insurance question

[EliteConcept]

okay as some of you may know my girlfriends mom backed right into my X about 2 weeks ago. anyways their insurance adjuster looked at my truck, took some pictures and notes and what not. Today in the mail i got a check for $1,340 for the repairs.
Here comes my question.
They factored in a body shop buying and putting on a bumper for me. Could i buy the bumper myself and install it myself to save the "mark up" the body shop puts on the bumper and the install of the bumper....i have a 93 ranger air dam mounted on it so i'd have to take it offf anyways to put that on. so you think i could save the cash and buy the bumper and put it on myself?

thanks
ryan

 

[88vert]

You can do whatever you want with the money

 

[EliteConcept]

intresting

 

[Robb]

Ins. laws will vary from state to state. In VA, we can get multiple estimates from multiple shops and use the shop we want and use their estimate. From that estimate, we can use the money however we feel fit. The body shop can also add on any costs that were unexpected yet occured in the repair. Basically, you can use a high estimate and get the repairs as cheap as possible, and pocket the left over money. Insurance fraud? Some say yes. But, odds are, you won't be compensated for the fact that the vehicle is now "wrecked" and never will be an "unwrecked" vehicle again. In VA, you can get the insurance company to pay for any difference between the lost value of the vehicle because the vehicle is now officially wrecked, but this process entails paying an "appraiser" to appear in court, so the cost and time is usually not worth it.

Good Luck!

Robb

 

[EliteConcept]

well i think i'll just try to find the parts i can replace *bumper* and put them on myself. and consult a body shop for the fender and paint job. My dad says "oh its a 92 i wouldn't even fix it." thats just because hes not the one driving it. or maybe he's just upset that i got a fat check for 1300 something , and i didn't have to do a thing to get it

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

I would replace the bumper myself. It is very easy to do, and will save a few bucks. Depending on how extensive the fender damage is, you may come out ahead.

By the way, if the body shop charges more than the check you received, you can't get more money from the insurance company. Once you sign and deposit the check, the insurance company is released from further obligations. But you probably knew that already.....

 

[EliteConcept]

intresting no i did not know that thanks for letting me know!

 

[Cartman]

With my accident the insurance company is paying for a new grill guard, at my body shop the guy asked me if I wanted them to put on a new one or have them give me the money that a new one would cost. So I think it is okay to do the work yourself or not do everything the insurace company paid for.

 

[aldive]

Since they settled with you with a check, you can do whatever you want with the money.

Good luck.....

 

[Crankcase]

If you do it yourself, you might need new bumper brackets too. It is simple to take off, but use two people. Good luck

 

[jimbo74]

took off my bumper by myself... dang near dropped the darn thing on my head..... yup, once they write you a check... it doesnt matter if you ever get it fixed or not..... my truck is so beyond body repair, i say it needs a cage and no body

 

[Robert]

Yup, when the insurance company settles with a check, you can spend it on whatever you want. They specified a certain value to the damage that occured. If you chose not to get it repaired, then that is your choice (the damage still occured). Some carriers prefer to work directly with the body shop though. By doing that, it can keep their costs down and eliminate the hassles when damaged items are discovered after they setttled.

 

[irtySanchez]

I am a claims adjustor for a large insurance company, and I can tell you that not all insurance companies will allow you to spend that money however you want. Especially if we insure you, then we won't let you just take the money and do what you want with it. You pay us so your car is kept in order, not so you can smash your car and then get some spending $$$ out of it.

Rules do vary from state to state though.

 

[MONMIX]

Originally posted by irtySanchez
I am a claims adjustor for a large insurance company, and I can tell you that not all insurance companies will allow you to spend that money however you want.

not so you can smash your car and then get some spending $$$ out of it.

We have THREE cars in our shop right now with a mechanics lein on then thanks to people like that

 

[diablo5969]

Originally posted by MONMIX
We have THREE cars in our shop right now with a mechanics lein on then thanks to people like that

In Georgia the shops can reposses the cars of people like that. The guy at my brake place just picked up an Isuzu Trooper after it sat in the parking lot for 6 months

 

[Robb]

You pay us so your car is kept in order, not so you can smash your car and then get some spending $$$ out of it.

