Hey guys, posting this because its been a very frustrating week for myself dealing with an insurance claim with wawanesa insurance and a body shop here in calgary.
Here is a quick summary of events
Tuesday Aug 4th - Big rain/hail storm. My wifes 2011 Mercedes benz c250 was parked in front of our home, also parked in front of our home is the rainwater drain. Leaves/hail/branches blocked it up and the rain rose higher than the centercaps (i will try to post a picture here soon)
Wednesday Aug 5th - Come home from work on yet another rainy afternoon and my stole my parking spot in the garage in the back. The passenger side floor was soaking wet, passenger seat wiring harness wet and water in the seat rails.
Thursday Aug 6th - Wife calls insurance to start a claim. I was hesitant to because they may just dry/detail and we now have a vehicle with a flood claim on its car fax deeming our car worthless. Agent gave us the option of 3 shops to pick.
Friday Aug 7th - She takes the car to one of the shops, the guy there starts poking around for hail/dents. He comes inside and says "i don't really see anything but a dent in the back" she tells him its the water inside. He also explains to her what we all know which is flood damaged cars can have problems in the future, he said it can shut off while driving and can rust, and the electrical is now affected. So my wife leaves and gets a call 3 hours later from the shop. He says the car is a total loss and to come get her stuff. On the way there the Insurance agent calls and confirms the same thing and instructs her to park it at home (because he's probably assuming she's driving it) She goes to shop and the guy there told her not to take the car, saying it can shut off on deer foot and they will tow it away. All good
Saturday Aug 8th - Chasing summer
Sunday Aug 9th - Hangover
Monday Aug 10th - Cant get rental, guess were not the only ones
Tuesday Aug 11th - Cant get rental
Wednesday Aug 12th - I call Agent to see the rental situation and to see if we can get a payout so we don't have to wait for a rental and go put it down on a new car. He states that his adjuster had a look and it may be repairable. So I lost some sleep because what credentials does the inurance adjuster have on inspecting vehicles, they just want to save the insurance a buck
Today Aug 13th - Wife calls collision centre to see whats happening. Lady says its getting towed in from impact, they inspected it and aside from a small stain on the carpet there is no water damage (foggy windows, mood, odor), there is however some hail damage. I call the insurance agent asking whats going on and he says his adjuster went to the vehicle and seen no signs of water damage. I call repair shop ask if the carpet will be replace and the lady tells me no, they will most likely shampoo the carpet "evac the water" and return it to her.
Now Im a licensed tech. Its probably not much damage at all but what grinds my gears is the story changed at the body shop where the first deemed it a total loss after 3 hours with the vehicle, told my wife to grab all her belongings because she will never see her vehicle again, and now it just needs a shampoo and drying. Secondly, the insurance adjuster says the car is repairable almost a week after the initial incident. what if the car was sitting on the impact auction lot with a window open? that will dry it up real fast. The body shop says any mechanical/interior inspections will be done at integra tire. The car was bought and serviced at Lone Star, I put in a request for the inspections to be done there.
I don't mind if they don't write off the car, Its payed off and nice to drive. But I want all repairs to be done properly, meaning i want the carpet pulled from the vehicle and the body/wiring inspected and repaired properly.
Help me, What do i do? Is there any governing body i can go to or ask? Any legal help? Media may be overkill? I'm not signing any body shop requests at the moment. And i don't want to mention the body shops name at the moment.
Thanks for all input