long story short: someone rear ended me on the road last week, and im dealing with their insurance. Honda gave me an estimate for 2200, and the adjuster estimated it at 1200, any tips or advice on how to deal with them and what not. And also i am being told that it does not matter what the body shops estimate, but only what the insurance adjuster has given. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated thank you.

will get pics up soon

 

This is true for the most part. Most insurance companies now these days write their policy contracts to allow them to use aftermarket oem replacement body parts as opposed to genuine oem parts. This saves them A LOT of money because of the price differences between the two. You and the body shop can argue that some of the after market parts arent or wont fit properly and sometimes they will give in and allow a supplement for the oem part(s). Also, in most cases the insurance company is only going to pay up to a certain percentage of what the car is worth regardless if the cost of repairing the car is more than that.

 

I can comment on this because I was in the EXACT same situation back in August with my GS-R. Got rearended, bent up my hatch, finish panel, scratched up and punctured the bumper, and broke the right tail light.

Took it to a high-end body shop where I know the owner (our architecture firm designed his building). Estimate was just north of $2100, with OEM bumper and tail light. Other driver's insurance adjuster came out and low-balled it at $1100, didn't even pick up the busted tail light or the rear bulkhead that would need pulling.

The body shop was really great and worked with me as much as possible. They said insurance companies almost always low ball the estimates these days in hopes that the victim will just pocket the cash and not have the car fixed. Costs the insurance company less money that way overall. Body shop took care of everything, including haggling with the insurance company to get more money out of them for repairs.

Now of course I specified OEM parts, while the insurance estimate priced aftermarket replacements. Keep in mind that you have the right to specify OEM, but that usually means it will be used OEM parts from salvage yards. That's all fine and good with me as those usually fit better anyway. But in my case there were no used 98-01 rear bumpers to be found in the area (my car is fully 98+ converted), so the insurance company actually sprang for a brand new OEM 98+ rear bumper. I helped take it out of the packaging at the shop before it was painted, so I know it's legit. I did get a used right tail light, though.

Anyway, you have the right to take the car to any body shop you choose, and to specify OEM parts. It's up to the body shop and the insurance company to work the money out to get the car repaired to your satisfaction.

Oh, and you also have the right to a rental car since you were not at fault.

 

^^^ good info. hope this gets resolved in your favor anthony

 

It also helps if you can find a good, reputable body shop with honest people. I've dealt with body shops before and usually didn't have the best experiences until this time. These people bent over backwards to get my car back together in better condition than I had it before. I was so afraid the car would get totaled (in fact the car wasn't worked on for about a week while the body shop haggled with the insurance company). The guy doing the body work on my car even donated a bit of his time to keep the car from being totaled. If he had charged all of his time it probably would have sent the bill over the % of the car's value so that it would have been totaled. Huge to those folks.

Anyone in the Memphis area should check out DeSoto Collision Center in Southaven, MS. Best body shop people I've ever worked with.

 

Each insurance has a certified body shop, under contract.

Ask your claims department for the name of their certified body shop. Take it there and specify OEM parts only. They will either fix it or total it out.

State Farm did this to me.

Which insurance company does the peson that rear-ended you have?

 

You're not obligated to take the car to any specific shop when another person's insurance is paying for damages to your car. You have the right to take it anywhere you want to.

 

What I have always done in the past is this,

Take the car to the body shop of your choice
Tell the insurance company that you will have the car fixed at the body shop you chose and they can issue a check for the final bill once the car has been repaired
The insurance will issue a check for the total and you just sign the check over to the body shop

Whatever you do, do not accept any kind of payment from them before the car is repaired. From my past experience, they will always lowball you and try and get you to accept that lowball check from them, because once you do, they are released from any liablilty for the claim.

Good luck and sorry to hear about your car

 

I believe you were right about most of what you said except for this. Not every insurance company is going to give in and pay for an OEM part just because you or the body shop is bitching about your opinion of the quality of the aftermarket part. Depending on the situation and the insurance company you are dealing with, if the policy contract allows them to pay for aftermarket parts instead of OEM, you can argue till you are blue in the face and you're still going to get the aftermarket part.

