Has anyone had a customer claim you damaged their vehicle?

[jeff2]

Newbie here, getting everything in place, I am confused about insurance.:eusa_thin I spoke to RLI and they cover 3rd party property damage. What happens if the vehicle owner claims I damaged their vehicle? I have no coverage for that? If I am careful and they claim I scratched there car what do I do. I need advice from you guy who have been in the business. I am planing to get RLI, no mistake I will have insurance.

[StarQuest]

jeff2,

It's never happened to me in WSR but if you have a major concern with this issue simply do a pre-inspection write up of of vehicle. Write down any visual dings, dents, scratches ect..around the area you'll be working on. If the car is dirty note that also. Before performing repair have customer sign your pre-inspection noting you both agreed that these defects where present prior to you ever touching their car. It's that simple and will stand up in any court of law

[GlassStarz]

I had a tourist from Quebec try the you scaratched my car line last summer he was one of those beligerent little smucks that will try to get over on you. He first tried to pay the dollar amount in canadian$ thought I wouldnt know the stuff was worth about 75% what US dollar was I pulled out that days newspaper showed him the current value and punched the numbers into the calculator he quacked that i should just take it at face value and be glad he comes here to spend his money. then he tried the well fine i will pay the amount but you scratched my bumper and pushed me (im 6'4" 220 go to the gym 3 times a week hes maybe 5'6" 135 go figure).I explained I hadnt been anywhere near his bumper picked the little squirrel up by his neck shook him a little till he agreed to head back to the border and never come back if he didnt want to meet my woodchipper funny how all the sudden he understood English perfectly. If I ever do damage I will be the first to offer to pay but i refuse to play the im gonna get something for free game with anyone.

[mafsu]

3rd party property damage is when you damage a customer's car. Am I wrong about this? Insurance company is 1st party, you are second party, customer is third party. I did see a post yesterday about maybe filing a claim on a windshield that was cracked out when working on it, they won't pay for this.

[Clarity Glass]

Yes, and they were right. I leaned a little too much on the front quarter panel of their nice and immaculate Acura sports car causing a dimple in the panel. Fortunately, I have a business aquaintance who does PDR for one of the large dealerships locally. I traded a free chip repair and hand out his cards to customers who have door dings or ask for referrals. The customer was happy that damage was taken care of within a couple days and it only cost the amount of resin to repair the guys chip.

[a1repair]

CG
You might want to think about accquiring liabilty insurance.

[jeff2]

Well as I said previous, "I will have insurance", I purchased a policy through RLI, and received a binder by fax yesterday. The policy is General Liability and damage to a car I am repairing is not covered, as I understand it. I guess at this point like StarQuest suggested, I will do a good "pre-inspection write up of of vehicle"

[dgarza]

hold on there. I thought the whole purpose of that General Liability coverage was to cover damage to a car your repairing. thats how I understood it when I got the policy. I have the same policy through RLI as well. Im going to call and check on that cause if it doesnt cover that then I dont see why I need it. thats the only thing I need coverage for because I never drive my customers cars I just lean on them!

[J.T.Window]

When you get to the job, have a good look at the car's roof, hood and fenders as well as the windshield. Don't be shy about pointing out damage you might get blamed for. Sometimes the customer doesn't know about a scratch or dent he has.
Give the windshield a quick wipe and check for hidden chips while the guy's right there. The flatlanders around here are always going to the mountains in snowstorms and cleaning their windshields with snow from the side of the road. Result - sand scratches you can't see until the glass is clean.
Insurance is all the same - it's good to have it and bad to use it. Keep your eyes open and you'll never have to use it.

J.T.W.

[jeff2]

From what I can gather, I don't have the policy to verify, but you are basically purchasing liability insurance against your customer claiming they were physically injured, & 3rd party damages. I am still waiting to see the policy, but I asked the rep. a couple times if I was covered if someone claimed I damaged their car and I was told no. The RLI website does state:

@Home Business

On the other hand, an @Home Business insurance policy includes:

Coverage for theft or damage to your business property (inventory and equipment!),
Liability coverage for clients visiting your home on business, and
Liability coverage away from home if others