how is it possible for auto collision damage estimate jump fron 1992.00 to over 13k in 48 hours
Total Comments: 27
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 07:38 am Post Subject:
Well, apparently its an unusual hike, but we need more detailed account of the whole incident to determine the reason of this increase.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 08:26 am Post Subject:
how is it possible for auto collision damage estimate jump fron 1992.00 to over 13k in 48 hours
May be the body shop owner has just bumped into some hidden and un-repaired old damages, which he has added to the current damage estimate. you may need to ask the person, who have given you the estimate to explain the figure to you.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:06 am Post Subject:
More than likely there was an inital estimate, without tear down, then once the vehicle was torn down the additional damage was exposed...happens all the time.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:32 pm Post Subject:
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.
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Wow....
Who wrote the first "visible damage report" and who wrote the Estimate of repairs? (second estimate)
FK,
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 02:49 pm Post Subject:
It's not unusual at all... depending on the nature of the damage. It could have been a hard hit to a quarter panel or trunk area and damaged the frame. There is a lot of hidden damage in that case. An insurance appraiser could try to guess and guess and guess at what is needed or they could just wait for the vehicle to be torn down. Also, the type of vehicle is not mentioned. For a Lexus or Mercedes, etc. the price can jump very quickly.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 05:52 pm Post Subject:
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Come on... nearly 600% off with the first estimate!!
It looks to me like someone was very negligent with the first estimate.
It will be interesting to find out who wrote it.
FK,
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 07:54 pm Post Subject:
It looks to me like someone was very negligent with the first estimate.
Possible... but what's the difference?
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 09:19 pm Post Subject:
It looks to me like someone was very negligent with the first estimate.
More than likely the adjuster ''tagged'' the car, either at the accident scene, or in a tow lot, clearly prior to any tear down, there are many carriers that require a high percentage of the estimates to be written within 9-24-or 48 hours of the claim report...these estimates are just the obvious outter damage, then when the vehicle is in the shop and torn down a comprehensive estimate can be written...I personally handle a lot of these...an owner will not know for sure if they want it repaired etc...the rep will look at the vehicle in a drive way, the hood can't be opened (without risk of not being able to close it)...NO insurance adjuster can write to repair or replace ANYTHING without a photo showing the part is damage, which makes total sense...so then the owner decides to repair it, it goes to the shop is torn down and the estimate could jump as high as the sky....like T said, what makes the difference? It's paid, and in my case, I am the one writing that second or supplement estimate...again, you can't write it if you can't photo it, so if a bumper cover is in the back seat an adjuster can't write to replace the rebar, absorber, rear body panel whatever until it is accessible to be photo'd....it's that simple and happens many times daily...
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:01 pm Post Subject:
One thing I've been thinking about these past few days (from another... long thread) is that body shops write estimates. Estimates are documents that show what someone is going to _charge_ to perform certain work. In otherwords, you ask me how much I'm going to charge to perform some work and I give you my estimate. It's called an estimate as it's not a guaranteed charge.
An insurance company writes an appraisal. The insurance company is not writing up what they are charging for the repairs as they are no performing the repairs. A person can take the appraisal to someone who can perform the work and confirm that they will do the work listed for the amount listed. The nature of a repair party is to make a good profit on the work they perform. They are allowed to charge any amount they want for the repairs. The nature of the insurance company is to pay _only_ what is owed on a claim, which almost always means the least amount possible. When it comes to a vehicle, this means the insurance company is not going to _guess_ at what needs to be done, like a shop might. There is no reason to guess... it can only lead to paying too much for repairs (which no one expect the insurance company really cares about).
But an insurance company also needs to make sure that their payment is sufficient for the repairs. If someone points out that it's not, 99.999999% of the time the insurance company will simply make an additional payment. So... shops like to error on the side of charging too much (do they ever give this money back?) and insurance companies want to error on the side of paying too little (they can always make up the difference). Is either way, wrong? I'd have to say no.
As mentioned above, what difference does it make?
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:07 pm Post Subject:
An insurance company writes an appraisal.
Where I work (and worked) I write an estimate of repair...an appraisal for an ACV, it's just symatics really...I write what I think it will take to repair the vehicle per industry standards...then I go over it with the shop manager and just as many times I've caught things he's missed...but it is an 'estimate' same as a shop writes, when someone comes thru the door they say, ''I'd like an estimate to repair the damage to my vehicle'' and that is what they get...if they then schedule to bring in the vehicle, and the shop disassembles it and finds additional damage, (which by the way happens way more than 50% of the time) they call the owner or the adjuster depending on the shop and say, 'hey found some hidden damage, this darn header panel is cracked, gonna have to repair (or replace it) will cost an additional $125.00-million bucks...(pick one)...and the person on the other end says, 'ok, forget it, i'll be there within 24 hours to photo it, get the part ordered, send me a picture'' whatever the situation is....it's rarely a problem...the shops estimators do the exact same thing, they do not have x-ray vision anymore than a rep writing an estimate in someone's drive way does..
