film". I argue that the car is my daily driver and driving it for 30 days would most certainly result in debris damage to the bumper and that it would negate the point of applying the film....it would be pointless to apply the film over paint chips. Furthermore, the car is my only car...what was I supposed to do? Walk everywhere?
If anyone on here deals with law, attorneys or has friends or a connection to an attorney who deals with insurance companies, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyone who can provide helpful insight or advide to my situation would be greatly appreciated as well. There are more details to this story, but I am pressed for time to leave for school. I will add more when I get home.