Sedgwick CMS is the insurance company KMart Corp. carries. They being the company that has denied a claim I filed in regards to a cart incident in their parking lot in Steger, IL on 4/30/2010 due to a broken Cart Corral. Had the corral NOT been broken, the carts would not have come out of the corral and into my car door, causing 579.76 worth of damage!
I have a police report AND dated pictures that show everything down to the direction of the wind, cart corral placement and dent in my car door. I also have a witness to this incident as well as a KMart witness to carts coming out of the corral while standing waiting for the police to come so I could file an accident report.
I received a letter today, dated 7-8-2010 stating "we cannot find any liability on the part of the Kmart Corporation." I have pictures of their broken cart corral, which IS the property of Kmart Corporation....hence the reason THEY are liable for this accident occurring, not myself the customer.
That being said, THEY should pay the repair bill (I have 2 estimates they asked for), the lower of the 2 being $579.76.
This entire incident is CLEARLY the fault of Kmart Corp. for leaving damaged cart corrals in their parking lot, corrals that will NOT hold in the carts. Went back weeks later to see these same corrals are still in the lot.
I have pictures of everything. If anything is needed, Ill be more than happy to email them over. Thank you.
Jeanne
Beecher,#2Author of original report
Wed, July 14, 2010
Just wanted to update in regards to your post. I have
TWO pre-estimates as requested by Sedgwick.....579.76 being the cheaper of the
two! They have the pre-estimates with a breakdown of costs and it's in
black and white, no arguing there.
I have an elderly woman's name and phone number (both on police report) who was
witness to all of this and who moved the cart off of my door. My baby was
in MY cart, and she seen between the baby, the cart against my car and me
struggling with the baby, bags, carts, (complaining as well)...she came over
and helped me. She moved the cart off of my car and put it back in the
corral. We both seen with our own eyes
the perfect straight up/down dent match up of cart to my Ford Escape SUV.
The wind speeds were VERY high that day and if you know the Steger KMart
parking lot, it's very downhill into the KMart entrance. I have printed
out the weather report from that day as well. Between the wind (which is
the reason I posted the picture of the bag being blown in the air, clearly
showing the direction of the wind to the store) and the hill, damage was
done...easily.
The reason behind 2 pictures of the cart corral...one shows they DO have
non-damaged cart corrals, and the picture is showing what a non-damaged corral
looks like. The one I was parked near was damaged, clearly shown.
My car was at least 3 or 4 stalls down the lot, plenty of space for the cart to
gain momentum and ram the car door...especially with the wind speeds...Printed
report from weather.com showing "Steger Weather...TODAY Strong
Storms/Winds S 21 mph, High: 76", printed 4-30-2010. As you
can see on the left (south) side of the damaged cart corral, that side is
protruding way past the right (north) wall, which wouldve aided in the
direction of the cart. The wind did
indeed turn it to go north, as the hill goes downward into Kmartand the wheels
do turn on their own
I have included a picture of my car to where the cart corral was. It's
the red SUV Ford Escape (smaller SUV). There were no other cars there
when I pulled in at 10am, so the other 2 vehicles were not originally
there. There was no car parked next to my car upon leaving the store
because the cart that was against my door was taking up the space next to me. Again, I have a witness who can and will
testify in regards to thisshe removed the cart from my door to help.
While standing waiting for the police to get there (which seemed like forever),
there were around 4 carts stacked together in that same broken corral, and
while standing there, the wind even pushed them out! The KMart worker ran
to push them back in before they too ended up against someone's car. Her
name I have as well! Would be MORE than happy to take a lie detector
test!! Ive got names, numbers,
witnesses, weather reports, pictures, etc.
I do not have a picture of the cart on my car because unfortunately I
did not decide to start snapping pictures until after she helped me and I had
my little one buckled into her seat. But
having a witness is just as good if not BETTER than a picture.
Had the corral been in good working condition, I would've just let this go and
figured, JUST MY LUCK, thats why I dont buy lottery tickets!!! But it
wasn't that way. I am not one to go after someone for what is not truly
mine, and what IS truly mine is the money it will take to get my car fixed from
their cart that smacked into my door. The corral was broken, allowed this
cart to come out, therefore THEY need to pay the damage. I have to see no
money at all, they can send it right to the shop.
Feel free to meet me at the Steger, IL Kmart anytime and we can relive the
entire thing! The cart matches up PERFECTLY with the dent because IT
caused it! We all know how these days it doesn't take much to get a dent
in car doors, and I have a witness to this, who removed the cart away from my
car. She is an elderly woman who doesn't know me, nor I her, and she did
what most people today will not, and that's help someone out.
