I just heard from the insurance adjuster...

Well how cool is this?!?!


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I wonder if he could do the trip & back to N Y for $1800???

 

Yea, in a Prius!

 

First of all it is not your job to talk to the other insurance company.... that is the job of YOUR insurance agent. What are you paying them for if you do the work yourself?..... You pay them and they are supposed to represent you, not sit on their ass and do nothing. Make him/her earn their keep for crying out loud.

I hope these guys get your car fixed correctly and pay what is owed. Insurance is such a scam, sorry you have to deal with that crap.

 

Wrong!!!

 

Absolutely 100% not true. I dont know where you got your information from.

And yes, I am a state licensed Adjuster and Appraiser.

 

Probably cheaper to drive it here than me bring a metal shop to him

 

I'm looking at a rough idea of what is there, and its not super bad. There are no Hambers (what, 200,000 or so members?)that cant take a weekend, make a few bucks, make a friend, have a pizza or 5 and some beers and help this guy out in NY?

If he was closer to me, I wouldnt have any issues with that, but then again,,,, I love pizza.

 

A couple other thoughts. 1: I doubt the adjuster really meant they would cut off a good rocker to make a pattern. Somewhere there was some miscommunications.
2: Not all states recognize diminished value.
3: The adjuster more than likely knows, as we are getting the picture here, that the chances of this car ever seeing an actual bodyshop are slim to none.
4: All adjusters will tell you the sequence. Repair, replace with used or a/m, replace with o.e.m. Repair is always the first option. You do not get new parts "just because you want new parts".

Doing the math, I get this. Used door $500.00. Rocker assembly $200.00
R&I door 4 hrs. R&I rocker 8 hrs. Paint time to prime 2 hrs. Paint and materials $100.00. Above labor @$50.00.hr.
So we have $700 in parts. $100 in material. 12 hrs labor. 2 hrs paint. I get a total of $1500.00.

 

This is my understanding from experience and advice given me before about insurance adjusters.

It is there job to give you as little as possible for your repairs and it is your job to not settle and leave swishing.

Hire an attorney.

 

Yea the only fly in your ointment on what you said is that there are many shops in the O.P.'s area (Rochester, NY) that want to retire off of the next car that comes into their shop. This is why I figured $2200.00 to $2500.00. Remember, you are suppose to attempt to obtain an agreed figure.

 

Maybe not but who cares?
ROAD TRIP !!

 

The adjusters words were cut " cut off the other side to get its shape and then put it back on" I can't make stuff like that up .

 

Yep, so it cost a few bucks out of his pocket, but he ends up, car fixed, and a week or two worth of stories and pictures he shares throughout his life.

One year I drug my family to Florida to pick up a car, than to Indy for the Hot Rod Happening, then back home. 2 week trip, lots of driving, and stories we still talk about 10 years later. My wife had never seen a lightning bug in her life growing up. Here she was, 34 years old, running around the KOA in Chatanuga, TN chasing lightning bugs like she was a 5 year old girl with a jar. Pics of my kids spray painting at the Cadillac Ranch (and a few special ones of my wife ). Seeing the St Louis arch in a book is NOT the same as looking up at it.

Lifes too short to stress this much over a door and a rocker,,,,,,,,,,,, just my $.02

 

You nailed it porknbeaner!

 

Wow,

I agree with the guy and then he becomes a douche. I was just trying to clear up some collision repair myth's.

I have 18 years as a estimator dealing with ins co's daily, but what do I know...

olds vroom,
I hope you get what is deserved. Take prewarcars4me's offer, it sounds like fun!

 

not wrong, what is an insurance agent used for then if you sit there and do their job for them? Your agent is allowed to speak with the other agency and should keep your best interest in mind, especially when the other insurance company is not willing to pay for the repair.

I don't know... maybe they do things differently in NY, but every insurance agent I have ever had (had to shop for a decent one) took care of the entire problem without me having to chide him/her to tell the other company their offer is unacceptable. Thus meaning my involvement was minimal at best and I always got what I wanted. This maybe something to do with the fact that they appreciated the business that I brought to them with having 5 cars, a house, and other crap.

 

Guess Cheatham must have retired.

 

I am going to retire from this conversation.

For the record, I am a shop owner and have been so for almost 50 years.

I am also a state licensed auto damage appraiser, but I work for the customer and it is my job to receive the correct amount required to repair the vehicle. Which I DO receive.

My only concern here is to help people to spot whan the appraiser is not acting fairly. I have seen all the tricks and mistruths. I just wanted point them out.

