by truvnhc » Sun Aug 29, 2010 05:29 am
Hi guys,
A week ago my car was rear ended by another driver. I took my car to the dealer's body shop to get an estimate. Then his insurance company sent out an independent appraiser to appraise my car's damages. The appraiser's estimate is about $2000 higher than the body shop's estimate. What should I do now?
Should I ask the insurance company to make the check out to me, then I take the car to the body shop to get it repair and keep the different? (knowing that I might have to pay for supplemental repairs).
Or should I just take the appraiser's estimate to the body shop and let them deal with the insurance company and get my car repair? (This might sound stupid b/c the body shop might just jack up the repair and keep all the money).
Thanks for any advice.
A week ago my car was rear ended by another driver. I took my car to the dealer's body shop to get an estimate. Then his insurance company sent out an independent appraiser to appraise my car's damages. The appraiser's estimate is about $2000 higher than the body shop's estimate. What should I do now?
Should I ask the insurance company to make the check out to me, then I take the car to the body shop to get it repair and keep the different? (knowing that I might have to pay for supplemental repairs).
Or should I just take the appraiser's estimate to the body shop and let them deal with the insurance company and get my car repair? (This might sound stupid b/c the body shop might just jack up the repair and keep all the money).
Thanks for any advice.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 06:50 am Post Subject:
What should I do now
Compare the two to find out where the differences are. Most insurance companies only allow for after market parts when possible. So many shops write their estimates this way. The company I worked for did not use AM parts... so my appraisal was sometimes higher then then shops. I also wrote many appraisals where the shop over looked certain damages. I'm also sure there were times when I wrote damages that did not need to be written.Should I ask the insurance company to make the check out to me, then I take the car to the body shop to get it repair and keep the different?
If there is no lien holder on the vehicle, the check should be made out to you. If there is a LH, the check will need to have your name and either the shops or the LHs name on it.Or should I just take the appraiser's estimate to the body shop and let them deal with the insurance company and get my car repair?
I'd first determine why the difference as you don't want the shop to skip over repairs that are needed. What would I do if the insurance company wrote their appraisal for more then was needed to repair the vehicle? Well, let's just say I'd be eating pretty good that week. :)Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 12:13 pm Post Subject:
Your claim is a third party claim, so unless your vehicle is totaled, your lein holder will not come into play. It's up to you, frankly 2k is a HUGE difference. I'd figure out what these difference are. If you can post them both we'd be happy to figure this out for you, remove personal information first. if you cannot do this you can PM them to me and I'll remove all the personal info.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 03:03 pm Post Subject:
If the insurance company's estimate is $2000 more than the body shop is asking for to perform the exact same repairs, then the amount you are entitled to is what the insurance company is willing to pay. As previously stated, if they write the check to you, you can cash it and choose not to make the repairs at all.
On the other hand, if the insurance company is dealing directly with the body shop, and the shop submits a claim for $2000, when the insurer was willing to pay $4000, then the body shop will get a check for $2000 and you won't get another penny. Because insurance is not intended to provide you with a profit.
So, if the extra $2000 is important to you, have the insurance company write the check to you alone.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 04:01 pm Post Subject:
I do have a Lien Holder on my car. So who is correct about insurance company making the check to me and the LH or me alone? tcope or Lori?
If the insurance company make the check out to me and the LH, what would the LH do with the extra money?
To Lori: I'll compare the differences between the 2 estimates. I'll post them later on today for you guys to take a look. Thanks.
To MaxHerr: I agree with you about the body shop just keeping the extra money or they just listed the repair on the final invoice to match the appraiser's estimate without actually repair my car and keep the extra money. I wasn't trying to make a profit out of this. But thinking about the body shop keeping extra money make me feel uneasy.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 05:19 pm Post Subject:
I do have a Lien Holder on my car. So who is correct about insurance company making the check to me and the LH or me alone? tcope or Lori?
LoriPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 02:49 am Post Subject:
Thanks for the replies guys.
Here are the estimates:
Body shop:
http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af326/lam0279/bodyshop1.jpg
Appraiser:
http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af326/lam0279/appraised1.jpg
http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af326/lam0279/appraised2.jpg
http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af326/lam0279/appraised3.jpg
I have another question. If the insurance company make the check out for me alone, then I take my car to the body shop for repair. If supplemental repairs are needed, would the body shop ask me for extra money or do they file for supplements with the insurance?
Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 01:21 pm Post Subject:
To MaxHerr: I agree with you about the body shop just keeping the extra money or they just listed the repair on the final invoice to match the appraiser's estimate without actually repair my car and keep the extra money.
I did not say that! The body shop is not entitled to the "extra" money either. Could they inflate their claim to collect more money? It happens. But insurance companies don't write checks to body shops without an invoice for work completed or and estimate for work to be performed. In my example, the body shop submits an invoice for $2000 and gets paid $2000. The extra $2000 stays with the insurance company. If a body shop is caught "inflating" claims or "enhancing the damage" to collect more money, that's insurance fraud, so they tend not to do it.
So in your comparisons, your insurance company is allowing several hundred dollars more for parts and about 10 additional labor hours, plus other additions. Be thankful that in your part of the world, labor rates are under $50/hour, because in California, they are almost double that, and your claim would be at least $2000 higher.
The vehicle is not being totaled, so a check will be written to you, as Lori and tcope have stated. You can accept the $8000 check and have your body shop do the work for $6000 (you pay them), and make a $2000 contribution to your Roth IRA for 2010 (if you haven't already contributed $3000 or more) with what you have remaining.
Or you can take the money and not have any of the repairs performed. Throw a party instead, and continue to drive a smashed up car! Just don't try to submit a claim for the same damages again, because that's called insurance fraud, and your next party will be in prison.
Or you can have the work done at the body shop, and they will be paid their actual invoice amount, not to exceed what the insurer has estimated.
Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 04:27 am Post Subject:
My bad MaxHerr, I misunderstood you a little bit. What I said was "If I give the appraiser's estimate to the body shop, the body shop would match that estimate (with or without repair all that the appraiser estimated). I have all the intentions to get my car repair perfectly and no intentions to make a profit out of this accident. I just think that the body shop would definitely increase the repairs (that might not be necessary) just to match the appraiser's estimate.
Anyway, today the insurance company called and told me they would send the check to me. I'll shop around for other body shops to see the differences in the estimates. thanks
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 02:50 pm Post Subject:
hi guys,
Why would the body shop need the estimate from the appraiser? Could I just tell them to do the repair and I'll paid them if they are not exceed the appraiser estimate? thanks
Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 03:07 pm Post Subject:
well. at first glance, your independant appraiser is 16 hrs higher on the labor (even though he is paying less per hour) and $1700 higher on parts...he's even been gracious enough to pay for a new $230 lock on the deck lid. (typically you take out the original one, its rare they get damaged) now it's got to be re-keyed too. if it is damaged, the shop missed it.
sounds like the independant may be new to the the business, typically there is not that big of a difference, but sometimes it does happen...even to the best of us. The main thing is that they are identifying the same damage, typically the rest can be negotiated within reason. If the other company writes you a check it's yours in this case. the only time that the leinholder is involved is if its YOUR company paying the bill...they are required by law to protect the leinholder and make sure you get the repairs. (its thier asset too)
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