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 07:38 am Post Subject:
Well, apparently its an unusual hike, but we need more detailed account of the whole incident to determine the reason of this increase.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 08:26 am Post Subject:
how is it possible for auto collision damage estimate jump fron 1992.00 to over 13k in 48 hours
May be the body shop owner has just bumped into some hidden and un-repaired old damages, which he has added to the current damage estimate. you may need to ask the person, who have given you the estimate to explain the figure to you.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:06 am Post Subject:
More than likely there was an inital estimate, without tear down, then once the vehicle was torn down the additional damage was exposed...happens all the time.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:32 pm Post Subject:
.
.
.
Wow....
Who wrote the first "visible damage report" and who wrote the Estimate of repairs? (second estimate)
FK,
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 02:49 pm Post Subject:
It's not unusual at all... depending on the nature of the damage. It could have been a hard hit to a quarter panel or trunk area and damaged the frame. There is a lot of hidden damage in that case. An insurance appraiser could try to guess and guess and guess at what is needed or they could just wait for the vehicle to be torn down. Also, the type of vehicle is not mentioned. For a Lexus or Mercedes, etc. the price can jump very quickly.
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 05:52 pm Post Subject:
.
.
.
Come on... nearly 600% off with the first estimate!!
It looks to me like someone was very negligent with the first estimate.
It will be interesting to find out who wrote it.
FK,
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 07:54 pm Post Subject:
It looks to me like someone was very negligent with the first estimate.
Possible... but what's the difference?Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 09:19 pm Post Subject:
It looks to me like someone was very negligent with the first estimate.
More than likely the adjuster ''tagged'' the car, either at the accident scene, or in a tow lot, clearly prior to any tear down, there are many carriers that require a high percentage of the estimates to be written within 9-24-or 48 hours of the claim report...these estimates are just the obvious outter damage, then when the vehicle is in the shop and torn down a comprehensive estimate can be written...I personally handle a lot of these...an owner will not know for sure if they want it repaired etc...the rep will look at the vehicle in a drive way, the hood can't be opened (without risk of not being able to close it)...NO insurance adjuster can write to repair or replace ANYTHING without a photo showing the part is damage, which makes total sense...so then the owner decides to repair it, it goes to the shop is torn down and the estimate could jump as high as the sky....like T said, what makes the difference? It's paid, and in my case, I am the one writing that second or supplement estimate...again, you can't write it if you can't photo it, so if a bumper cover is in the back seat an adjuster can't write to replace the rebar, absorber, rear body panel whatever until it is accessible to be photo'd....it's that simple and happens many times daily...Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:01 pm Post Subject:
One thing I've been thinking about these past few days (from another... long thread) is that body shops write estimates. Estimates are documents that show what someone is going to _charge_ to perform certain work. In otherwords, you ask me how much I'm going to charge to perform some work and I give you my estimate. It's called an estimate as it's not a guaranteed charge.
An insurance company writes an appraisal. The insurance company is not writing up what they are charging for the repairs as they are no performing the repairs. A person can take the appraisal to someone who can perform the work and confirm that they will do the work listed for the amount listed. The nature of a repair party is to make a good profit on the work they perform. They are allowed to charge any amount they want for the repairs. The nature of the insurance company is to pay _only_ what is owed on a claim, which almost always means the least amount possible. When it comes to a vehicle, this means the insurance company is not going to _guess_ at what needs to be done, like a shop might. There is no reason to guess... it can only lead to paying too much for repairs (which no one expect the insurance company really cares about).
But an insurance company also needs to make sure that their payment is sufficient for the repairs. If someone points out that it's not, 99.999999% of the time the insurance company will simply make an additional payment. So... shops like to error on the side of charging too much (do they ever give this money back?) and insurance companies want to error on the side of paying too little (they can always make up the difference). Is either way, wrong? I'd have to say no.
As mentioned above, what difference does it make?
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:07 pm Post Subject:
An insurance company writes an appraisal.
Where I work (and worked) I write an estimate of repair...an appraisal for an ACV, it's just symatics really...I write what I think it will take to repair the vehicle per industry standards...then I go over it with the shop manager and just as many times I've caught things he's missed...but it is an 'estimate' same as a shop writes, when someone comes thru the door they say, ''I'd like an estimate to repair the damage to my vehicle'' and that is what they get...if they then schedule to bring in the vehicle, and the shop disassembles it and finds additional damage, (which by the way happens way more than 50% of the time) they call the owner or the adjuster depending on the shop and say, 'hey found some hidden damage, this darn header panel is cracked, gonna have to repair (or replace it) will cost an additional $125.00-million bucks...(pick one)...and the person on the other end says, 'ok, forget it, i'll be there within 24 hours to photo it, get the part ordered, send me a picture'' whatever the situation is....it's rarely a problem...the shops estimators do the exact same thing, they do not have x-ray vision anymore than a rep writing an estimate in someone's drive way does..Add your comment