 

By law you have the right to choose any shop you want regardless of whos insurance company is paying the bill, but this doesnt necessarily mean that the insurance company is going to agree with the estimate of your chosen shop so you still have to be careful how you deal with the insurance company. Some insurance companies have their "preferred shops" which offers the benefit of having gauranteed repairs that are backed up by the insurance company for as long as you own the vehicle. So therefore if you find a problem in the workmanship or if something fails prematurely later down the road you can always turn to the insurance company for help with dealing with the problem. Now if your "chosen" shop was not apart of the insurance companies "preferred" list and you were to have a problem later down the road with your repair, you're at the mercy of the bodyshop who did the work and good luck getting them to accept responsibility for whatever is was that failed.

 

While this may be true for a claim on your own insurance, I do not believe this is the case if another person's liability insurance is covering your losses.

In most cases your car had OEM parts on it before it was wrecked. Why shouldn't the other person's insurance be obligated to pay for OEM parts to replace your original OEM parts? That is why I said you would likely get used OEM parts from a salvage yard if you do insist on such parts.

Had a guy back into the driver door of my car back in 2003 with a big@$$ F150. Caved the whole door in. I insisted the body shop use OEM parts, which meant the shop got a complete door with glass and all components from a salvage yard. Even though the door is red on the inside (my car is green) I was okay with it because everything fit and lined up 100% perfectly.

 

This works both ways regardless if you are filing against your own insurance policy or someone elses. It depends on the policy contract. Yes you are right about the used oem parts as well. The insurance companies will pay for used oem parts from salvage yards. I think sometimes the used parts arent always available and maybe thats when the insurance company insist on the aftermarket piece. They are just trying to save as much money on the claim as they can. Unfortunately I've personally seen people get stuck with aftermarket parts against their will such as bumper covers, headlight assemblies, etc. I know about this because I work for an insurance company. (wont say which one) Even though I'm not a claim adjuster, I've seen this happen to some people. The insurance companies have every right to get away with it because its in the policy contract. I would suggest everyone obtain a copy of their policy contract and review just to see what it says for the heck of it. A lot of the aftermarket parts manufacturers have also stepped up their quality with fitment too and are now c.a.p.a. certified. Which basically only means their quality is a little better than it used to be lol but I think you get my point.

 

I don't understand how someone's policy contract with an insurance company can apply to somebody else. A truck hit my car, he has XXX insurance company and a contract with them. Neither he nor the company has any contract with me. How can that contract apply to me? He damaged my car, and I want my car put back like it was, with OEM parts just like the ones that were damaged. Seems like I should have that right, no matter what.

If it were my car and my insurance I was making a claim with to fix damages - totally different story.

In the incident I first mentioned above, the guy had Direct Insurance. From what I remember the body shop looked for a 98+ rear bumper from a salvage yard but couldn't find one, and I ended up with a brand new OEM Honda rear bumper. Maybe I got lucky or maybe the body shop is just that good with negotiations. I don't know, other than I know I'm happy. :thumbup;

 

I'm currently dealing with this EXACT same thing. Got rear ended a week or 2 ago and I'm waiting for the stupid adjuster to come out. Got 2 estimates for over $2100, and one lowball offer of $600 from their "preferred" bodyshop. I can't wait to hear what the adjuster says...

 

Get an adjuster from your insurance company out to estimate the repairs and get them to fight the other guys company for the full amount of the repairs.Your insurance will find out about the accident even if you have not told them so get some value for the money you pay them and let them do the fighting for you.

I think the advantage of using an "approved shop" is that if you accept the adjusters amount then that is all you will get period or at least without one hell of a fight but if you use one of the insurance companies approved shops and they find more damage or stuff that the adjuster missed they get paid directly by the company.

 

Maybe the shop I took my car to is a "preferred" or "approved" shop of the other guy's insurance company, because the lady at the shop told me straight up - if they find more damage, they call the insurance adjuster out there and they get more money for the repairs.

I was in a rental for 15 days, mostly because of the week or so the car sat while the shop and insurance company worked things out. But in the end I'm very happy with how things turned out. I had an area of missing paint on my rear bumper for nearly 6 years and now it's finally gone!

 

Yes, you are not obligated to take it to the insurance company's certified repair shop.
However, if you do go to a certified repair shop...that shop's estimate and recommendation is FINAL.
You don't have to let them do the work, but the insurance company will not pay more than their certified shop recommends. Even if you find a shop to complete the work for less, the certified shop's estimate is the value that you will receive. This can be a good thing, but this happened to me:

The State Farm certified shop estimated $13,300 to repair my 2001 itr (back in 2008). I said no way, I want to go somewhere else. The State Farm field claims agent met me at their shop and agreed with me that the estimate was high, as we line itemed vetoed about 33% of the extimate.

