How to handle an insurance co?

[MLMike25]

I got into a fender-bender with a guy a few days ago (He backed into me and was cited). Its nothing huge, but paint is scraped off the edge of the hood and the bumper below that is scrapped slightly.

His insurance co. contacted me and they are accepting responsibility for the accident. They told me an adjuster would be contacting me to assess the damage. I haven't heard from the adjuster yet, so I decided to get an estimate for myself and I went to a good body shop near work. This place is pretty well respected in this area.

The owner explained that in order to fix the damage the right way, he'd repaint the hood, bumper, and some of the fenders (My car has over 100K, so I have rock chips, etc on my hood & its a mystichrome). He wouldn't spray clear coat over any other rock chips that I have on the hood. I have no problem with that. He estimates it at under $1500 worth of work.

Here's where the problem comes in.

He says that the insurance co is likely to estimate only for the damaged spots. They're probably not going to want to pay for him to fix it the right way. The insurance co told me that if the body shop called the insurance co and requested more $ for fixing it, they'd pay, but if the adjuster estimates the damage at $500, and the body shop estimates $1500, the insurance co is not going to pay $1000 extra.

Of course, I want the job done right, but I anticipate that the insurance co is only going to pay the minimum.

Does anyone have any advice that might help me in this situation?

 

[CPRsm]

It's their responsibility to fix it. To do any paint job you have to blend back from the area. They are lucky if they can find someone to do that paint job. many places I know wouldn't fix, let alone charge only 1500 for repairing a 3 stage paint job. Same would be true if he hit your door in the center. You can't just paint the door.

 

[VirtualSVT]

The adjuster part is case by case. All the ones I've dealt with have been great to deal with.

 

[slider701]

Some dumb bitch ran into the back of my Lincoln last year while I was stopped at a stop sign. She thought I was pulling out and just nailed me. The Allstate (her company) adjuster estimated the damage at $1500 - 1800. The Ford/Lincoln Dealer estimated it at $6K+

When it was all said and done they paid for the repair, plus the rental car for 3+ weeks, and $200 for my inconvenience.

Tell the adjuster you will get a lawyer if they don't cover the repairs in full, plus a rental while it is in the shop.

 

[HYBRED]

It's their responsibility to fix it. To do any paint job you have to blend back from the area. They are lucky if they can find someone to do that paint job. many places I know wouldn't fix, let alone charge only 1500 for repairing a 3 stage paint job. Same would be true if he hit your door in the center. You can't just paint the door.

Mystichrome is a base+clear, it sprays just like any other paint; it's just expensive paint. However, it would need to be blended out to every adjacent panel to fix it right, which is what I'm assuming the paint shop quoted.

 

[MLMike25]

However, it would need to be blended out to every adjacent panel to fix it right, which is what I'm assuming the paint shop quoted.

This is correct.

 

[NastyNate420]

I had an accident with a deer last year and Progressive promised the paint would paint so i went to their authorized shop. They did a shoddy job matching the paint so now Progressive is trying to take short cuts and blend existing paint to thier new paint. They werent willing to fix it the way it need to be done so i brought it to 4 other shops and they all said the car needs to be painted completely! I told the progressive Adjuster and he gave me some song and dance about if more things need to be done then they would do it. I told then i just wanted to take it to my OWN shop and they said that fine but we are only gonna cut you a check for what we say needs to be done. Needless to say im in the process of going through the insurance board and if that doent work on to court!
My advice to you is find a YOUR OWN body shop! Only let the adjuster go to YOUR body shop and have them go over the estimate together. DONT use the shop they recommend because they make back room deals with the insurance company and arent looking out for you at all!! GOOD LUCK!!

 

[NastyNate420]

BTW The manager at Progressive met me and He told me that they ARENT responsible for matching the paint ALREADY on the car. They guarantee the NEW paint will all matcht. They will match the factory color the car war painted at the factory. He agreed the new paint didnt match the old paint on my car but he said basically i was SOL!!

 

[NyteByte]

Progressive is the worst insurance company on the planet.
Time to switch to someone else.

 

[Jefe]

Post a pic of the damage if you dont mind. In the meantime, go get a couple more estimates and see if they all say the same as the shop you want to use. Right now you're just going off of hearsay from the shop owner. The company may not fuss at all about it, especially if its a larger company. Every adjuster should know you have to blend paint on older cars