Ok, jsut as a warning, this will be a little long so bare with me.

A few days ago i went to the mall and was waiting for a parking spot. This girl backs out of he spot without looking and hits my driverside fender. ONLY the fender is damaged, nothing else (well, theres scratches on the edge of the door from when i open the door and it hits the fender, but we'll get to that later).

I told her I got a quote for 1300 to fix the fender (and i made up some other BS to get more money). At first she wanted to pay in cash, but then she said she couldnt afford it so she wants to go through insurance. I found a fender that matches my car perfectly, and the guy wants $25 for it, so i wanted to get the fender and put it on myself, and keep the rest of the insurance money.

My question is, should I tell the insurance company to send an adjuster out to my house to quote the damage, or should I drop my car at a shop (where they will bang it up a little to get more money out of it). The thing is, 1. I DONT want the shop to fix the damage, and 2. What if the insurance company wants me to take my car to one of their pre approved shops? BTW the other person has Mercury Insurance.

OR, should i go get quotes from 3 other shops, and show the adjuster when he comes out to my house?

Am I obligated to take my car to one of their pre approved shops? Or can i argue and say i want to take it to a shop that only I trust, not theirs.

What should I do?

Oh yea also, Do i have to report this to my insurance company as well? Or do i just call the other persons insurance company and file a claim?


Modified by ThE bEe GuY at 7:45 AM 11/4/2003

 

why screw someone over in the first place?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Origin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why screw someone over in the first place?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Money?

Well, now im not screwing her over anymore, im trying to screw the insurance company over.

 

thanks for making our rates go up! the insurance company will always win. otherwise they wouldn't be in business.

 

Anyways, Back to the subject.

 

Do it the right way. Call your insurance company up and let them know the situation. Then ask them.

 

dont be a douche. be ethical

 

By law, you can get you car repaired anywhere YOU want... Though this does sound evil, When I got in my accident insurance quoted me 2500 and all I had to do was fix it and send before and after pictures and they sent me a check... Thats the catch I guess, If you do the work yourself or at a shop that you pic they dont have to send you the check untill you fix it...

 

How it was for me when I got into an accident where it wasnt my fault (leaving school some stupid girl backed right into the side of me) I went to a few places and got some quotes picked out the highest one gave it to her insurance company and then the damages were more than what the car was worth so I either had a choice to take a check for $2100 and give them my car or a check for $1700 and keep my car well it was still driveable and not too bad so I took the $1700 and kept my car didnt fix anything and later sold my car for a $1000 with a clean title!! I think it all depends on their insurance company some say you have to go through a shop that they7 know of (which I did) and then let them know for the most part the insurance companies arent going to make you go to some crappy place considering these are the same places they want THEIR customers cars fixed as well.

 

usually when you file a claim dont they raise your insurance. if they do youll get the money now but theyll get back within a year if they do.

 

Ahh ok kool thanks guys. Yea thats what some of the body shops told me today. Basically they told me If the damages cost more than the car, theyll either give me what the car is worth, or give me less and let me keep the car. The car is completely normal if i put another fender on, so if they try n say theyre gonna total my car, ill just take the lesser check and keep the car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89a6T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">usually when you file a claim dont they raise your insurance. if they do youll get the money now but theyll get back within a year if they do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, they do raise your insurance but not by some ungodly amount.

 

normally if the repairs are more than the cars worth t hey will totall it no matter what
they dont care
i say go ahead and tell her u found a shop that will do it for 500
and that u dont wanna report to insurance comp to save u and her rates
go buy that fender for freaking 25 bucks and fix it urself
u already making a shitload money on her

i ever hit u and u do that to me i would find u on the st and start playing demolition derby with ur car's ***

 

Whats up with people on Honda Tech and greed man... this is like the 4th post this week about insurance fraud...

 

one you can just tell the insurance company to give the check in your name. They will ask you for like 3 quotes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by USDM 4G VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i ever hit u and u do that to me i would find u on the st and start playing demolition derby with ur car's ***</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thank God for stupid people who dont know anything about cars

To tell everyone the truth, i really dont give a crap if someone rips off the insurance company. I dont see it fair when even if an accident is NOT your fault, your insurance still goes up. I dunno about your guy's insurance, but i friggin hate mine! Screw Western General. The only reason i'm staying with them is because its pretty cheap. Their billing department sucks, i have it so that it automatically takes the monthly payment straight out of my bank account, but ever since day 1 it hasnt done it right. Every month they send me a collection letter saying they havent received payment, and will cancel my policy, and every month i have to call and tell them they are idiots and need to fix this. Its always "Oh we're very sorry sir, we'll go ahead and fix that for you", then next month, boom it happens again. Same thing with my brothers policy.

Their customer service people are rude as hell, unless it has to do with them getting their money, then its "Yes sir, no sir, sorry sir, can i lick your nuts sir?"

Oy, whatever, screw the insurance companies, if you dont screw them, they'll screw you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ThE bEe GuY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oy, whatever, screw the insurance companies, if you dont screw them, they'll screw you.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Sounds like Women

But on another note you may want to try http://www.gmac123.com they were the cheapest I have found and you get discounts if you do it all over the web instead of having a bill and cards sent to you you pay it over the phone or on the web and print your cards up off of their website. Their customer service department isnt bad infact I had 2 of the people working there get into a fight over my account basically one was going to allow my truck to be insured and the other didnt (long story but in short my truck had an incomplete VIN since it came from the factory without a bed so that means it can be used for commercial use) But yeah they are very helpful and you can call them at any time and get help.

 

Hmmm, I might just do that, thanks man. Im really getting sick of Western General. I went through Eastwood, which is just a referral service for Western General

 

Only thing that sucks about the gmac123.com is the fact that I dont know of any offices anywhere?? So you may NEVER deal with someone in person?? I have never had to make a claim with them either so I dont know how that would be?? But its the prices that will keep me there they were on the average of at least 100-150 bucks cheaper than anyone else for me (I have a pretty bad driving record well speeding not accidents) so that was the big plus for me. Oh and also if you pay for like the whole 6 months right away you get pretty good discounts as well over paying like monthly or whatever.

 

Depends on what state you live in since you don't advertise it. In virginia they have to pay a legitimate estimate from a shop of your choice not theirs. ANd you don't have to get three.

However you can't tell them their adjuster cant see it, when they do you are screwed. Just keep in mind, you may screw her now, but what happens to the next guy you bump into, how you gonna feel if the guy screws you too. What goes around comes around I always say.

 

Hey guys I am an INSURANCE ADJUSTER with company "X" anyways I know that we send people out to look at vehicle and we appraise what the damages are and write them a check right there we could care less if the take the money and run or fix there own car. Its not insurance fraud, fraud is when you claim something that is untrue in your case it is true that the girl hit you and it was her fault. So take the check and fix it yourself and then do what you want with the rest of the money. Any other questions let me know through IM on honda-tech

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX Toad &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey guys I am an INSURANCE ADJUSTER with company "X" anyways I know that we send people out to look at vehicle and we appraise what the damages are and write them a check right there we could care less if the take the money and run or fix there own car. Its not insurance fraud, fraud is when you claim something that is untrue in your case it is true that the girl hit you and it was her fault. So take the check and fix it yourself and then do what you want with the rest of the money. Any other questions let me know through IM on honda-tech</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ahh kool thanks man