I said I wanted to take it somewhere else, so it wouldn't show as totaled, on a carfax. Too bad, the certified shop's estimate was final, and that estimate was more than 75% of the value.

Then they tried to low-ball the payoff value. I disputed the payoff value and eventually got $16,500, then I spent about $6400 to repair my itr. Now the title is clean, but the car fax shows totaled.

Before:



After:

 

Interesting.

I dealt with another minor incident a few years back where I took the car to the same shop I mentioned for an estimate. The other person's insurance happened to have an office right next door to the body shop. They told me to just fax the shop's estimate to them, they cut my a check, and I pocketed the money.

With the incident a few months ago, the other person's insurance company sent out their own adjuster to do an estimate. I already got an estimate at the body shop before the adjuster came out, just to get an idea of the cost. Adjuster's estimate was a low-ball, and the shop said they could just work it out with the insurance company. The final bill actually came to a couple hundred more than the shop's original estimate. So I deposited the low-ball check from ins. and paid the shop that exact amount. I guess the rest of it they got from the insurance company.

 

Just take the your car to the body shop of your choice, and they handle the rest.. But like mentioned above make sure you tell them you want nothing but oem parts... the insurance company will always give you the run around to save money here and there.. but the body shop will call for a reinspection of the car to the insurance company if addition damage is found and the body shop will get paid..

 

The problem lies in the body shop quoting $2400 and the adjuster approving $1000. Where does the other $1400 come from????

It would be nice if it actually worked that way. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

 

My car is sitting at the body shop now after being rear ended. I had the car for all of 5 days before it got hit. traded info with the driver and all of that and went about my way and called about the claim. insurance told me to take it to their recommended shop to have an adjuster look at it, but could take it anywhere to get the work done. So I took it to the shop and the guy looked it over and gave me an estimate and a check to the tune of $2200. I had never heard anything about the shop, and wasnt too comfortable with the knowledge of the adjuster, so I took it to another shop. Talked to the guy there and he was super cool and was farmiliar with the ITR and made me feel a little bit better. He said that he noticed some things that were wrong with the original estimate, and that would cause some additional costs but would be taken care of at the insurance company. I decided to go with them and when i dropped off my car I got a call the same day saying that once they got the car tore down that there was more additional damage that was kind of suspected. After having an adjuster come out to approve the additional repair costs, the total came to a rest at $6200.


long story short, take the car where you want. the insurance company will pay for it and you dont have to worry about it.

pics of my car before and during the repairs:



Hard to tell from the pics, but it broke both the tails, the bumper, caved in the inner metal, nice crease in the hatch, and broke the lock. It turned out the impact pushed it in so far that it slightly wrinkled the drives rear quarter as well

 

holy crap that's crazy! What hit you and how hard was it? I got hit by an Expedition going like 5 mph, thought it felt like more than that to me in the car. I pretty much had the exact same damage to my hatch and the finish panel below the tails, and part of his bumper went through my license plate and punctured the bumper. I guess I got lucky that I had zero damage to the quarter panels.

 

It was a older body style durango. i was waiting to turn right on a light so my car was slightly angled like i was going to turn right. the guy thought i was going to go and didnt come to a complete stop, hitting me between 5-10mph. when he hit me it wasnt straight on since my car was at a slight angle, so it pushed the body panels in from right to left wrinkling the quarter just a hair. it was almost not noticeable, but since the car just had the body work done it was obvious to me. all is getting fixed so its no biggie i guess. its not like this car hasnt ever been in an accident before so it wasnt like he hit a virgin. this think is a black cat, and its easily on its 7th life.

 

YEA.. what would i know only been in the business for 12 years!!! the other 1400 will come from the insurance.. once the body shop has done a tear down of the vehicle, the insurance will come do a reinspection of the car.. there the body shop can explain extra hours needed, supplemental parts, as well as additional damage that was not seen from the first inspection...

 

WHOA what is this the twilight zone?? That's the EXACT same scenario that happened to me! Intersection had the separate right turn "road" where you turn and then merge into traffic. I was waiting to go and pulled up a bit so I could see in my mirror, and guy in the Expedition behind me thought I was actually going. I guess in my case it was more straight on and I think the final repair bill came out to around $2400, plus 1/2 a month's worth of a rental car.