An inflated estimate for car repairs following a recent concrete spill from a bridge construction site has left one driver confused about the costs and lack of communication from the contractor involved.
Vehicle owners have acted recently with the messy aftermath of concrete pouring at a construction site on Highway 400 in south Barrie in late October, damaging their cars.
A new bridge has been under construction at the Essa Road interchange in Barrie for several months. The current work is taking place on the bridge deck above the city street.
Drivers traveling on Essa Road all day on October 31 discovered their vehicles covered in watery concrete that flowed off the bridge structure as the material was being placed.
“I need a brand new paint job because I still have concrete on my car,” Ashley Adams said at the time. ‘What I think is unfair is that it will now hurt me because of the insurance. And do I have to pay my deductible?
“I got my car less than two months ago,” she added. “(The contractor) should be responsible for paying for it, not me, and hurting my insurance…They were letting it bleed on people’s cars all day long. I’m glad no one was hurt.”
Adams also said her car windows were down at the time.
“There was cement on my door, my front dash, it was on me and my passenger,” she said. “It just fell so hard that it went everywhere, so terrible.”
Now, over a month later, Adams says she has a huge estimate for the repair and no word from the contractor or insurance company on where the situation currently stands.
She says she got an estimate from a local repair shop of as much as $35,000.
Adams said she bought her 2014 Nissan Rogue just two months before the spill and paid $11,500 for it.
Mentally, she says she can’t handle the circumstances very well.
“My car is terrible. I was so happy. I just bought it and now it’s just horrible,” she said.
The estimate, broken down, details labor costs at $11,627.10, new parts at $15,985.31, aftermarket parts costing $586.46 and the cost of paint at $1,492. Taxes alone amount to $4,087.96.
A second estimate from another shop put the repair at a much more modest but still steep $7,000, Adams said.
Shortly after the incident, a spokesperson for the Department for Transport suggested that those affected by the spill should “contact the contractor to discuss these issues at (email protected).”
Complainants are asked to provide the date of the incident, time and any available photographs relating to their claim.
With her repair estimates in hand, Adams says she sent the paperwork to GIP and has received “zero response” so far.
“I have sent numerous emails to GIP and have received nothing back,” she said.
In previous correspondence with the complainants, the contractor said filing a claim against them “is different from filing a claim with your insurance company.”
They noted that filing a claim through their own insurance company “means that you are benefiting from your existing insurance coverage for your personal property through your insurance policy, while a claim against GIP requires an investigation to determine whether or not GIP is liable before compensation may be provided for repairs/costs.”
GIP encouraged people to contact their insurance company, saying “if you have not already done so, as your existing insurance cover may be more extensive than the reimbursement that could be provided by GIP.
“Your insurance company can try to recover damages from GIP on your behalf. In property damage claims, if GIP is found to have been negligent, the amount you can receive in compensation is limited to the condition of the property immediately before the damage occurred,” the company wrote.
Amy Smith, who also spoke about the incident at the time of the leak, is awaiting an outcome regarding her vehicle damage.
“I got two estimates and sent them in,” she said. “My partner has spoken to someone at GIP claims and they are processing it.”
