What is a forensic evaluation?
(and why would you need one?)
A
Forensic Evaluation is an enhanced concept in collision damage evaluation.
When
a collision estimate is written, it generally is written to include only the
damage that can be seen.
The forensic evaluation is written the same way but also includes to actually
remove parts off the
vehicle if necessary to see the true and actual damage. The vehicle
estimate is written to in-
clude those parts that are damaged and need repair or replacement.
With the advent of
different vehicle designs, and different construction characteristics, it is
important to evaluate
each vehicle for it's own individual characteristics. Grouping all vehicles into
the same category
and basing the severity of the damage on the dollar amount of the estimate is
not valid. (For a
more in-depth discussion of different construction types in vehicles
please see "the information
that you can use now page"). The construction type of the
vehicle will determine the amount
of damage and in turn the amount of cost to repair. Some vehicles have
additional damage that
is discovered after it has been torn down,
Sometimes the estimate amount is used to determine
the amount of injury potential on a given claim. Take this as an example:
a Mercedes 560 SEC
M class and a Ford pickup. The Mercedes rear bumper cover has a
texture on it that is very
difficult to duplicate. Replacement of the rear bumper cover would cost
$2843.15. This
includes replacement of the rear bumper cover with a new part and to paint it
the same color as
the vehicle. This procedure would be necessary with a cosmetic scratch
in the unmatchable
texture. If a Ford pickup was rear ended and it required a new rear
bumper and 8.0 hours of
frame pulling and straightening. This would cost $510.42 to repair.
The Ford pickup being a
full frame vehicle will not crush and collapse like a unibody vehicle and will
tend to transfer the
collision energy through the vehicle with very little energy absorption.
Another example of the
why you should not use the estimate amount to determine the case is from the
Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety. One report which lists damage amounts to vehicles that
are backed into a
flat barrier at 5 mph. This information was off of their web
site on September 29th, 1998.
The small car category lists damages between zero for the Volkswagen Jetta
4 dr to the Kia
Sephia LS 4dr with $ 435.00. There is a lengthy
list of crash test data on many vehicles.
Take the link to their web page to see for yourself. (Be sure and come
back)
Does this mean that the Volkswagen Jetta Gl was in a
less severe collision or does the specific
construction characteristics affect the dollar amount required to repair
different vehicles? The
estimates were not viewed to determine what type of damage was really done to
these vehicles,
but since the estimate amounts indicate minor damage, because of the low $
amount, it has to be
assumed that these vehicles had cosmetic damage on them from a 5 mph impact into
a fixed
barrier to the rear bumper. Did you ever have a type of car that is listed
on the linked web page
that had quite a bit more property damage but when it was looked at by an
engineer it the impact
speed was less than 5 mph?????. A forensic evaluation can help with this
problem. To look at the
vehicle for what the car is, taking into account its own characteristics is
important in evaluating cases.
A Forensic
Evaluation includes discussing the damage to a vehicle in plain English.
This
helps to understand the damage to the vehicle in terms that can be easily
understood, this is
done in a narrative format. It also includes a cross
section of the vehicle and uses yes/no
check boxes to explain the damage to the vehicle. This helps to understand how
the vehicle is
constructed and what parts of the vehicle are damaged. It also explains
the type of damage it
has (bent, crushed, mashed, torn, shattered, scratched, dented etc.....).
The forensic evaluation's
narrative section of the report provides discussion of the parts that were
affected but might
not necessarily need to be replaced (stroked bumper absorber pistons, stressed
seams, dirt
knocked off the frame rail stress points etc..). A written estimate to establish
the property
damage after viewing the vehicle in an enhanced manner, generally will be of a
higher dollar
amount because more analysis and teardown to the vehicle will show the true
damage. Digital or 35 mm photographs of these parts and the
car which will substantially document the damage.
Future Forensics™
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