Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Car Repairs

I brought my car to a bodyshop after the accident. They asked me to sign a paper giving them power of attorney to sign bills and to work with my insurance company. (I did not realized what power of attorney meant, but too late now) They never provided me with cost estimate as seems to be required. I only received estimate from insurance company where they said that it would take 1 month to fix. I finally got my car 4 month latter and it had a lot of problems. I refused to pay my deductible because of bad repairs and because they took longer than they promised (I had to pay for the rental car). Now they are suing me in a small claims court. My car got subsequently got stolen and I only have limited evidence of the poor repairs. (Bureau of Automotive Repairs only had a chance to take photos of the car and they say that all that they can say is that panels are misalign, and that rest is inconclusive) Can I use the fact that they did not provide me with an estimate as my defense? They also gave me $900 for rental car so that I would allow them to repair my car. Now I have found out that it was illegal since it would offset my deductible. They are asking me to pay back these 900 dollars too? Can I use this �kickback� as a defense?


Asked on 2/29/00, 9:11 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ken Koury Kenneth P. Koury, Esq.

Re: Car Repairs

i believe a written estimate is required or else they cannot collect. i dont remember the code section but it would be in either the Civil Code or the Business & Professions code. as far as the $900, i dont know if that was illegal or not but if it was the law on illegal contracts is that the court is to leave parties were they stand which means they cannot get it back.

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Answered on 3/14/00, 2:24 am


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