Any auto insurance experts here?
09-08-2011, 09:22 AM
#11
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Originally Posted by Back-cracker' timestamp='1315501187' post='20954639
[quote name='Italia' timestamp='1315501033' post='20954625']
[quote name='S2FARSI' timestamp='1315469840' post='20953462']
[quote name='Drew523' timestamp='1315468530' post='20953433']
no claims adjuster will authorize 6k just to a tear down a car, that's absurd... adjuster should be able to determine the estimated cost of the repair of the cost from the examination.. Plus most body shops will use a eye ball estimate to get a ball park off the obvious parts that would need to be repaired/replaced + labor. Of course they may find more damage or determine its going to cost more once they start repairing and tearing it down. But most shops will store the car for no charge and wait until the adjuster comes out to the body shop to do a estimate. I mean he should be able to make a decision to repair or total the car the day he visits... Most shops i dealt with when i did claims didn't charge a storage fee while the car was awaiting the claims adjuster to come. Most pretty much would only charge for storage once the car was determined totaled because they won't be doing the repairs so they want it out of the shop for other cars. Then we would require the insured sign off the transfer of the car to us the insurance company so we could have have it towed away. We would need it signed and sent back to us with 48 hours otherwise they would be responsible for additional storage fees. $85 seems high just storing a car but it its only couple days so it shouldn't matter especially since they are going to take possession of the car to get towed away from the body shop to the insurance company storage facility to begin with... Once we got the signed form car would be towed out of the shop that day or the very next morning. Sometimes it is the body shop that is the pain in the ass to deal with, wanting all these BS fees for services, repairs, labor, storage, etc... We usually tell them to go F themselves and call them out on the fee and alot of times we would agree to median. I mean its been a while, since I worked claims but I wouldn't imagine it changing that much and it being that different among insurance companies.
21st Century is owned by Farmers now you probably have either a farmers claims adjuster. They are usually pretty good with claims service.
[quote name='S2FARSI' timestamp='1315469840' post='20953462']
[quote name='Drew523' timestamp='1315468530' post='20953433']
no claims adjuster will authorize 6k just to a tear down a car, that's absurd... adjuster should be able to determine the estimated cost of the repair of the cost from the examination.. Plus most body shops will use a eye ball estimate to get a ball park off the obvious parts that would need to be repaired/replaced + labor. Of course they may find more damage or determine its going to cost more once they start repairing and tearing it down. But most shops will store the car for no charge and wait until the adjuster comes out to the body shop to do a estimate. I mean he should be able to make a decision to repair or total the car the day he visits... Most shops i dealt with when i did claims didn't charge a storage fee while the car was awaiting the claims adjuster to come. Most pretty much would only charge for storage once the car was determined totaled because they won't be doing the repairs so they want it out of the shop for other cars. Then we would require the insured sign off the transfer of the car to us the insurance company so we could have have it towed away. We would need it signed and sent back to us with 48 hours otherwise they would be responsible for additional storage fees. $85 seems high just storing a car but it its only couple days so it shouldn't matter especially since they are going to take possession of the car to get towed away from the body shop to the insurance company storage facility to begin with... Once we got the signed form car would be towed out of the shop that day or the very next morning. Sometimes it is the body shop that is the pain in the ass to deal with, wanting all these BS fees for services, repairs, labor, storage, etc... We usually tell them to go F themselves and call them out on the fee and alot of times we would agree to median. I mean its been a while, since I worked claims but I wouldn't imagine it changing that much and it being that different among insurance companies.21st Century is owned by Farmers now you probably have either a farmers claims adjuster. They are usually pretty good with claims service.
Now on to the issue of storage, there are caps on the dollar amount the shop can charge per day, and how much they can charge overall (not sure if its gone up but as of last year it was 50 per day inside storage, and $1500 total) If the insurance totals your car and pays you out for it, then it is their car at that point and they will pay the storage/admin fees due to the shop,
Any good and reputable shop will most likely work with both parties though to make everything smooth.
[/quote]
Exactly what I am trying to say, well said
Once its totaled, the insurance will work with the body shop for any fees incurred.
[/quote]
Well yes on that part, that is the easy stuff. Where it gets bad is that he, the car owner, actually authorized a $6000 dollar teardown which he will ultimately be responsible for paying one way or another to the shop. With that being said, its still hard to believe a teardown would be $6000 or anywhere close to that, is the OP somehow confusing the teardown price with maybe a ballpark estimate to repair the vehicle that they wrote? I tell you one thing, if shops got $6000 to tear down a car, thered be a hell of a lot less doctors, dentists, and lawyers in the world.
