Replace base?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I had a car seat question and didn’t know who to ask, so I thought I’d ask some of the smartest mommies I know. 🙂 I got into a minor fender bender last Saturday. Thank God Gabby was not in the car with me. I’m still using the infant base and carrier because Gabby is somewhere between 18 and 19 lbs. Well, I was struck from behind. My car needs it’s bumper replaced at a tune of $1000 and my neck and back are really sore. Her car was pretty smashed up. Her hood was in a triangle shape, her windshield cracked, and her airbags set off.

Well, I’m going after her insurance company for my car and my injuries. I mentioned the car seat base to the insurance company and he said if I can get a fire marshall to tell me I need a new car base, the insurance co. will pay for it. I only had the base in the car at the time of the accident. The trouble is that everyone I talk to says that you have to replace a seat in an accidnet but they don’t really know about the base, only to err on the side of caution. I called Graco and they said to replace it, but then again, they get another $40 so why wouldn’t they say that.

I’m just wondering what you all think. Should I replace the base just in case? I pulled it out and nothing looks amiss. I just hate spending $40 I don’t have when I don’t know if the insurance co. will reimburse me. Thanks for any help.

Kathy

[Anonymous]

Well, you should call the manufacturer itself to see if they will replace it for a smaller cost or will replace it all together. It doesn’t hurt to call your ins co to see if they reimburse you for it.

[Anonymous]

Have you talked to the fire marshall? If you already have, I would talk to him/her again and tell them that the carseat manufacturer said it needed to be replaced. I would think he/she would agree with the manufacturer and then your ins. would cover it. I would say to replace it since her car was pretty banged up even though you only need a bumper replacement. I worked as a claims adjuster for a large national auto insurance company before I had Addy. Most likely, if you press the issue about having the $40 base replaced, they will cave and cover it. I would think it would be a liability for them not to cover it especially since Graco says to replace it (which I would also mention to your adjuster).

[Anonymous]

To err on the side of caution, since the manufacturer says to replace it, I would replace it. It states right in the owner’s manual for the seat to replace it if it’s involved in any crash.

Oh, and while I’m thinking about it…

Even if Gaby still is under the weight limit, she may be too tall for the infant carrier. If that is the case, you need to move her to a rear-facing convertible carseat. She is too tall if there is less than 1″ of hard plastic shell above her head. Most babies surpass that height restriction sometime between 4-10 months of age.

strollerfreak2007-6-7 9:34:46

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