Insurance Question
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Insurance Question
My wife got into an accident with my '02 WRX (not her fault) about three months ago. First things first, the original estimate to fix the car was $8,600. Now to determine whether or not the car is totaled is subjective, but usually if the damage is between 50%-80% they will total out the car.
Well I go in to pay the auto body shop and he bills the rest back to the insurance company. Right now the total is at $15,300, what a great estimate Mr. Insurance Adjuster. Your estimate was only off by $6,700, which in turn screwed me over from getting my car totaled out. So now I have a car with over $15k in body damage to it.
Then as I am looking over the car over I notice three small problems. The door makes an odd sound when shut, the power window does not go up smoothly, and the biggest problem is that my steering wheel is jacked up and their is a big gap in the wheel making it not symmetrical. So it's going back there today and I'm sure the total will keep going up. I'm not sure how much it cost to replace a Momo steering wheel but it can't be cheap.
Anyway, is there anything that I can do to still get the car totaled out as the cost to repair keeps going up? It's the diminished value of the vehicle that I am worried about. Thanks
Well I go in to pay the auto body shop and he bills the rest back to the insurance company. Right now the total is at $15,300, what a great estimate Mr. Insurance Adjuster. Your estimate was only off by $6,700, which in turn screwed me over from getting my car totaled out. So now I have a car with over $15k in body damage to it.
Then as I am looking over the car over I notice three small problems. The door makes an odd sound when shut, the power window does not go up smoothly, and the biggest problem is that my steering wheel is jacked up and their is a big gap in the wheel making it not symmetrical. So it's going back there today and I'm sure the total will keep going up. I'm not sure how much it cost to replace a Momo steering wheel but it can't be cheap.
Anyway, is there anything that I can do to still get the car totaled out as the cost to repair keeps going up? It's the diminished value of the vehicle that I am worried about. Thanks
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My reference is from a long time ago, but a friend of mine refused to accept his vehicle back after the repair due to quality and safety issues. He had concerns of getting it repaired in the first place and had let the insurer know about it though. The insurance bought it out, but I can't remember how they settled on an amount. I assume they then turned around and sold it at auction, and eventually some poor soul bought it on a lot w.o. knowing its history since it was not written off originally.
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The safety argument may work. One of my original concerns was that none of the air bags went off during the accident and the car was hit almost directly on the drivers side wheel at around 20mph by the other driver.
I just went back to the body shop and they had not noticed that the steering wheel was also damaged in the accident, and he estimates that will cost close to another grand.
Thanks
I just went back to the body shop and they had not noticed that the steering wheel was also damaged in the accident, and he estimates that will cost close to another grand.
Thanks
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: New England
Car Info: Red 04 WRX Wagon
It is my understanding that the Insurance adjuster & Bodyshop adjuster come to terms about how much the repairs will be BEFORE repairing the car so stuff like this does not happen. Try contacting the insurance co. & the body shop to see why there is such a huge discrepency and or speak to a supervisor at both places.
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As mentioned earlier, I'd see if you can play the safety card. My dad had an 85 Subaru GL wagon (man that car was a trooper) and ended up in some flood waters - ocean water at that.
Some time later that week, the driver's side window rolled down by itself and wouldn't roll back up. Insurance totalled the car, with the grounds that if that sort of malfunction happened who knows what else in the electrical system might be jacked up.
Some time later that week, the driver's side window rolled down by itself and wouldn't roll back up. Insurance totalled the car, with the grounds that if that sort of malfunction happened who knows what else in the electrical system might be jacked up.
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From: Are you too one of the few still living the past? Well I can change that! With a simple wicket. Yes, my friend, a wicket. PM for details.
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sue. tahst all i have to say. the repairman is reuired by law to tell you if the car is able to be scrapped. if it was a possibility, he ignored his job to earn a few bucks. he will gets his liscense yanked, and you'll have enough new $$ to get a new car.
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I may have missed something here. Why in the bleep if you have insurance did you pay anything to the bodyshop? Most major insureres will first estimate the damage and for major work keep the estimate open if the bodyshop can show additional damage after removing bad peices or whatever. Were you trying to circumvent the insurance company enitionally and then pull them in? And what the bleep kind of body shop would miss an estimate by that much. It sounds like the insurance company was not involved at all untill after you and the body shop made a deal without the insurance adjuster getting involved. Good luck on what sould like a self imposed mess.
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No, the insurance adjustor made the initial estimate that the cost to repair the vehicle would be $8.3k. So I took the car into the body shop to be repaired and my insurance company sent me a check for that amount.
Now this is what I have found out in the last week. The body shop contacted the insurance company for the approval of another $2k to fix the car, insurance company agreed. However, my insurance rep was floored when I told him the total cost was $15.3k and he said that the body shop never told them that it would cost an additional $5k, so now he is investigating the error in communication. Hopefully it can still be totalled out but who knows. My insurance guy said if they knew it would have reached the $15k mark they would have totalled it.
Now the issue is other problems that were never fixed and the car needs to either go back to the shop for probably another couple grand in repairs or total it out. My thinking is that I shouldn't have to pay the consequences for the communication error by the shop or insurance company.
Thing is my insurance company is taking care of it right now but the cost will eventually be turned over to the lady at fault.
My other question is that during the accident my wife had some hot chocalate in the car that got spilled all over the interior. Well it took three months for the car to be fixed, so imagine the smell of milk sitting on the floor that long. Right now my car smells like a garbage dump. I assume insurance is required to remove the smell as well, correct?
Now this is what I have found out in the last week. The body shop contacted the insurance company for the approval of another $2k to fix the car, insurance company agreed. However, my insurance rep was floored when I told him the total cost was $15.3k and he said that the body shop never told them that it would cost an additional $5k, so now he is investigating the error in communication. Hopefully it can still be totalled out but who knows. My insurance guy said if they knew it would have reached the $15k mark they would have totalled it.
Now the issue is other problems that were never fixed and the car needs to either go back to the shop for probably another couple grand in repairs or total it out. My thinking is that I shouldn't have to pay the consequences for the communication error by the shop or insurance company.
Thing is my insurance company is taking care of it right now but the cost will eventually be turned over to the lady at fault.
My other question is that during the accident my wife had some hot chocalate in the car that got spilled all over the interior. Well it took three months for the car to be fixed, so imagine the smell of milk sitting on the floor that long. Right now my car smells like a garbage dump. I assume insurance is required to remove the smell as well, correct?
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Originally posted by sim311
snip
My other question is that during the accident my wife had some hot chocalate in the car that got spilled all over the interior. Well it took three months for the car to be fixed, so imagine the smell of milk sitting on the floor that long. Right now my car smells like a garbage dump. I assume insurance is required to remove the smell as well, correct?
snip
My other question is that during the accident my wife had some hot chocalate in the car that got spilled all over the interior. Well it took three months for the car to be fixed, so imagine the smell of milk sitting on the floor that long. Right now my car smells like a garbage dump. I assume insurance is required to remove the smell as well, correct?
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