[strato gto]

A 55 gallon drum fell off a truck and damaged my pristine 69 judge.Nobody was hurt but the judge has damage.Has collector car insurance,and the truck was issued a summons.How can I make sure I get a fair settlement from the insurance companys.This is a numbers matching car that had an extensive restoration with 63,000 original miles.

[OVERULD]

Dang! I'm sorry for your damage - I would just be sick! The good news is nobody was hurt, there is insurance coverage and the damage can be repaired. I have never had a classic car claim so I can't advise you but I would think you should be able to agree on a price and just have them issue you a check and do the work yourself. They sure can't go to a body shop and get an estimate using current pricing...where are they going to find a valance, front fender, hood and other parts? You'll have to find those on ebay or from a member here and pay the going market price - not what some estimating software says they should cost.

BJ

[bigborehunter]

Start with the insurance company. Meet the adjuster, explain the situation regarding the parts availability and why reproduction parts aren't an option. If there is resistance, consider having your appraiser go to bat for you with proof on what the right parts will cost for replacement. Start off friendly. Don't assume things will go bad right away. I've only had to do two diminished value reports for companies hostile on payment and both were with clients who unwisely chose OPCF 19 instead of OPCF19A policies in the first place. Yes, they got them repaired right. Both were very lucky because without agreed value policy you are at their mercy.

[1971WARBIRD]

we had just finished a 71 TA years ago.put the exhaust on it may the 7th,t-boned by a drunk driver may the 11th.mine took a new door and fender which you could get back then,your's,oh my!!!!!hopefully you have better luck than i did.

thankfully no one was hurt,but i'm sick to my stomach.

[getmygoat]

Make sure you tell the insurance company you were coming back from a car show or a parade or something... You were not just using the car to go to the store, or a sunday drive.

Collector car insurance has strict usage limits, and I suspect they will deny a claim if your usage at the time didn't meet the terms and conditions in the small print of your contract.

[WARCHIEF400]

Make sure you get estimates from shops that restore muscle cars, hopefully ones that do Pontiacs. Additionally you will need to get prices on what your replacement parts with cost, hopefully the shop will do that for you. I have a contact in NY he owns his own body shop and just finished a ground off restoration on his 70 Judge this spring. If interested E-mail me at temallory@msn.com and I'll find his info and provided it to you.
Good Luck Timmy

[72pontiac]

i just got a sick stomach over that im sooo sorry

[SWEETJUDGE]

for your ammunition, try to find judges for sale or sold for big dollars. print them out & document.
glad no one was hurt but im sure you are deep down inside as we all are when we see this

[SWEETJUDGE]

also, DONT SETTLE FOR REPOPPED PARTS....... front valance a GM NOS is $900 plus
a GM fender 2-2500.00 NOS per.... ram air hood $1500 GM paint alone could be 5K just in that area......

[strato gto]

Thanks for the infomation.I would like to fix the car with NOS parts,I hope they will allow it.
This car was restored in 2001 but hasn't been used much so it is in excellent condition.
Was on a 3 lane highway with traffic on both sides with me in the middle lane,had no place to go.Slowed down alot before impact.Hagerty is the collector car insurance,Nationwide is the trucks insurer.I remember the front bumper alone was alot of work to get right.
Hood is OK,need fender and front valance-bumper may be fixable.Anybody want to sell me usable parts let me know.thanks again,let you know what happens

[bulletpruf]

Originally Posted by getmygoat

Make sure you tell the insurance company you were coming back from a car show or a parade or something... You were not just using the car to go to the store, or a sunday drive.

Collector car insurance has strict usage limits, and I suspect they will deny a claim if your usage at the time didn't meet the terms and conditions in the small print of your contract.

Hmmm...if you're lying, then that's insurance fraud. It ain't worth the risk.

SDW

[gto65lvr]

i have done this before way back when and have run body shops.

