by stephtony99 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 09:20 pm
Ok...so here is a breakdown of my issue.
my husband hit a deer and caused over 6k in damage. I decided to have repairs done by a shop of my choice and cash out to pay them directly. It took my insurance company a week to get to the shop to write the estimate. Then rather than issue the check to the shop and me like i requested...they made it to me and the lein holder. I spoke to the owner of the shop and he told me to ask them to reissue payment to the shop and due to thanksgiving holiday they were waiting on parts. I contacted my insurance company and had them reissue the check. Well my car was ready on the 6th but shop wouldnt release car without payment. I contacted my insurance they said they sent the check but it didnt show as paid.so once all was said and done and an hour anda half on hold later...they overnighted a check to the bodyshop on the 9th and I picked up my car the 10th (yesterday).
Here is the dilema...my rental car coverage is 25.00 a day up to 600.00 per claim. So based on that it would have covered me up to the 6th...the day the car was ready even after the delay of the estimate. Had they not messed up on the check the first time i wouldnt have had to pay for 4 days of rental car out of pocket.
now here is my question...we had a comp claim back in june...had the same shop do the repairs and we cashed out and paid them directly...however the check was made out to my husband and i only and it was over 4k. Do i have leverage at all against them as they told me the body shop or leinholder had to be on the check due to us not owning it?
I am in california if that makes a diference. And my insurance is state farm.
my husband hit a deer and caused over 6k in damage. I decided to have repairs done by a shop of my choice and cash out to pay them directly. It took my insurance company a week to get to the shop to write the estimate. Then rather than issue the check to the shop and me like i requested...they made it to me and the lein holder. I spoke to the owner of the shop and he told me to ask them to reissue payment to the shop and due to thanksgiving holiday they were waiting on parts. I contacted my insurance company and had them reissue the check. Well my car was ready on the 6th but shop wouldnt release car without payment. I contacted my insurance they said they sent the check but it didnt show as paid.so once all was said and done and an hour anda half on hold later...they overnighted a check to the bodyshop on the 9th and I picked up my car the 10th (yesterday).
Here is the dilema...my rental car coverage is 25.00 a day up to 600.00 per claim. So based on that it would have covered me up to the 6th...the day the car was ready even after the delay of the estimate. Had they not messed up on the check the first time i wouldnt have had to pay for 4 days of rental car out of pocket.
now here is my question...we had a comp claim back in june...had the same shop do the repairs and we cashed out and paid them directly...however the check was made out to my husband and i only and it was over 4k. Do i have leverage at all against them as they told me the body shop or leinholder had to be on the check due to us not owning it?
I am in california if that makes a diference. And my insurance is state farm.
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:58 pm Post Subject:
Should it have taken a week to inspect the vehicle? No. What is the reason the carrier gave for this delay?
The carrier did nothing wrong in putting the lien holders name on the check. It does not matter if you requested otherwise. it's still at their desecration if they want to put the body shops name instead of the lien holders. But the insurance company is required by law to protect the lien holders interest in the vehicle. This can be done by including them on the check but usually carriers will make an exception and put the body shops name on the check instead.
So the carrier is going to argue that had you choose to accept the first check, no additional rental would have been needed and the first check was sent out correctly. They would be correct.
What the body shop should have done (or the adjuster is they knew how this worked) is asked for a copy of the check or confirmation that their name was on the check and then released the vehicle. However, usually the check would need to be sent to them direct (still with your name on it). I think if this was done that the problem would not have happened.
You can ask the carrier to pay more on rental. I don't think they will. You could then file a complaint with the dept of insurance and/or file a Bad Faith claim against your carrier.
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