As stated, the insurance appraisers and I have different masters and therefore different opinions.


I will close by complementing Waddayacare for warning people not to go to a DRP or a PRO shop controlled by insurance companies. You don't have anyone there working on your side, and I don't necessarily disagree with the other two appraisers that have spent the time here to comment.

Just remember when the appraiser says "Thats all we are going to pay" it is a lie, almost all insurance claims have supplement payments after the repair is made at a reputable shop that many times is more than 200% of the estimate.

 

NY is not different! An agent is no more than a glorified shoe salesman, they "sell" insurance. They do not and should not "service" insurance. There is a reason why there is an 800 number on the back of your insurance card. An agent can have someone in their office that can take down information regarding a claim and pass it on to the company but that's as far as it goes. They are nothing more than paper pushers.

The "company" is the only one that has an actual "claims" department not an agent.

**** Let me give you a perfect scenario of what happens when an "agent" gets involved with a loss.

Back in the early 90's I had a deer loss claim on an old ('86 I think it was) Chevy Cavalier. Well we all know that those P.O.S. cars weren't worth anything when they were new so they weren't worth shit when they were used. This girl hit a deer with this Cavalier so hard that the car (though driveable) needed 3/4 of its front sheetmetal replaced.

The girl called her agent and the agent said "take your car to the Chevy dealer and get it fixed... you're covered". Well I get the claim, go to the Chevy dealer and the repairs are almost complete, to the tune of almost 5 grand! Well the book value of the car was only $3800.00. The shop fixed a total loss! Well per everyone's insurance policy, repair costs will not be paid beyond a vehicle's value. Also per everyone's policy, the carrier has the right to "inspect" a vehicle prior to any repair.

Now IF I/the insurance company would have seen the vehicle "prior" to it being repaired I/the company would have deemed it a total loss and all would have been well.

However, because this fuckin' brain dead agent told this girl to "go get it fixed" and she did, the girl got a check for the value of her car minus her deductible, minus the salvage value. She got a check for $3200.00 to cover a $5000.00 bill.

Personally I hope she sued the shit out of that agent and made the asshole pay the $1800.00 difference.

This is why an agent doesn't and shouldn't get involved with a claim! They barely know enough to write a policy, they sure as hell don't know a fuckin' thing about a loss!

I will tell you this.... IF there is ever a supplement that totals "more than 200%" of the estimate the appraiser that wrote the original estimate not only should be fired on the spot but should be shot too! If you miss that much damage you should not be doing appraisals.

Oh and for the record, I use to reinspect DRP/PRO shops for the company. You think these guys screw the customer... Ha Ha... you should see how bad they fuck the companies! Can you imagine having your car fixed by a shop cutting corners at both ends! I call it "mice in charge of the cheese"!

 

This has to be the best reply I've read in the last two and a half years I've been on here. Prewarcars4me, you have it exactly right!

 

on some 1941 oldsmobile we do have new rockers, i sent you a pm with details

the ems guy

 

Did you tell him your back and neck needed to be repaired also. Insurance companies don't like lawyers to get involved in personal injury cases.

 

^ ^ ^ They've heard it all before 1000's of times, doesn't faze them the least and it also wouldn't fly with this hit! ^ ^ ^

 

Anytime there is an accident the ins adj. will want a signed document releasing them of all liability from said accident. If you say no they usually give you some incentive($$$) to sign the doc.

 

Maybe in Arkansas but not in NY. Property damage and bodily injury are two different departments with two different adjusters in NY.

 

Like some have already said, don't make a mountain of of a freakin' mole hill. Get what you need to make the necessary repairs and call this thread closed.

 

What I know has been killing me my whole life. Insurance adjusters are out to screw the injured. Not always, but sometimes. I hope your case is resolved to your satisfaction.

 

There's nobody injured here!

Injuries on this thread are off-topic!

What are you, a lawyer?

 

I've been running a body shop for the last 21 years here in Tennessee and what Waddaycare is saying is on the mark. The damage looks to be around the $2500 range from the pics. Pick a good shop that you like and let them get the ball rolling. If my shop was fixing your car , bring your car in with the adjusters estimate, I will review it and if more repairs or time to repair are needed I will file a supplement to the insurance company to complete the repairs. I work for my customers while doing the repairs but the shop must treat the insurance company in a fair manner also. In the end the car is repaired to it's pre wreck state. I get paid a fair rate and the insurance company pays a fair rate to have the repairs done. we're all HAPPY