If you did not have an NOS fender out of the box and can prove it you will not get it. Unless that is the only thing avail, 69 fender? they are out there

I got a new tail panel for my 65 because they dont repop them and getting a used one is impossible
Marc Neary had 2 weld in NOS rear body panels at the time I lucked out big time

This will be an ongoing open claim for a while. This is because you cannot just pick a price out of the hat for the parts. YOu will have clean up on them and the prices are never constant. Yo may have to buy the parts and as you get them send in the reciepts to the insurance carrier for reimbursement. Then after the parts are collected you will have to figure blasting them and time $$ for clean up. If your car got stripped before the resto then you can collect on that. Depending on the parts you have on the car now and what you get that would be debated on being owed.

Do not settle fast. I have even dealt with another time with my 65 when it got pushed into a wall with the bumper off wasted the qtr and rear body panel. although the qtr needed replaced I got decent money for it but had I been savy at that time I would have got a lot more. To cover the cost of it to actually get fixed from the new damage I was new to the bizz and thought I got good time for it but in the end it was really short.

Take your time find the good parts get them and send in the reciepts. make sure you get reciepts!!!! from the seller with proper contact info from them and you will be set.

You may have to go through your policy then they will collect from Nationwide

Hope it does not take you too many months to find like, Kind, OE parts to repair your car.

IF this helps you can try Marc Neary in Dufer, Oregon he is considered a big GTO guy over here and may have some of those parts. He is hard to get ahold of but he will call you especially when the insurance is paying for the parts LOL

Or you can also try BOB VIDAN on here PY he may be able to help you with some

Dexonline either one he is publically listed and will ship most parts.

Eric

[tcd_69]

Oh man that sucks.

Here's something I did a while back that allowed me to get more money for a claim with my car. Wasn't a classic but may apply to your situation anyway.

Ask your insurance company about claim subrogation. Nationwide will probably have their adjuster look at the car and then cut you a check on the spot. It will probably be a low ball amount. You can refuse it and tell them you're going to subrogation. Meaning your insurance company will deal with Nationwide to get a better claim value. It takes a lot longer to get a pay out, but it may be worth it. Worth checking out as an option.

Good Luck!

[dancolkate]

Not sure about insurance laws in your state....but

If the trucking company is at fault (100%), then shouldn't your insurance company be able to recoup all of the costs from the trucking company (or their carrier)?

[SWEETJUDGE]

FYI a repopped 69 GTO fender is $400, it will cost 3k just to get it right, in LABOR cutting rewelding bondo sanding etc........

paint it & see bondo sand marks......
your fender or any GM fender will have numbers in the bracing near fender wells (engine area)
keep us posted as this is all of our greatest fears

[md1twal3]

Maybe I'm being silly, but if the fender and valance are original to the car why not keep original if you can? A good metal man can fix them with little or no body filler. While the damage sure is costly, the pics show fixable parts to me.

[1971/455/HO/4-SPD]

Originally Posted by strato gto

A 55 gallon drum fell off a truck and damaged my pristine 69 judge.Nobody was hurt but the judge has damage.Has collector car insurance,and the truck was issued a summons.How can I make sure I get a fair settlement from the insurance companys.This is a numbers matching car that had an extensive restoration with 63,000 original miles.

Who is your insurance carrier? They can handle the claim and then subrogate back to the insurance company for the trucking company. Don't lie, tell them EXACTLY what happened as you are not at fault. Follow the rest of the directions by dealing with reputable shops that know the inside and out of your car!

[gto65lvr]

I agree it will prob be better to deal with your policy due to the fact it is collector pollicy then your insurance can mess with Nationwide. They will not even have your cars age in the computer estimating guide it will have to be manually entered.

[henley]

In this day and age it is an absolute must for a collector car or your daily drivers to include in your policies a rider policy for any and all repairs to require OEM replacement parts only. It wil cost approx $40.00 per car and is well worth the money.

[paint guy]

I would agree with md1twal3.Its tough to tell from the pictures,but the fender at least sure looks repairable,especially if NOS are $2000-2500.Good luck,I hope it all works out for you.BTW,i bought a repop valance and the openings for the trim pieces had a half-inch discrepancy between the two(15" vs15-1/2" if memory serves),had to weld in a piece to get it right.