Insurance check questions.

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Apr 16, 2016
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My 17 Jetta got hit in the rear wheel well a couple weeks ago. Their insurance company sent me a check for $1400. The bodyshop quoted $2200 to get it fixed. Part of me just wants to take the money and run, since its not that much damage. But only if they were to give the full $2200 so i can get it fixed at a later date if I desire. Is the insurance company required to give me the $2200 or must I have the car repaired?
 
Read the back of that check, if you sign it you sign your rights away.

It's a lowball offer to screw you out of something better.
 
Do you have a deductible? The check that the insurance sent to you may have your deductible included plus some low balling.

If you have the collision shop repair the damage, they will contact the insurance company and negotiate the difference. The shop will explain why there is a difference in price. And you still may have to come up with $ome money.

If you choose to keep the money, your rates will certainly climb with your next renew. If you next renew is coming soon, you may not see the increase till the following renew...even if you changed insurance companies.

Don't make the mistake in sending back the check to the insurance company. Your rates will still climb, even if it's only a little(but noticeably) as you made the claim against the insurance company. We made this mistake ONCE!

We sent back the check, choosing not to have the damage repaired when we should have just had the damage repaired or - just kept the check. The rates went up considerably.

NEVER AGAIN! And this in$urance claim & increa$e followed us even when we changed insurance companies later in the future(even after the "CLAIMED" 39 months).
 
The time we had to take the 300 in, they sent me a check for ~$2000 as that was the initial estimate using their photo claim thing. I turned that in when I took the car to the body shop and they handled getting the other ~$2200 needed to fix it.
 
Their insurance company is going to go the cheapest route they can. They do not give a hoot for you. Get two more estimates. If they are way above the 1400, do not cash the check. I would take their insurance company to small claims court with plenty of pictures and the three estimates in hand.. If you signed anything from them or cashed the check , it's too late for that. Also, do not talk to the other insurance company's rep on the phone, they often edit the call. I tell them to look at the police report. Hopefully, you have a police report.
 
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The insurance company doesn't give a rat's behind what the body shop quoted.

Did the insurance send out an adjuster ? How did they come up with that amount ?
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
The insurance company doesn't give a rat's behind what the body shop quoted.

Did the insurance send out an adjuster ? How did they come up with that amount ?

I sent pictures to the at fault parties adjuster.
 
As others have said, don't cash the check. Get at least 2 more estimates. The insurance company is not your friend. Get a lawyer involved. It is the only way to be sure you don't get the short end of the stick.

Someone here once put it very well when they said an insurance company is someone who gives you an umbrella and then takes it away from you when it starts raining.
 
This is where having an agent that knows you personally is so important. That person should be the one answering this question, not a bunch of people on an oil discussion board.
 
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
I sent pictures to the at fault parties adjuster.

What has your insurance company done for you ?
 
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
The insurance company doesn't give a rat's behind what the body shop quoted.

Did the insurance send out an adjuster ? How did they come up with that amount ?

I sent pictures to the at fault parties adjuster.


The other guy's insurance company is not your friend, he's the enemy. Get your insurance company involved and get the quotes from local body shops.

BSW
 
Originally Posted by bsmithwins
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
The insurance company doesn't give a rat's behind what the body shop quoted.

Did the insurance send out an adjuster ? How did they come up with that amount ?

I sent pictures to the at fault parties adjuster.


The other guy's insurance company is not your friend, he's the enemy. Get your insurance company involved and get the quotes from local body shops.

BSW

This - even though by getting your company involved it'll still be a ding against your record.

I had an incident in 2004 where the other party had one of those state-minimum/barely-legal coverage policies and my insurance company went after the other driver like the Tasmanian Devil from the Warner Brothers cartoons. They even got the deductible back from the other party. It made my life easier to deal with my agent vs the other company.
 
The same thing happened to me. Show what the real repair value would be. TWO whomever you dealt with get their boss involved. I had to go to my insurance adjusters boss.
 
What a dearth of info from the OP. Pics, please!

I don't think people are able to see in their mind's eye just how minor $1400-2200 in damage can be. Heck, instead of just calling his own insurance, dropping his car off at a shop trusted by his own insurance and then letting his insurance deal with it, he seems to be playing, "let's make a buck." It must not be that bad if the OP is willing to live with it for a while if not forever...

There's nothing wrong with playing that game, OP, except that it's just you against the other person's insurance company and they likely won't want to give you everything you're due without some work.
 
You can cash the check and either fix, or not depending on what you want to do. Or send the estimate to the insurance company and have them work out how much they will pay the body shop to fix it.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
This - even though by getting your company involved it'll still be a ding against your record.

No it won't. His insurance will go after the other insurance and recoup what they paid him.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by opus1
This - even though by getting your company involved it'll still be a ding against your record.

No it won't. His insurance will go after the other insurance and recoup what they paid him.


IIRC, it is called Subrogation (sp??)

Yes, the other party insurance usually will low ball.
Plus, they don't send the adjuster.
Your best bet is to work with a good body shop that will go to bat for you or file it with your personal insurance so they can subrogate for you.
But you have to explain to your insurance what happened since apparently you did not claim it against personal insurance.
This is assuming OP have full coverage.

The question is do OP have a full coverage?
 
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