[/quote]
Oh.. I didnt know the OP authorized it
(This could be bad)
09-08-2011, 09:26 AM
#12
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Hopefully the bodyshop hasn't started the teardown yet...
I mean most shops i dealt with in the past won't touch or start work on the car until we came out and inspected it ourselves especially if you tell them your going to be doing repairs through insurance. They just do a eye ball repair estimate on the damaged parts and repair/replacement cost + labor or they input the damage into a computer and let a computer software do a estimate. Then we do our repair estimate and we agree to a repair cost with the shop. I mean we don't know what the agreement he signed specifically says but ya, hopefully he isn't getting screwed over.
I mean most shops i dealt with in the past won't touch or start work on the car until we came out and inspected it ourselves especially if you tell them your going to be doing repairs through insurance. They just do a eye ball repair estimate on the damaged parts and repair/replacement cost + labor or they input the damage into a computer and let a computer software do a estimate. Then we do our repair estimate and we agree to a repair cost with the shop. I mean we don't know what the agreement he signed specifically says but ya, hopefully he isn't getting screwed over.
09-08-2011, 09:31 AM
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Hopefully the bodyshop hasn't started the teardown yet...
I mean most shops i dealt with in the past won't touch or start work on the car until we came out and inspected it ourselves especially if you tell them your going to be doing repairs through insurance. They just do a eye ball repair estimate on the damaged parts and repair/replacement cost + labor or they input the damage into a computer and let a computer software do a estimate. Then we do our repair estimate and we agree to a repair cost with the shop. I mean we don't know what the agreement he signed specifically says but ya, hopefully he isn't getting screwed over.
I mean most shops i dealt with in the past won't touch or start work on the car until we came out and inspected it ourselves especially if you tell them your going to be doing repairs through insurance. They just do a eye ball repair estimate on the damaged parts and repair/replacement cost + labor or they input the damage into a computer and let a computer software do a estimate. Then we do our repair estimate and we agree to a repair cost with the shop. I mean we don't know what the agreement he signed specifically says but ya, hopefully he isn't getting screwed over.
09-08-2011, 04:36 PM
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most body shops (regardless of if they are the best in LA) will have a max on storage fees ( ie ...$500 at marcos the last time i brought my aunts car in) and a single flat rate teardown/reassemble fee if you dont want to fix your car there (ie...$500 at marcos )...
its rare that they cant come to meet at a agreed price..my clients (im a insurance agent) have always had their stuff covered..so i dont understand why it would be a problem for them to come to a solution quickly
worst case scenario..just have your body shop ask for another supplement of money and then let them battle it out..its very common for a insurance claim to have 2-3 supplemental payments to make sure everyone is happy
its rare that they cant come to meet at a agreed price..my clients (im a insurance agent) have always had their stuff covered..so i dont understand why it would be a problem for them to come to a solution quickly
worst case scenario..just have your body shop ask for another supplement of money and then let them battle it out..its very common for a insurance claim to have 2-3 supplemental payments to make sure everyone is happy
09-08-2011, 04:42 PM
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AAA has been spot on so far, but I'm going to give that Wawanesa guy a call back when the policy is up as I've been hearing some good things.
As far as OP's position, it's usually a good idea to get the initial estimate done at a 'preferred' shop. And $6K for a tear-down is a bit on the high side.
09-08-2011, 05:27 PM
#17
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I have an update for you guys.
The $6000 I told you guys about earlier was really $6400. The insurance called the shop, Eli's auto body, and they negotiated. The shop cut the price. YES that original amount is the price to tear down the car which already occurred.
Here is what he e-mailed me:
.
.
They will hold the charges at $3200
if vehicle is released today.
Of the $3200, we would owe some of the fees.
Breakdown would be as follows:
- Storage to date is $935 (With $20 variance, $220 to be deducted from
settlement)
- Teardown fees: $2265. Since Farmers is only paying $119.25 of teardown,
$2145.75 to be deducted from insd's settlement for teardown.
Total charges to insured: $2365.75.
.
.
When I spoke to the insurance adjustor, he said the maximum amount they would pay for the tear down is in my policy declaration. So I asked him the send it to me.
