Car Seat Insurance Claims Guide

Car Seat Insurance Claims Guide - Baby On The Move NZ

Baby On The Move has partnered with leading insurance companies to replace your damaged car seat

If you've been in an accident and your car seat needs replacing, we work directly with your insurer to make the process as straightforward as possible. Here's everything you need to know.

Our insurance partners

IAG Partnership

We've partnered with New Zealand's largest general insurer, IAG. They trade under the brands AMI, State, NZI, ASB, BNZ, Co-Op, Westpac, NAC, Crombie Lockwood, Swan, Aon, Lumley and Lantern.

Ando Collaboration

We're collaborating with Ando Insurance. They work with New Zealand's leading broker groups and are the general insurance partner to Kiwibank, offering house, contents and car insurance.

If you have any questions about your insurance policy and whether your restraints are covered, please contact your insurer directly.

Does your car seat need replacing after an impact?

If you've been in an accident, your car seat may need to be replaced even if it looks undamaged. Many car seat manufacturers have their own crash replacement criteria — please refer to your restraint manual for details.

Many car seat brands follow the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) or MACPS (Manufacturers Alliance for Child Passenger Safety) guidelines to determine whether an impact is categorised as moderate to severe and whether the restraint needs replacing.

If you can say YES to any one of the following, your car seat likely needs replacing:

  • Was the vehicle unable to be driven from the scene of the impact?
  • Was the vehicle door closest to the restraint damaged?
  • Was there any broken glass in the seat or its attached parts?
  • Did any of the passengers sustain injuries? (including a sore neck developing in the days after)
  • If the vehicle has airbags, did they deploy?
  • Is there any visible damage to the car seat? (broken pieces, stress markings on plastic, stretched webbing, broken top tether stitching, cracked shell, or the seat buckles when placed on a flat surface)

If you're unsure, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Our team is happy to help you assess — book a car seat check at your local store.

What to do next after an impact

  1. Contact your insurance company and lodge a claim.
  2. If your insurer is a Baby On The Move partner, they will send a referral to our Head Office team, who will forward it to your closest Baby On The Move store.
  3. Your local store will make contact within 24 hours (please note there may be a delay on weekends and public holidays).
  4. Our Child Restraint Technician will discuss the best options with you — a like-for-like replacement, the closest equivalent if that model is unavailable, or upgrading to the next stage if necessary.
  5. Once you've decided, we'll organise a courier to collect your damaged seat (if you can't travel to the store) and ship your replacement to you.
  6. If you're able to visit your local store, we'll take your damaged restraint and install your new one on the spot.
  7. Your damaged restraint will then be collected by the SeatSmart 3R recycling team to be dismantled and recycled — reusing 70% of the restraint.

Why your damaged car seat must be returned

Car seat replacement delivered to a family's doorstep - Baby On The Move NZ

Baby On The Move and our insurance partners take child safety very seriously. If we replace a car seat before collecting the damaged one, there is a risk it could continue to be used — putting a child in danger. We have a responsibility to ensure every damaged seat is returned and recycled safely, keeping it off the road and out of harm's way.

Please note that all insurance claims and customer upgrades are based on the full retail price of the product. Discounts from specials, bundles, and price matches are excluded from the claim process and cannot be applied.

Recycling your restraint after an impact

We're proud to be linked with the SeatSmart child car seat recycling programme. SeatSmart has two valuable aims: to reduce waste to landfill, and to improve awareness of expiry dates and remove damaged car seats from our roads — improving road safety for our precious cargo.

All Baby On The Move stores are collection points for the SeatSmart programme. Whilst there is usually a $35 fee to recycle a restraint, when replacing your damaged restraint through a Baby On The Move insurance partner, this is all included in the service.

For more information about our car seat recycling service or to find your nearest store, feel free to get in touch with our team.

 

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