You hit what?..... (an ongoing insurance saga)

[Teslaeata]

Weird, I live in Canada and never heard of anyone hitting a Canada Goose. They must be more laid back and care free when they head south on vacation. My buddy in HS did hit and kill a donkey named Jesus though. lol

Was the donkey flying low as well?

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[TheSteelRider]

As a long time insurance specialist there are some parts I don't understand. Even if she had run over a curb or other item a comp/collision policy would still cover the damage. If insurance companies only covered losses by claimants that only told the truth in multi vehicle accidents there would be 75% denials. There must be something you left out regarding coverage issues and her statements?

Ditto this. I thought 'full coverage' covered you no matter what it was be it fowl or foul. I've had a weird claim before with progressive and no issues. Do you (you - OP not the person I quoted) have some special policy that has some limits on what comprehensive damage is covered?

 

[Barryb54]

No, actually… you’re not. We hit a deer a couple months back that damaged that same panel. Other than some minor minor scratches, we dodged a bullet… or so I thought. Turns out that the ‘radar’ electronics are very key to several functions of the MME. It’s a panel that sits in a bracket just behind the center section of the plastic louvered cover you show here. That radar is used for all proximity functions (parking, frontal driver alerts & warnings & ALL CRUISE CONTROL). If the panel or bracket are damaged… if even slightly… the sensors won’t work. You’ll get error and these driving functions become toast. As for the louvers, they’re used for battery & system cooling when required. They’re critical as well for these cooling requirements… especially when charging.

I chose not to report it to our insurance company as the fix seemed simple. Snap the panel back in place. Glue the knocked out plastic piece back. FYI… to replace the plastic cover piece is $1100 plus body shop labor of $500. If the radar sensor panel needs replacement, add another $2400 to the mix. NOW you absolutely need to report to your insurance company. Turns out the radar functionality is VERY sensitive to the thickness of the plastic cover panel itself. The body shop $200 repair looked perfect. But they glued some small plastic pieces on the back side of the cover to secure the glued original knockout piece back. Well, the radar wasn’t happy with that & still errored out. Because Ford has zero ability to recalibrate the radar, I went back to have them remove the tabs because they added thickness that created the problem (or so Ford ‘thinks’). They did just that (another $350) & all seems to be working now. Just know that this is a very sensitive part of your car’s electronics.

Finally, regardless of animal we all might come in contact with, insurance companies always want proof… be it blood, hairs, feathers, etc. Not uncommon at all. This is when you need your agent at your back.

Best of luck!!

 

[TheSteelRider]

..., regardless of animal we all might come in contact with, insurance companies always want proof… be it blood, hairs, feathers, etc. Not uncommon at all. ...

Really? Maybe some states do not allow insurance companies to discriminate against the "type" of comprehensive damage covered? That's the only difference I can think of to explain the stark difference.

Or, are they thinking the OP did a hit-and-run and want to avoid a lawsuit? I can't really understand the denial.

 

[SpongeBad]

Weird, I live in Canada and never heard of anyone hitting a Canada Goose. They must be more laid back and care free when they head south on vacation. My buddy in HS did hit and kill a donkey named Jesus though. lol

Fellow Canadian here, and - in an "only in Canada" incident, my sister once ran over a beaver. I was in the car with her at the time. It ran out of the ditch, right in front of the car on the highway. No way to avoid it. It was like hitting a speed bump and very high speed. Did a number on a lot of the undercarriage on the car. I can't imagine what that would do to the MME.

 

[Maquis]

Finally, regardless of animal we all might come in contact with, insurance companies always want proof… be it blood, hairs, feathers, etc. Not uncommon at all. This is when you need your agent at your back.

Best of luck!!

I‘ve hit 3 deer over the course of my driving lifetime. Never once was it questioned or proof required. All 3 were different insurance companies. Deer strikes around here are so common that insurance companies would have to hire people just to process evidence.

 

[i8iridium]

Really? Maybe some states do not allow insurance companies to discriminate against the "type" of comprehensive damage covered? That's the only difference I can think of to explain the stark difference.

Or, are they thinking the OP did a hit-and-run and want to avoid a lawsuit? I can't really understand the denial.

It would be the difference between collision (curb damage) and comprehensive (animal damage). Yes, they'd cover both (depending on the claimants coverage), but one is going to be a larger mark in the negative category towards the driver. The insurance company is (wrongly) alleging the OP's wife was trying to get out of the negative mark from hitting a curb.