I don't agree with that statement, but I can understand it. I believe the insurance company's job is to put my car back into "pre-accident" condition, which is impossible.

Do you guys reinburse the insured for loss of value of the automobile not that it is "wrecked" and no longer an "accident free" car? I recently found out that in Va, we are entitled the difference, but to collect it, you have to go to court with an independeant appraiser or something, and that ends up costing around $1000. Of course, insurance companies don't come out and tell you that you are entitled to this money, and by no means go out of their way to give it to you. So, if after an accident, if I can find a way to get the parts or labor cheaper than what the insurance company cut the check for, I wouldn't lose a second of sleep over it.

Robb

 

[EliteConcept]

heres food for thought.

i believe if you get a check from the insurance company for an accident. and it has your name on the check. You can spend the money any way you want. The reason being, when you cash the check you'll have to do it.. you can't give a check to the body shop for their repairs because they can't cash it. So say you cash the check, get the money. and the insurance company can't track down the money the bank gives you. So if you get a check for an accident from the insurance company WITH YOUR NAME ON THE CHECK, i think its safe to say you can do what you want with it.

 

[Robert]

When I lived in Ohio, my State Farm adjuster told me I could do whatever I wanted to with my check so I also believe that as long as you get the check from the insurance company, you are free to do whatever you want with it. I got the same advice from my Allstate adjuster after someone kicked my door in on my Ranger in Arizona. I drove it to their office to have it appraised. They wrote me a check for about $300 after my deductable. I told the adjuster that I didn't have the additional $500 to get my door fixed properly. His appraisal included cutting the door skin off and welding a new one back on. He told me that if I wanted to, I could just pop it out from the inside rather than fix it properly. Most of the dent came out and I had about $300 extra in the bank.

I am sure that not only do the rules vary from state to state, but also from carrier to carrier. The carriers that deal directly with the body shops, eliminate you from pocketing any extra money. I'll have to ask my neighbor and see what Progressive's stance is on this. He was a claims adjsuter for a number of years but recently changed to a training instructor for the claims adjusters in their in-house body repair training facility.

 

[Robb]

Ok, this goes a bit off subject, but, Robert mentioned Progressive and I just wanted to throw a shout out to them and tell a story about them.

They are a terrific company to do business with!!!

About 4 months ago, my mom gets rearended in her '93 Allante at about 35mph. Basically, the rear clip of the car is toast. Now, the lady that hit her has Progressive. They come and take a look and do all their figuring and questimate about $8K in damage and since they have concluded the car is worth $15K (they didn't realize it was one of 300 with factory hardtop), they don't total it. Our body shop of choice comes up with about $9K of damage and Progressive agrees to it. The problem here is both Progressive and the body shop are looking at GM books as to what the parts cost, only problem is, all these parts don't exist anymore in new form. So, after 2 months of work and tracking down a combination of new and used parts, the total body shop bill comes out to about $12K+. You add that to a $2K rental car bill (which my parents didn't need, but took advantage of anyway), the total cost to Progressive was $14K+. This was for a car that they valued at $15K. This was when my dad and I realized we could proposition insurance companies for the lost value of the car because it is now wrecked, which we figured at about $3K, but we decided not to persue it. If we had, and won, Progressive would have paid out $17K for the car.

Ok, I am just rambling. My point (which is now lost) is that throughout all of this, Progressive NEVER tried to get out of any of it. They understood everything that was going on during the repairs and never second quessed anything that needed to be done to bring the car back to "pre-crash" condidtion. They were a charm to work with. A++ Rating.

Robb

 

[Robert]

I switched from Allstate to Statefarm after the treatment I got from them. Statefarm isn't much better, however we get pretty good rates since my home is insured through them as well. Progressive came in a little higher when I was shopping around so I stayed with Statefarm. They did pi$$ me off though when I had a little mis-hap in a car wash with my Wife's Sable. The car was parked and sustained $1200 worth of damage. Since the car wash collided with my Wife's parked car they considered it collision rather than comprehensive which not only meant my deductible was $500 instead of $250, but it also went against my record so they are now charging a $50 surcharge on our policy every 6 months