It is a fallacy to think that your insurance agent is your advocate. Your insurance agent is an advocate of the company he / she works for.

Look at the bigger picture... insurance agents deal with hundreds of claims in a short period of time.

Your issue only involves you and the person that hit you.

The insurance companies issues involve hundreds of people. The other company / agent is responsible in YOUR case, and YOUR company / agent is responsible in a different case.

Insurance agents don't go to war against each other on a specific case; they have to work together on the next case.

War is what lawyers are for.

Agents work together, and yes they do try to get a fair settlement in most cases, but not at the expense of making an enemy of the agent on the other side.

I have been down this road before, and I had this aspect explained to me by a good friend that is also an insurance agent.

Deal directly with the responsible insurance company / agent. If that does not work out, then talk to an attorney. Leave your insurance company / agent out of it.

 

YES...sometimes you have to either prove that you have it insured for much higher value than 'blue book'...or get an appraisal on it.

You can not assume that the insurance company from the person who hit you is going to look into what you have the coverage set at.

Obviously I am NOT in the insurance business....I only deal with them on the repair end of it....but what I have seen and experienced over the past 30 years....let me know that I need to tell my customers what to do and they MUST spend some time educating themselves on what their rights are.

Case in point. In North Carolina, the owner of a car has the RIGHT to take their car where ever they choose to take it for repairs and the insurance company can not tell them where IT HAS TO GO. SO...then why does the insurance company often times WANT 2 or 3 estimates IF the person KNOWS where it is going. 'Kinda' doesn't make sense...does it? They test peoples IGNORANCE. Because if you have not made a choice on the repair shop...then they will make out a check for the lowest estimate....which here in North Carolina...still does not mean anything IF you choose another shop ....due to the amount of time AFTER the claim to submit a supplement. SO...what is written on the initial estimate...DOES NOT mean that is the END of the claim.

OBVIOUSLY...any of you should check with your state and verify the rules there.

AND FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH: (Just one instance of many) I have seen this FIRST HAND where an insurance company and the owner (who is the victim) were battling over some repairs and their costs. And LITERALLY about three weeks went by and still no conclusion. They were 'grid locked'....UNTIL the owner called the NC Insurance commission and found out what they needed and filed a complaint and literally in TWO DAYS the owner got what he wanted (which was within reason). The Insurance Commission can not tell insurance companies WHAT TO DO in the sate of NC...but from what I have seen and experienced....they get the ball rolling rather quickly.

DUB

 

Your experience is the same as mine, DUB. When the 'local' agents try to bamboozle you with B.S., and you take your situation to the Insurance Commission in your state, it's amazing how those jerks (term associated with agents who try to CHEAT their own customers) do an immediate "About Face!" to make an attempt at "fairness".

Message: Use the "tools" at your disposal [as a citizen of a State in the USA] to get what you deserve from the CONTRACT you made with your agent (your insurance policy). If you don't stump for yourself, you deserve what you DON'T get....

 

Moved to Florida in '97, in '98 a damn deer ran out from front of a minivan and claimed my '72 operating headlights, square up, and smashed to nothing....managed to fix it myself and put in Eckler's scoops and so fixed lights....

about 5 years later a Verizon truck backed his hitch into the left front, and that was the end of saving the paint job.....painted it GREEN instead of burgundy...this was about 7 years ago, but the paint sucked, trick was...I 'fixed it for about 4 hundred bux and that included my lousy paint job here in the garage.... the $$$$ settlement allowed wife and I to head out to Santa Fe NM and visit the region including Grand Canyon.....and most of the rest of the sites....two weeks worth....GRAND TRIP....car suffered though....

but still got compliments on it for some reason, the finish was kinda a semi gloss, to be kind.....used flat black stripes to hide finish issues....

and so till last Feb....when a jacked up mudder/swamp pickup backed over my nose in the CU/bank lot....at least they stopped and so Ins. co cut me a couple of checks....took about 3 months to get it fixed....including a Maaco paint job now it's a way too shiney GREEN metallic that can be seen from backside of the MOON....

but the HELL I went through makes it not worth it, TWO botched up body shops that really made a mess out of the RF fender, nose, and the hood....FINALLY found a GOOD man who was a total magician with GLASS, the car is wonderful for everything he touched....but for 550 bux Macco did a cheap job...and it is what it IS....but it's looking good for a 5' 20mph car some stress cracks showing even after setting the primer in the sun a month....new ones showed up when the urethane hit the primer/glass/patch areas we thought untouched but the glass was clearly stressed and whatEVER was cracked somehow....

In all honesty, OP, you need to give up on matching, and all that OEM stuff, and repaint the entire car......

 

I know it happens a lot...because I get asked to do this from some customers. I FIGHT with the insurance company to get the owner of the car what they want and deserve. BUT then they want some $$$$ out of it and have me do less work so they can pocket some bucks....BUT they seem to forget the HOURS I spend getting them what THEY WANTED.

AND people wonder WHY...it can be hard to get what a car needs from an insurance company when it gets damaged.

To each his/her own.

DUB

 

What kind of policy do you have? I go through the same company. I have a 'fixed value' policy. They will pay whatever repair costs, up to 15K. When they hit that point, they just call it a loss and write me a 15K check.

