question about insurance claim for Z
 

sorry if this may be common knowledge to alot of people, but i havent been through dealing with an insurance company before. As some of you may know back at the end of october i had some idiot rear end me while i was sittiing at a stoplight, after a few weeks the other guys insurance company finally coughed up a check for me for the damages in the amount that their adjuster believed it would take to get my car back to normal. My question is, does anybody know what im supposed to do with the check they sent me? do i just give it over to whatever body shop i feel will do the best job and then have them deal with the insurance company if they find anything else wrong, or do i just take my Z into the body shop and let them complete the work and the hand the check over to them and have them deal with the insurance company for any amount over what the actual check is for? any and all help is appreciated and sorry for the lack of knowledge, as i said before i have very little experience with this sort of stuff lol.

Take it to the bodyshop of your choice, get an estimate, tell the other party's insurance the balance needed to do the repair. You needed to do this much earlier though before they sent you the check.

Talk to your insurance agent for additional advice.

I would notified my insurance co., take the car to a reputable shop and let them deal with the insurance company of the other driver.

The adjuster of the other driver ins. co. just saw the superficial damage, the Shop will need to take the rear bumper off and check for additional damages. This has been discussed here by other members that have been in the same situation.

The other insurance can come back and say that you accepted the settlement by taking the check. In cases like that I always have an apprasial done by the body shop of my choice and inform the other insurance that there can be additional damage.

Also you need to ask for Depreciation Value to the other insurance.

GL with the repairs!

Did you agree to the amount of the check? Perhaps different INS. companies operate differently, but the few times I've dealt with insurance adjusters, they typically make an offer after examining the car, and cut a check when you accept.

It might be the case they are trying to get you to implicitly accept their deal by cashing the check. I would turn the whole thing over, including the check, to your insurance company and let them handle it.

Claim
 

You should have taken the car to a body shop of your own choosing and received an estimate from them. The adjuster is working for the other insurance company. the body shop may find other damage that the adjuster could not see.

You may also tell the the other insurance company you may make a claim for personal injury.

thats the thing that gets me is cause i sent in a written statement to the other guys insurance company along with a copy of an estimate that i got from another body shop saying how much it was going to cost for repairs aside from what their adjuster said it would cost to repair the car and was sent a check not even 3 days later after i had mailed them the papers back. i talked to my insurance company already about this and according to my insurances claims department they said i should be able to take my car into any body shop and the body shop will be the ones to deal with any amount over what the other guys insurance claims it was going to cost to repair my vehicle. the only thing that worries me now is that when they initially sent their adjuster out they had me sign their estimate saying that i had received a copy of the estimate. as far as agreeing to the amount of the check, i did not and as far as talking with the other guys insurance about my other estimates from the body shop i'm going to go to i also discussed that with them to which they tol d me i am free to take it to wherever i want the repairs done.

you definitely need to have your bodyshop deal with the other company. I would say in no circumstances should you cash that check. That can be seen as you agreeing to the amount as a final payment in court.

Also, you need to go after diminished value. Thats the loss in value because your car has been in an accident. Best way to get an amount for that is to talk to the used car manager at your selling dealer and ask how much less its worth after repair than if it had never been wrecked, and then pursue that amount with the insurance company also. I'm not sure about California, but in Georgia, they are required to pay it.

http://askville.amazon.com/entitled-...uestId=2662314

guess its a good thing i've just been holding on to the check then huh? lol as far as diminished value though i already looked that up and turns out california is not a diminished value state where it is required that the other party pay for the diminished value and to go after the diminished value would mean having to hire a lawyer which is a whole headache in itself for which i dont have the funds for.

The shop will deal with the insurance company to collect payment for any hidden damage. You don't have to worry about them not paying for it. They have to pay to repair your car, but they will try to use salvage or aftermarket parts. As for the original insurance check, just hang on to it and give it to the shop once the repairs are complete and you pick up your car.

I am an estimator at a dealership body shop. If you have any specific questions send me a pm.

thanks scott that really answers alot of questions for me, the only other thing thats on my mind now is what to do about a car to get to work as i have heard no mention of a rental car being provided to me by the other parties insurance company.

You have two insurance options when you're in an accident. I've found option 1 to be much easier than option 2.

1) Call your insurance and let them deal with the other company. You'll pay your deductible up front to get your car fixed, and your insurance will reimburse you once they settle with the other insurance company if the accident wasn't your fault. Your insurance provides the rental coverage based on your policy's terms.

2) Tell your insurance you'll deal with the other company directly. Call the other driver's insurance company and discuss the issues with them. They'll have to admit fault before you'll get rental coverage and the deductible paid by them. The body shop will bill them for the final charges once the repairs are complete. It's not uncommon that a body shop gets an original estimate from an adjuster and then the estimate gets revised when all the damage is found and repairs completed.

thanks spear, unfortunately the first option isnt really an option for me at this point since my deductible is set to a high level so paying deductible up front would be a little bit of a problem for me at this point in time lol. thanks for the suggestions though and come to think of it i do remember a coworker saying he would pick me up and take me to work if i needed him too so i think i have that covered now.

You should ask the other insurance to provide you with a rental car while your car is in the Shop since the accident was not your fault.

You don't know how long the car is going to be in the Shop plus in addition to the transportation to work you got stuff to do of your own.

Take your car into a good reputable shop, tell them that you received x amount from the other parties insurance company. What will happen is the shop will break the car down fully and do a thorough inspection. If they believe there is additional damage that was not seen by the estimator, they will ask the insurance adjuster to come back out for a supplemental damage review, in which case the adjuster applies the additional amount needed for the repairs to the estimate. I just went through the same thing.

I've gone through this before. Contact the adjuster you dealt with and tell them you are going to take it to a shop, he/she should provide you with a claim# so that the shop can contact them if anything should change. I dropped my car off at the shop and they took the check and that was it. When I picked up the car, I received the detailed invoice and paid nothing out of pocket.

But I would suggest getting a quote first, and if the check is bigger than the estimated repairs, then cash that puppy in!