Have you ever asked yourself or your friend what GEICO car set replacement policy is? What is the coverage after a crash or minor accident? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question.
Government Employee Insurance Company, otherwise known as GEICO, has been around for a long time, and originally got its start by offering auto insurance coverage to government employees.
GEICO offers a variety of coverages in terms of auto insurance. When it comes to coverage options, new customers often wonder about car seats.
So, what is GEICO’s car seat replacement policy? No matter what state you are in, GEICO does cover car seats and is generally easy to work with on replacements, with a few caveats. However, GEICO doesn’t exactly have a written, consistent policy across the board on car seats, as there are different requirements in all states.
Car seats aren’t exactly cheap and anyhow, no one wants to strap their child into the cheapest car seat available.
Because of the expense, it makes sense that car seats would be covered under most insurance policies and they are, especially with GEICO.
While GEICO isn’t sitting behind a bullhorn, announcing to the world its finely detailed coverages when it comes to car seats, you can easily get your car seat covered when you file your insurance claim.
Table of Contents
What Will GEICO Cover in Terms of Car Seats?
It doesn’t matter what kind of crash it is or whether or not it was your fault because GEICO will work with you on the car seat issue, all the same, assuming that you file a claim with them and everything is done and completed as it should be.
This includes both minor and major vehicle accidents where you fear that your car seat may have been damaged to one degree or another.
Your child’s protection is priority number one, so if you even think that there is the possibility that your car seat may be compromised, you should replace it.
However, it doesn’t quite work that way with GEICO or any insurance company for that matter. You have to be able to prove that your car seat was damaged and needed to be replaced.
Read also: Does GEICO Cover Front Windshield Replacement? (Here Is How)
Filing a Claim with GEICO
To file a claim with GEICO begins with you never admitting fault for the accident. That, of course, is advice that comes directly from GEICO.
- Collect phone numbers, addresses, and emails from all involved
- Write down where the accident happened
- Take photos, if you can, including tags
- Gather everyone’s insurance information that was involved
- Get the police report number
- Get the officer’s badge number and name
You can file your claim, with all of the above info, by going to GEICO’s claim page here or calling 1-800-841-3000.
How to Ensure That GEICO Covers the Car Seat?
Most insurance companies will specify that there are a certain number of factors that have to be checked off for something to be considered a minor accident.
For one, a tow truck needs to be called, and even if you don’t see any visual damage to the car seat, replacing it may hinge on keeping the tow truck receipt.
Door damage or other cosmetic damage near or around the doors, including shattered windows will probably be enough to justify replacing a car seat, assuming that the car seat looks to be in good shape but you want to have it replaced anyway.
Another thing that you want to look at is the car seat manual. Now, most people probably don’t hold on to the manuals that came with their car seats, however, the information that’s in that manual may be enough, all on its own, to motivate GEICO to replace the car seat.
That’s because most car seat manuals will cover instances where you may be inc=volved in an accident.
These manuals will also state whether or not the company that manufactured your car seat recommends replacing the car seat in the event of an accident.
Your car seat manual may specify that it is advisable to replace the seat, even if there is no visible or ascertainable sign of damage.
If you do not have the manual, the first thing that you need to do is get on Google and do a search for your car seat brand and model number so you can obtain a digital version of the car seat manual.
When it comes time, you will need to present GEICO with the advice of the manufacturer, via that manual, receipts for the tow truck, or evidence that there was damage done to the doors near where the car seat was situated.
Read also: GEICO Windshield Replacement Policy (What’s Covered + Claims)
Other Things That You Need to Collect
For one, you need to keep the receipts on anything and everything that you do or purchase that has anything to do with the accident, starting from the moment that you step out of the car.
You can even work with the police and the EMTs that show up to ensure that there is evidence available that will help you obtain a new car seat.
You also need to know the price of the car seat.
This is important because GEICO is likely to replace the car seat by covering it, however, if your original car seat costs $150 and the car seat that you are going for costs $350, GEICO is not going to go for that.
At most, GEICO will cover the $150 for the new car seat and you will have to cover the remaining $200 on your own.
That’s not because GEICO doesn’t want your child to be safe. It’s because of the fact that if insurance companies did business like that, there would be no insurance companies.
Fortunately, car seat costs are not absolute, even though GEICO is going to generally stick with covering the cost of the car seat, not more.
But, if you’re a smooth talker and you have found a new car seat for $175, you can probably talk GEICO into covering it. Just don’t go crazy with it and you will be surprised at what you can get.
Final Thoughts
GEICO is almost certainly going to cover your child’s car seat, as long as it is essentially a cost-for-cost replacement.
Just remember, every bit of monetary information, incident information, and the information of the people involved are all important for you to come out on the other side with a brand new car seat.
References
https://www.geico.com/claims/after-an-accident/
https://halelaw.com/insurance-companies-cover-new-child-car-seats-after-accidents/
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