DCM Ran Into My Garage Door

[christine19720]

Did DCM offer to fix the damaged door?

[mrsp'slilpeeps]

My garage door is 13 yrs old. If we replace only the 2 panels they wont match.

I am not putting this on my insurance, my rates will go up.

She can but it will take months to get it fixed.

The lasers are aligned correctly, the bottom of the door is blocking the beam.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I would call a couple more places and see if they have a better price. If hubby wants it replaced you could let DCM pay the cost of repairs and pay the difference yourself.

This is what I would do.

[Unregistered]

DCM's auto insurance should pay for this...

[Unregistered]

She pulled into my driveway and forgot to put her van in park, turned around to talk to DCB and took her foot off the brake and blam right into the door. Now it wont stay closed.

Hubby called a garage door company in town and said it will cost $800 to replace the 2 bent panels or $1500 to just replace the whole door.

My husband wants the whole door replaced. Im not sure how to tell her this. She said she would pay to have it fixed, im not sure she will for a new door.

WWYD?

I have it in my policies : do no park in the neighbors driveway or mine .

[originalkat]

I would call a couple more places and see if they have a better price. If hubby wants it replaced you could let DCM pay the cost of repairs and pay the difference yourself.

Yep, this seems fair to me as well.

[Blackcat31]

My garage door is 13 yrs old. If we replace only the 2 panels they wont match.

I am not putting this on my insurance, my rates will go up.

She can but it will take months to get it fixed.

The lasers are aligned correctly, the bottom of the door is blocking the beam.

Even more of a reason why it isn't right to make DCM pay for a whole new door.

The court system would give you it's value AS IS NOW.

More than likely the courts would require you to show more than one estimate for repair costs and then go with something in the middle.

Unfortunately insurance IS slow sometimes to pay out but that seems to be your only recourse, unless DCM simply pays out of pocket for the repair.

This would be like being in a car accident with a 13 yr old car and saying instead of repairs you want a brand new car. I doubt anyone would be ok with that.

I'm sorry this happened to you though. I've been there too...it does **** but it's just one of those risks we have to put up with since we open our homes and our property to others.

[Great Beginnings]

If it's 13 years old it wasn't far from needing to be replaced anyway. I don't think it's right to have them pay for a entire new door if it can be fixed and insurance can pay for it. It seems like you have to options that are fair. Wait for the insurance company, even if it's going to take some time or have parent pay the $800 and you pay the $700 left. It's deductable on your taxes anyway

[nanglgrl]

Definitely don't make a claim with your insurance. We had 3 acts if god (2 hail and one wind storm that uprooted mature trees) all in one year. They paid out less than we paid on that year but still dropped us at the end of the year and it was near impossible to find other insurance. Two of my neighbors are insurance agents and they said unless the damage is $5000 or above not to report it because if you have more than one in a year they will probably drop you.

[Mister Sir Husband]

Doesn't sound too difficult to me.. if I drove my car into a building, either myself or the owner of the building would have the police stop by and fill out a report, then I would call my car insurance company and tell them what I did. They would send a guy right over and hand the building owner a nice check. Now if she didn't do this, I would gladly accept money directly from her to fix it, but it would have to be within a day or two.

[Meeko]

I used to use a manufactured home as my daycare.

One time, the neighbor's kid drove their car into the side of the building, destroying a couple of skirting panels.

Their car insurance paid. When the repair people came out to give an estimate, they said the skirting panels weren't made anymore. That would mean two odd ones. Would have looked awful. So the insurance replaced the entire skirting...all the way around the building...so it matched again. They were actually happy to do it...told us that we did not have to accept an ugly patch job.

Something that looks WORSE than it did before is not acceptable even if it's old.

[MyAngels]

I used to use a manufactured home as my daycare.

One time, the neighbor's kid drove their car into the side of the building, destroying a couple of skirting panels.

Their car insurance paid. When the repair people came out to give an estimate, they said the skirting panels weren't made anymore. That would mean two odd ones. Would have looked awful. So the insurance replaced the entire skirting...all the way around the building...so it matched again. They were actually happy to do it...told us that we did not have to accept an ugly patch job.

Something that looks WORSE than it did before is not acceptable even if it's old.

This is what I was thinking, too. The insurance company can't make you accept a patch job that leaves your door looking bad. It's not your fault that the door is older. It's her responsibility to make you whole again, which means having a garage door that is both functional and at least as attractive as it was before her damage.

I'm not sure why it should take months, though. Normally insurance companies handle property damage claims fairly quickly.

[MissAnn]

My DH said that usually they cannot match a door that is 13 years old and that insurance will usually pay for a new door. I think he was talking about homeowners insurance and he said he's not sure how it works with car insurance.

[MissAnn]

Think about it......if she had ruined your carpet, insurance would not cut out a square and replace only the ruined part.

[Unregistered]

Sshe should habe liability prop damagr insurance. She did damage and needs to file a claim. Though she is a client she will be reaponsible legally.