My brother is a Geico claims rep. He tells me horror stories of clients who think their car should be rebuilt and painted from the ground up. (Some guy had a 79 Dodge Diplomat and claimed the car was worth 20K and expected such when it got totaled) The best advice I can give you is be polite, give them the info up front and be realistic with your expectations. The insurance company's job is to restore your car to the condition it was before the accident......NOT make it 'like new'. HOWEVER.....I see your point. Explain your paint worries to the insurance guy. (PS- My brother tells me the WORST thing that can happen to an adjuster is when you go over their head and complain. Keep that in your back pocket if you need it)

 

I know exactly what you mean.. When I owned my shop, we had that a lot.. Dealing with adjusters for more $$ takes up time. In those days, many times the Ins Co would make the Check to the owner AND the Shop to ensure the repairs were done.. People would come in, ask.." Can you sign the check so I can keep the money?" ... duh...NO!!...or get their friend to half-azz the repairs and want me to ..." JUST match the paint"... yeah, I ll get right on that! lol

 

Fellas, I know that people are fickle and that they often don't really know what they want. But, the car is THEIRS; the insurance policy has been paid by THEM; it is THEIR loss to deal with as they choose.

Maybe folks don't do what is convenient for the repair shop....so what? The vehicle owner has paid premiums for years, just so he/she would be financially covered in the [relatively rare] event THEIR property sustains damage. So, the owner has the obligation and the right to decide how the car should get repaired,, or even IF it should get repaired. That is their choice...not the repair shop.

 

Wow,lots of good responses! Adjuster was out to my house,very knowledgeable guy,was in the bump business for many yrs. He did point out sev things I and the other bump shops missed. Still waiting for contact back from either the adj or ACC ins co. I will post any and all results. Everyone have a great w/e! Hdal

 

Not really true...If the car is to continue to be insured or has a mortgage on it, then it is NOT the owners choice how and if it gets repaired.. or the Bank can call in the loan or the Insurance can cancel and then the Bank will call in the loan.. They can , however chose WHO repairs it... And the Insurance will need current photos of it repaired to continue Agreed Value Coverage But, My problem is with the ones who want the Shop to just endorse the Check as tho it was repaired, and leave car as is.. That's fraud...and leaves the shop liable, civilly and criminally ..

 

My 69 got bashed in a parking lot. It's a survivor in Cortez silver. I got a full repaint.

 

The 'problem' that you may be missing is that the owner wants me to fight to get more money to fix it a specific way...then the owner changes how it is being repaired to allow them to make some money on the deal AFTER I fought to get what they wanted. THAT is where I have a problem....and that is also when the owner realizes that they now have a problem on their hands. I do not commit fraud in any way.

And this is due to many insurance companies will re-inspect a car to see what was done AFTER it was repaired ESPECIALLY when there was so much DRAMA in the repairs due to fighting to get more money for repairs and parts.

100%. I LOVE it when the check is made out to the lien holder on the title...then it HAS to be repaired EXACTLY as it was written in the estimate...because the 'owner' does not actually own their car.

I have no problem if an owner chooses not to fix their car and pocket the money. BUT...if my company name is attached to the paperwork and or on the check...that is a different matter when I am spending numerous hours trying to get MORE money to fix a car that is NOT going to be repaired....SO...I am basically WORKING FOR NOTHING. Which... TRUST ME...I am going to get paid for my time and the space the car rook up in my shop during this process. It is only FAIR.

So far...I have never had a lien holder on the title actually make the decision of who repairs the car...the person who is still paying for it does that....even though ...technically they do not own it yet.

DUB

 

Dub,how long is a two party check good for? I'm prolly going to repaint my entire car. I live in Mich and don't wanna give up the car till Nov-Dec ish Haven't seen the adjuster est yet,hoping to add whatever it takes to get lt side crash fixed and all the paint redone. It's a shame as the orig paint and seams were good! Hdal

 

I have NO CLUE...but from what I can remember...when I worked on one that took a long time due to parts delays, etc....then the insurance check expired...they can re-submit it and make it good again or re-issue a new check.

DUB

 

I was in a similar situation a few years ago, but managed to avoid the quandary that you're in now.

At the time, I was insured through Hagerty, and my 1961 Corvette was rear ended hard enough that it bent the frame. I am fortunate to have a shop and mechanic that I trust, and who does mechanical work and, at the time, did body and paint work.

I made sure that I was dealing with Hagerty and not the other person's insurance (I think it was State Farm). I would rather my insurance company estimate the repairs and make State Farm pay for it, rather than State Farm deciding the amount and low-balling me since they would be paying it. The adjuster came out and looked at the car with my mechanic (the car was at his shop since I was going to let only him touch the car). The adjuster said a number, and my mechanic agreed to do the job for that amount with the stipulation that any additional work needed would be covered.

In the end, my whole car was repainted (except for the undamaged white coves) since there wasn't a good place to blend, and the old paint was 30 years old and difficult to match. The new back panel was fiberglassed in, and frame straightened. There is very little evidence that an accident ever occurred.

My point is, pick a shop that you trust will do the job right and not halfway. Have the adjuster deal with the shop so that they can work out the estimate. That way, the shop can be your advocate and tell the adjuster what needs to be done to restore the car to what it was before the accident. Also, deal with your own insurance company since they're not going to be paying for the repairs.

 

Well,I got the adjusters est,it is $1,600 under the 1st shops est.This is the shop that said"we can't guarantee the silv match". So can I battle with the ins co to at least match the $4,800 estimate,let alone paint the rest of car? Hdal

 

Was this the other party's ins co? If so, it's time to contact your insurance with your concerns.

 

Have you contacted and talked with the Insurance Commission in your state???

I agree...WHOSE insurance company gave you this estimate???? Yours or theirs????

DUB

 

I'm not sure why you are dealing with all this ********. When my cars need repair I just take it to the shop I want to fix it and tell them what I expect the car to look like when it's completed. I let the shop deal with the insurance. If it's a reputable shop it will get fixed to your expectations.

 

What is your insurance company, American Collector, advising you in all this? are they willing to pay for a complete paint?