Surprise, surprise, it says nothing in the declaration about maximum allowable for tear down costs.
The $6000 I told you guys about earlier was really $6400. The insurance called the shop, Eli's auto body, and they negotiated. The shop cut the price. YES that original amount is the price to tear down the car which already occurred.
Here is what he e-mailed me:
.
.
They will hold the charges at $3200
if vehicle is released today.
Of the $3200, we would owe some of the fees.
Breakdown would be as follows:
- Storage to date is $935 (With $20 variance, $220 to be deducted from
settlement)
- Teardown fees: $2265. Since Farmers is only paying $119.25 of teardown,
$2145.75 to be deducted from insd's settlement for teardown.
Total charges to insured: $2365.75.
.
.
When I spoke to the insurance adjustor, he said the maximum amount they would pay for the tear down is in my policy declaration. So I asked him the send it to me.
Surprise, surprise, it says nothing in the declaration about maximum allowable for tear down costs.
09-08-2011, 05:34 PM
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One more thing,
After seeing the declaration, I told the adjustor that he needs to talk the whole thing over with his supervisor and deal with the shop and leave me out of it. Obviously I had no clue what I was talking about.
I am going to have to talk to an attorney who specializes in contract law to see what I need to do. If Eli's is willing to cut the cost in half, I might be able to get out of the contract and let the body shop worry about it. Who knows?
After seeing the declaration, I told the adjustor that he needs to talk the whole thing over with his supervisor and deal with the shop and leave me out of it. Obviously I had no clue what I was talking about.
I am going to have to talk to an attorney who specializes in contract law to see what I need to do. If Eli's is willing to cut the cost in half, I might be able to get out of the contract and let the body shop worry about it. Who knows?
09-08-2011, 05:34 PM
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09-08-2011, 07:08 PM
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It is only very common to see additional supplemental payments if they are justified... Insurance company isn't just going to cut another check to the body shop because they say its going to cost more without showing them why... Example of them doing additional payments would be while doing repairs to your vehicle the body shop discovers additional damage to the that wasn't accounted for from the original estimate then they would call or email the adjuster letting them know that additional repairs are need and it would cost this much. Then adjuster would either ask for pictures or revisit the shop for another inspection and approve the repairs and the company would cut another check or increase the total repair cost of the bill if they haven't sent out a check yet... Bodyshop can't just say, oh i need another 5k to finish the repairs and the company says OK and sends them the check... Alot of times we would just ok the amount after we talk with the bodyshop unless they wanted some high amount then we would need to make sure it is legit.
Policy declaration should have something similar to this in the packet and forms.
APPRAISAL
A. If we and you do not agree on the amount of loss, either may demand an appraisal of the loss. In this event, each party will select a competent appraiser. The two appraisers will select an umpire. The appraisers will state separately the actual cash value and the amount of loss. If they fail to agree, they will submit their differences to the umpire. A decision agreed to by any two will be binding. Each party will:
1. Pay its chosen appraiser; and
2. 2. Bear the expenses of the appraisal and umpire equally.
B. We do not waive any of our rights under this policy by agreeing to an appraisal.
It doesn't cost 3200 to tear down a car... Going to be hard to find multiple appraisers to agree and determine that it would cost 3200 for the tear down as well. Luckily when i did claims, i didn't have to deal with anything like this. Most of my stuff were easy and mainly people pissed about personal items that were stolen or damage in the car wasn't going to be covered or aftermarket parts not being covered.
Policy declaration should have something similar to this in the packet and forms.
APPRAISAL
A. If we and you do not agree on the amount of loss, either may demand an appraisal of the loss. In this event, each party will select a competent appraiser. The two appraisers will select an umpire. The appraisers will state separately the actual cash value and the amount of loss. If they fail to agree, they will submit their differences to the umpire. A decision agreed to by any two will be binding. Each party will:
1. Pay its chosen appraiser; and
2. 2. Bear the expenses of the appraisal and umpire equally.
B. We do not waive any of our rights under this policy by agreeing to an appraisal.
It doesn't cost 3200 to tear down a car... Going to be hard to find multiple appraisers to agree and determine that it would cost 3200 for the tear down as well. Luckily when i did claims, i didn't have to deal with anything like this. Most of my stuff were easy and mainly people pissed about personal items that were stolen or damage in the car wasn't going to be covered or aftermarket parts not being covered.