I have a custom 02 FLSTFI with a custom Harley paint job. A lady did a U turn in front of me causing an accident and it bent my front fender ruining the paint. Allstate paid to repaint the fender but the shop was unsuccessful matching the paint and wouldn't repainted the entire bike because they said it would be in better condition then before the accident. I paid to have my bike painted out of my own pocket and have a small claims against the person who caused the accident. I don't know what to expect in court so I guess my question to anyone who has had this issue is what was your experience or outcome?

 

best advise is to be prepared. Have documentation for everything including anything where the other party was found at fault in the accident. Include photo's of the unmatched paint, estimates etc.

 

Did you actually collide with the u-turner or did you go down trying to avoid the u-tirner?

 

Insurance always wins. Best bet would have been doing the work yourself and dropping the tins off for paint.

 

If you're headed to litigation, have documentation for everything. Everything. Proof that she was indisputably at fault. How much you paid for the original paint job. How much you paid for the repaint job. Some kind of deposition/documentation from the body shop as to why they couldn't simply paint the fender.

In a court of law the judge always looks for evidence.

Also, be very humble in court. Don't get bossy or impatient. Be overly polite to "His Honor", etc.

Good luck.

BTW, I assume by "small claim" you mean "small claims court?" As in, you represent yourself? Because if you're retaining an attorney you'll pay more than a paint job.

 

Good advice.
The insurance company doesn't always win. Don't know about Washington State, but where I've practiced, it sounds like you'd be entitled to have the bike repainted.
Also, probably correct about hiring an attorney - you'd be more likely to win, but you may be paying the attorney more than you'd get for the repaint job.

 

Thanks for all of your input. My hwy peg got stuck in he rear wheel so my bike never went down. Harley painted 400 bikes with this paint scheem and replacing all of the tins painted with the same paint would have cost me $3000. I got them repainted for $2800 from a local shop. Allstate covered everything else but not the paint. I am suing there client for the paint only. I have before and after pictures, picture of the accident along with police report, a affidavit from the shop owner and I am bringing in both fenders. She did a U-turn from the right lane crossing a double yellow. She was ticketed. I fell confident that all of my documents along with both fender should be enough but if the judge is color blind I am screwed!

 

I am representing myself for the small claims portion but I do have an attorney for the injury part.

 

Seems to me you are going about this wrong.

Your beef with the shop that failed to give you the paint job you wanted. You paid them to match your fender to the rest of the bike. They took the job on those terms. They failed.

Then you made the decision to pay them to repaint the whole bike. And now you want to go back to the insurance company to cover the difference.

If I'm Allstate, what I'm telling the judge is "We paid the guy to have his bike repaired. He took the money. It's not our responsibility that his painter couldn't satisfy him."

 

Thanks Omaha for that perspective. That's basically what Allstate said in the letter. I chose the shop and the shop couldn't match the paint so the blame is on us not Allstate or their client. My paint was 13 years old with 3 different colors one being a pearl. I had a touch up kit from Harley that the paint company used to match and were unsuccessful not once but twice. The paint shop spent countless hours trying to match the paint and where unsuccessful. Before work on my bike started the owner of the bike shop said the paint was going to be an issue. Allstate understood that and claim it's not there responsibility to paint anything but the fender. My paint matched before the accident and it needs to match after the accident. The person that caused the accident is responsible.