So on the afternoon of July 26th, a rainy day in Manchester, CT; I went to work, however on this fateful afternoon, I didn't go to my office, but instead our main office in Manchester, CT. So, as I'm starting to do my training of another person --- my reason for being there --- a person comes walking in telling us how we are being evacuated due to a serious fire down the road.
Me and my coworkers walked out of our building to our parking lot where it looked as if Mount Saint Helen's had gone off. Our cars were filled with ash and little white specks. Later I found out what happened. NAMCO, a pool supply company had blown up See Full Story Here (http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?s=414461)
So we learned that chlorine which is stored at this facility came in contact with water, and anyone who knows some things about chemistry, the chlorine blew up ... the blast was so powerful it cleared our town into the next. So anyway I was left with whole bunches of debris and chlorine bits on my car. My first concern was I should get this **** off my car ... forgetting that when water comes in contact with chlorine it creates an acid. So aside from the mist hitting my car as I drove away, I went to one of my coworkers houses where we washed our cars off, I then later went to a self serve car wash and washed it again.
Here is my problem, I filed my claim with the insurance company, and right now they are saying that a good detailing job will fix any damage that the chlorine might have or will caused, so they are willing to give me $250.00 (which is how much the special detailing will cost) and I must sign a release form saying that I can't claim anything in the future.

MY QUESTION ... should I be concerned about what can happen to my car in the future, would I already see the damage, does it actually take time for this chlorine to cause damage ... someone please let me in on some information here, it would be greatly appreciated!!

Matty

When the water hit the chlorine, you basically got a solution of hydrochloric acid- it's not a strong acid (chemically speaking ;)) and if you washed it off quickly as you say, then stripping the wax and then reapplying and rebuffing will be fine. However, I am very wary of an insurance company making you sign a form saying you won't claim future problems that arise- they should be getting their money out of the chemcial company anyway, so I don't know what the deal is...


Brian
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My biggest concern is that from what I'm told paint absorbs water, and even when this hcl acid is created, the paint absorbs that with the water, and spits the water out but not the acid ... if there was damage to be done however, would I already see it?

Actually, I believe the waiver is a common practice when an insurance company pays out money. However, when the refinery near my house spewed crap into the air (thus on our cars), the refinery had to send everyone in the are a free voucher to have their car cleaned. :)

Regardless I think that you're in the clear.

Haig

I agree with North Ursalia. Any insurance company that demands you sign a release saying you won't claim anything that arises in the future is acting kinda shady. I definately wouldn't feel comfortable with that. Tell them that you aren't signing a release form, but that you still expect them to pay for the detail job and see what they say. Ask them if they are so sure that a simple detailing will take care of why would they need a release form?

I don't know. That sucks for you.

Mike

You should also ask your insurance company about a payment for property damage as it's likely that the acid ate away at your paint in some way, shape, or form. Hard to say without looking at it or knowing exactly what came in contact with it.

Any waiver = bad idea. Mention resale value and tell your insurance company that you expect to have enough money to get the car professionally detailed with a machine/machine polish and full hand wax. Get a quote on that too just in case $250 is not enough (good detailers aren't cheap.)

waivers are pretty much standard practice with most insurance companies. Is this your insurance company? Anyway you dont have to sign it. They want you to, but press it and youll probably get your money without signing it. My .02

Pay for a detailing out of pocket, and see how it goes. If you don't get the results you want, move on from there. $250 is decent for a detailing, should cover your cash out of pocket. I think you should be fine with the detailing. Hydrochloric acid isn't that bad, really.

Factoid: Stomach acid is hydrochloric acid.

I used to own a concrete coatings business. We'd etch concrete with Muratic acid (stronger), and apply urathane (what's on your car). Once the urathane is there, the acid will not strip it. TRUST ME! I wished it would. Detailing should work.

The waiver that the insurance company is asking you to sign is called a "proof of loss" and is a standard form and procedure used in the insurance industry. If you sign and cash the check that the insurance company sends you, it's the same as signing that waiver in an implied form. Either way, if you should find further damage that you weren't paid for after the initial claim payment, you can always reopen the claim and ask for "supplementary payment" as long you can prove that they are attributable to the initial incident.

BTW, I have been in the insurance business for a while, so I speak from the experience of having handled 100s of claims, many of which were very complex and went into the Millions of $$.

Today the insurance company agreed to give me the requested amount to do the detailing without signing the Release form. Made my day.

Matty