My Volvo 850 T5 1997 station wagon was rear ended.

The bumper was damaged (adjuster said it would cost $1600 to repair).

The sun roof cover opened, the front seat ash tray opened, and the sun roof popped up (unseated now) about 1/4-1/2 inch. I am afraid that the sun roof will now leak. In addition, the small light on the dashboard popped out and the dashboard now makes a loud rattling sound, which was not present previously.

My insurance company says that since there was some rust on the sun roof, they are not covering it due to either "defective" or "wear and tear." Section 12 of the policy states that. They said that I would need to have my dashboard taken apart, at my expense, to prove that the new rattling sound is from the rear end collision. When I asked what would be acceptable proof, the person in the claims department stated that she was not a mechanic and did not know. The rattling is very loud and unpleasant! Using my iphone ap, I was able to detect a baseline sound level of 60 decibles without the rattle, and with the rattle, the sould was 70-75 decibles! Something has to be done about it!

These are my questions:
1. Can this type of damage to the sun roof and dashboard occur from a rear end collision?
2. How do I prove that this damage occurred from the rear-end collision. The fact that it occurred immediately after the collision is not acceptable proof to the insurance company.
3. What do you recommend for an assessment of my vehicle? How should the frame be evaluated? Alignment? Struts?

Thank you very much, in advance, for your help!

 

What insurance company do you have??

 

Why is the person's insurance that rear ended you paying for the car? If your rear hatch was damaged the car is likely totalled.

Yes a dash can break loose from a tbrittle you already know that, it just happened. The mounts at the firewall are pretty tight and ALL of the plastic in these cars is brittle. A jult can cause them to shatter.

 

Thank you very much for your reply! It is my insurance company, State Farm, that only wants to pay for the bumper damage, and not the sun roof (we just want the sun roof re-seated) or the new dashboard rattle.

The other driver, who rear-ended me, was found to be at fault. My agent at State Farm said that I could go directly through the other insurance company, which is Farmers, and see if they would pay for the sun roof and dashboard.

Per State Farm policy, there is no coverage for:

12. ANY PART OR EQUIPMENT OF A COVERED VEHICLE

IF THAT PART OR EQUIPMENT: a. FAILS OR IS DEFECTIVE; OR
b. IS DAMAGED AS A DIRECT RESULT
OF:
(1) WEAR AND TEAR;
(2) FREEZING; OR
(3) MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL,
OR ELECTRONIC BREAKDOWN
OR MALFUNCTION
OF THAT PART OR EQUIPMENT.
This exclusion does not apply if the loss is the result of theft of the
covered vehicle;

Because there is some rust on my sun roof, the State Farm adjuster said it would not be covered. The dashboard looks fine.

The bumper was already "defective" and had "wear and tear" prior to the accident. I asked the State Farm claims department why they would pay for the bumper damage, but wouldn't pay for the sun roof and the dashboard. They said that it was because the bumper was physically impacted and the sun roof and dashboard were not.

The service manager at the Volvo dealership said that in 15 years, she had never heard of a Volvo developing a dashboard rattle from a rear-end collision! She then added that it was possible that plastic dashboard brackets were brittle from the hot sun and broke as a result.

Thank you!

 

I'm not sure why the other insurance company isn't taking care of the entire thing. What state are you in?

 

Hawaii