Just wanted to update in regards to your post. I have
TWO pre-estimates as requested by Sedgwick.....579.76 being the cheaper of the
two! They have the pre-estimates with a breakdown of costs and it's in
black and white, no arguing there.
I have an elderly woman's name and phone number (both on police report) who was
witness to all of this and who moved the cart off of my door. My baby was
in MY cart, and she seen between the baby, the cart against my car and me
struggling with the baby, bags, carts, (complaining as well)...she came over
and helped me. She moved the cart off of my car and put it back in the
corral. We both seen with our own eyes
the perfect straight up/down dent match up of cart to my Ford Escape SUV.
The wind speeds were VERY high that day and if you know the Steger KMart
parking lot, it's very downhill into the KMart entrance. I have printed
out the weather report from that day as well. Between the wind (which is
the reason I posted the picture of the bag being blown in the air, clearly
showing the direction of the wind to the store) and the hill, damage was
done...easily.
The reason behind 2 pictures of the cart corral...one shows they DO have
non-damaged cart corrals, and the picture is showing what a non-damaged corral
looks like. The one I was parked near was damaged, clearly shown.
My car was at least 3 or 4 stalls down the lot, plenty of space for the cart to
gain momentum and ram the car door...especially with the wind speeds...Printed
report from weather.com showing "Steger Weather...TODAY Strong
Storms/Winds S 21 mph, High: 76", printed 4-30-2010. As you
can see on the left (south) side of the damaged cart corral, that side is
protruding way past the right (north) wall, which wouldve aided in the
direction of the cart. The wind did
indeed turn it to go north, as the hill goes downward into Kmartand the wheels
do turn on their own
I have included a picture of my car to where the cart corral was. It's
the red SUV Ford Escape (smaller SUV). There were no other cars there
when I pulled in at 10am, so the other 2 vehicles were not originally
there. There was no car parked next to my car upon leaving the store
because the cart that was against my door was taking up the space next to me. Again, I have a witness who can and will
testify in regards to thisshe removed the cart from my door to help.
While standing waiting for the police to get there (which seemed like forever),
there were around 4 carts stacked together in that same broken corral, and
while standing there, the wind even pushed them out! The KMart worker ran
to push them back in before they too ended up against someone's car. Her
name I have as well! Would be MORE than happy to take a lie detector
test!! Ive got names, numbers,
witnesses, weather reports, pictures, etc.
I do not have a picture of the cart on my car because unfortunately I
did not decide to start snapping pictures until after she helped me and I had
my little one buckled into her seat. But
having a witness is just as good if not BETTER than a picture.
Had the corral been in good working condition, I would've just let this go and
figured, JUST MY LUCK, thats why I dont buy lottery tickets!!! But it
wasn't that way. I am not one to go after someone for what is not truly
mine, and what IS truly mine is the money it will take to get my car fixed from
their cart that smacked into my door. The corral was broken, allowed this
cart to come out, therefore THEY need to pay the damage. I have to see no
money at all, they can send it right to the shop.
Feel free to meet me at the Steger, IL Kmart anytime and we can relive the
entire thing! The cart matches up PERFECTLY with the dent because IT
caused it! We all know how these days it doesn't take much to get a dent
in car doors, and I have a witness to this, who removed the cart away from my
car. She is an elderly woman who doesn't know me, nor I her, and she did
what most people today will not, and that's help someone out.
Robert
Irvine,#3Consumer Comment
Tue, July 13, 2010
There are a couple of issues with this report and even if they would cover the damage, it seems as if you may have a hard time proving the carts caused it.
I have a police report AND dated pictures that show everything down to the direction of the wind, cart corral placement and dent in my car door.
- What you don't have is a picture of the carts next to your vehicle. There is one pictures of the carts next to another Silver SUV which appears as if it would be similar to the size of your car(which also appears to be an SUV). If you match up where the cart would hit on that car it is several inches above from where you are claiming the damage. Granted that the angles of the pictures are not the best, but unless you can show that the carts match up with the dent, with just those pictures it would be hard to prove that the carts caused the damage.
The claim that the "wind" pushed the carts 2-3 stalls north is also a bit hard to see. As the way they are positioned the carts would have had to not only leave the corral because of the wind but then get turned and head toward your car in what would be no more than probably 30-50 feet. You also have pictures of two different corrals and probably should limit it to the one where you think the carts came from. Again a picture of exactly where your car was in relation to the cart corral may help your case.
Also, the picture showing the damage does not look severe enough to reach $600(especially if that is the cheapest). What exactly are they claiming needs to be fixed?
If the are not going to pay your best option would be to file a small claims case against them. You can then give your case as to why they are responsible and let a judge decide.