 

[A-A-Ron]

Deer strikes around here are so common that insurance companies would have to hire people just to process evidence.

Check out all the 5-star reviews for the State Farm Evidence Processing Jerky and Chilli stand

 

[IDCnC]

Just an FYI, The MME was dropped off at the shop yesterday and we are going to drown our sorrows for a few days in Vegas.

I will post info as available. After everything is completed the name of the insurance company will also be posted. Reason I have not done so yet is I don't want to praise/badmouth anyone until all is finished.

 

[RickMachE]

Aflac!

I feel your pain. Instead of hitting the shoulder or veering into the other lane when it’s clear, my spouse freezes and runs over all objects: wildlife, tree branches, etc. Doesn’t slow down or hit the brakes. It’s a surreal WTF experience.

The last one was a deer carcass in North Dakota while driving a brand new Scat Pack Widebody Challenger. Somehow no damage was visible despite some horrific noise as we passed over and further obliterated it. You could hear the bones crunching.

Before that was a three week old BMW. Large tree limb in the roadway. Nasty bumper dent.

She just repeated it with the Mach E and a small tree branch on the freeway in light traffic. Around 400 miles on the odometer.

I couldn’t find any damage, but it’s in the cards, as they say.

Actually, the recommendation when wildlife is in the road is to NOT veer off (of course dead wildlife and tree branches would be different). People veer off for a deer and slam into a tree.

https://lifehacker.com/why-you-shouldnt-swerve-around-deer-or-other-animals-1848621931

 

[ATL]

Turns out that the ‘radar’ electronics are very key to several functions of the MME. It’s a panel that sits in a bracket just behind the center section of the plastic louvered cover you show here. That radar is used for all proximity functions (parking, frontal driver alerts & warnings & ALL CRUISE CONTROL).

Not quite ALL the cruise...
While still in motion you can change your setting for cruise to switch from "Adaptive" back to the regular kind and that will work just fine. I did that a couple of days ago when we got a little snow and some slush built up on that same panel while on a bit of a longer drive. I got the warning and lost adaptive function and that other stuff. When I stopped at a coffee shop I wiped the slush off the panel (not much--as you say, it's sensitive) all returned to normal. Fortunately I knew where the radar was located.

Once you're used to adaptive, you have to be alert when switching back to the old-fashioned cruise. It'll run right into the back of someone if you're not paying attention! ?

 

[ATL]

Fellow Canadian here, and - in an "only in Canada" incident, my sister once ran over a beaver. I was in the car with her at the time. It ran out of the ditch, right in front of the car on the highway. No way to avoid it. It was like hitting a speed bump and very high speed. Did a number on a lot of the undercarriage on the car. I can't imagine what that would do to the MME.

Yes, it seems all those small tough animals are pretty dense... About like hitting a rock of the same size. If you look at a goose body that's kinda' like a flying rock too.

 

[IDCnC]

Ok. Here's the final installment. Insurance company "big" reveal at the end.

12/4: Car was taken in to body shop. Still had not heard anything back from insurance.

12/8: Car picked up. We paid out-of-pocket. Looks physically ok. 1 block from body shop throws forward sensor error. Back to the shop.

12/9: Received claim check from insurance in amount that was about $60 more than what we paid the body shop.

12/13: Body shop had to order some additional parts. Had them direct contact insurance to submit "additional" repairs.

12/15: picked up car again. Everything works this time. Yippeeeee!!!! Was told that insurance already paid for the extra work and parts. YIPPEEEE!!!!!!!!

In all of this I will say that our LOCAL agent has been nothing but helpful and spent many hours chasing people at the national level to get this idiocy straightened out.

Drum Roll, please.....
The insurance agency was SafeCo

Safeco national did admit that this whole farce should never have happened and appears to be a combination of a system with too much automation and an aggressive "follow the script" policy manual. We were told that both of those things would be reviewed... so we can only hope...

 

[ArthurDOB]

We had a crappy State farm experience with my son's renter's insurance policy claim, which was headed for a denial by a hostile rep. We called to complain about him, gave the same information to a different rep, and boom! Check was deposited to his account a few days later!

 

[Just Lurking]

Ok. Here's the final installment.

Thanks for updating us. Glad it all turned out well in the end.

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