Insurance Claim and Aftermarket Bumper

Some POS drunk backed into my truck while it was parked on the street here in NY State. It’s not the end of the world but the front bumper cover is destroyed along with the crush blocks inside the bumper.
Trying to decide if I should source used parts and fix it myself or submit a claim. Is there any way to submit a claim but use the insurance money for an aftermarket bumper like an SSO Slimline?

 

If/when insurance pays you, you can do anything you want with that money. Just don't expect to put in a claim in the future for the same thing just so you can have the repairs done. Also, putting in a claim will knock down your resale value. Not sure if it's worth making a claim for.

 

Depends, is the drunk paying? If so then you won't take a hit on the value versus insurance claim might happen

 

"you can do anything you want with that money." brb, Imma go commit insurance fraud

 

"How'd you get that new 85 inch TV?"

 

Not necessarily true. Most policies pay you and end of transaction. Op should check his policy prior to though.

 

Here in Canada, if I was to make a claim like this I would have to pay a $1000 deductible. Wouldn’t be worth having to pay that and to have an accident on my record.

 

Assuming the drunk asshole didn't leave you his insurance info, What kind of deductible do you have on your policy? Just an example; If the deductible is $500 and the cost to repair is $500 or less then you're better off not to submit the claim because that way it won't have any effect on your premium and won't be reported as damage on the vehicle.
As far as I know How the claim is handled will depend on your state and your insurance company, here in Colorado my insurance(State Farm) has me get an estimate from one of their approved shops and then they cut me a check for whatever the cost to repair(minus deductible) is. They could care less whether I spent the money on a factory bumper, aftermarket bumper or buy groceries with it. That being said, If you do submit a claim and repair it or go aftermarket I'd make sure your insurance knows that it was repaired otherwise if you ever had another front end claim, they might try to subtract that previous payout from the new claim and say that there was no proof that the original repair was ever completed...if that makes any sense.

 

That's not entirely true. Specifically speaking for State Farm, but I'm sure it's the same or very similar for most insurance companies. You can get quotes from any shop you want, if you don't go through one of their preferred shops then you usually have to get multiple quotes and they'll take the average. If you use a preferred shop then you only need to get one quote and they'll pay that (you actually don't even need to get a quote, if you want them to they can just start the repair once they get the authorization from SF). Also, if you don't use one of their preferred shops for the repair, then they won't guarantee the repair. If you do use one of their shops then, say for example, the paint fades differently from the non-repaired paint or the repaired paint flakes or whatever the issue is down the road, they will pay again to have it repaired.

 

Something as insignificant as replacing a front bumper isn't going to reduce your resale value by any substantial amount. Replacing with a non-oem style bumper will most likely reduce resale value more.

 

That depends. Insurance will try to find everything that was damaged and get it replaced. There could be more damage than meets the eye that the claims adjuster could find. Not to mention, it would make me ask a few questions if I were looking to buy and found an accident report. But yes, if all that's needed to be replaced is the bumper and crash blocks then it honestly wouldn't even be worth making a claim and paying a deductible.

 

"How quickly can I get that money? I mean, summer's coming up and I was thinking about getting a couple of jet skis."

 

Depends on what the nebulous term "substantial" means ;-)

The claim will be noted on CarFax and other reporting agencies and it will negatively affect the resale value, you can bank on that. Hopefully, it will also be noted that "no airbag deployed" which "should" lighten the hit to the resale value but often that bit of information is not included.

 

So just how much would you expect something as insignificant as replacing a front bumper on a Tacoma with a new like OEM bumper lower it's resale value?

In addition, it's been my experience that a repair is near as likely not to appear on a Carfax report as it is to appear.

 

Not if you replace it with say an ARB bumper...that's a 1300-1500 bumper and I would pay more for a tacoma with one per-installed vs oem bumper.

Usually only salvage titles (they total the car but you keep it and a cash payment) will reduce value or if you don't repair the damage obviously.

insurance usually gives you two options, cash and you can do whatever you want or they pay for the repairs at an approved shop. It's not fraud to make the claim and keep the cash and not repair the damage, a lot of folks do that actually.

 

I don't know how much $$ it would be reduced by, that is determined by the buyer. But I can tell you with great confidence that anyone looking at two vehicles that are the same and one has a clean, non-accident CarFax report and the other had an accident noted, that the one that is clean will bring more $$. In addition, it has been my experience that a repair is likely to appear on a CarFax report 100 percent of the time if an insurance claim was used for the repair. You see, CarFax doesn't say: "Minor damage, replaced bumper for a few hundred dollars". It says "front impact". Normal people will deduct $$ for that ;-)

The insurance term is called "reduced value". It is the money you collect from the drunk that smashed into the front of your Tacoma that required you to make a claim in the first place. His insurance company knows the CarFax report will show "front impact"...and that incident will reduce the value of your truck. Soooo, his insurance company will give you some $$ to make up for the loss when you eventually sell.

 

Incorrect. You usually can't do that ;-)

Why?

Because it isn't your vehicle. It is the finance company's or the lease company's vehicle. They want THEIR collateral (your Tacoma) securing the loan fixed. Right. Now.

 

That is completely fraudulent according to just about every lease and loan contract. Same with any loan on any collateral that is insured. Try collecting the insurance $$ and going out an buying a Ferrari F8 Tributo after your house burns ....sheesh!

 

If you own the vehicle you can do what you want with the insurance money. If there is a lien on the truck it depends on the language in your contract. There is a "reason" why lien holders require collision and comprehensive insurance (which are beyond your minimum state insurance requirements, which are usually just liability and uninsured motorist type coverages). The purpose is to "insure" THEIR collateral (your truck) against loss due to a wreck/theft or similar. My guess is if the aftermarket bumper doesn't appreciably reduce the value of your truck (compared to a stock replacement bumper) the lien holder wouldn't have a problem. If the new bumper cost more than a stock replacement you might have to kick in some $$ to cover the extra cost.

I would run it by my insurance company and see what they say.

EDIT: I did something similar and the insurance company needed to see pics of the vehicle when it was done to make sure it was legit, as good or better than stock.