A careless driver in front of me runs off the road and sprays rocks on my car. The result is one busted rally light installed only weeks before and never even used. My insurance company says they will pay for only one. I try to point out that they are sold as pairs, I can't buy just one. Has anyone seen just one light for sale? I'm not sure how to proceed.

 

Hmmmmmmmm... interesting dilemma.

If it were me, I'd ask to speak to another rep there and get a second opinion. Can't hurt. Maybe this one will see your point of view that the ASSEMBLY needs to be replaced, not the single unit.

By the way, what's your comp deductible ? Seems one driving lamp wouldn't even exceed your deductible.

 

Most insurance companies have a list of approved repair shops, where they guarantee the repairs. Bring it to one of those repair shops, and have them replace the lamp with exactly the same brand / type. There will be less paperwork, and the repair shop will work out the whole one lamp / two lamp problem with your insurance company.

 

The preferred shop will likely talk to the estimator that did the original estimate. It's not like they won't be aware an estimate has already been done.

 

By the way, did the insurance company mention "betterment" to you ? Maybe that's why they're not paying you the entire amount for the pair of driving lights. Maybe they're considering that to be bettement.

Betterment is when the repair of the vehicle results in your vehicle being "better" then what they actually owe you.

For instance, if you have a tire that is damaged in an accident and that tire has to be replaced, the insurance company won't pay you the entire cost of a new tire. Why ? Because you didn't have a brand new tire on the car (unless you just came from the tire shop). So they owe you for a worn tire, if you will. If your tire was 50% worn, they pay half the cost of the new tire only.

In this case, they technically don't owe you for two lamps. So if they have to replace the pair, they're replacing your "used" lamp (the one that is not broken) with a new one.

Just a guess, but maybe that's how they're looking at your situation.

 

Who is your Insurance Co. ??? I write estimates for many companies and if the repair facility can only buy a pair, set, kit etc... then that's what the insurance company owes for. Now if the replacment set matches the damaged part then the insurance may only pay the labor for the damaged light. An example a truck comes into the shop hit in the side and damaged the running board on one side. If the shop cannot buy just one side than the insurance owes for the cost of the set and the installation of the damaged running board not the install on the other side of the truck. Now if the running boards were different the insurance carrier would owe for the set w/ install on both sides. Now heres the catch. Some Insurance carriers only insure the vehicle for what it was equipped with from the factory, not the dealer but from the factory and you would have to have a rider or endorsement on your policy for the extra items added to or installed on your vehicle and pay an additional fee. Since I'm in the repair business I know to save all my receipts for parts and/or labor for all the work done on my cars and motorcycles. and the inform my insurance agent and obtain the proper coverage to protect my investment(s) in the event of a loss. You would be surprised on how inexpensive it is to add the endorsement. Just a note I see about 3-4 damaged vehicles a month without this coverage and folks that own the vehicle are just ballistic to find out there not covered. Need more help just PM me at I'll try to help you through it. - Mark

 

Hmm... weird situation. I'd be on the lookout for someone selling driving lights and then you'll have spares for when it happens again. A lot of people replace the MINI ones with bigger or brighter, anyway and might have the old ones? Might be worth not dealing with insurance.
When I had to have the graphics on my hood replaced, the shop had to order the whole set and insurance paid for it. Of course they didn't replace the sides since they weren't part of the claim, but since they were paid for and the body shop guy didn't think he'd ever need them I have an extra set for when I do want to replace them.