I got backed into a few weeks ago, finally the insurance adjuster sent me the estimate. I didn’t see an issue with most of the quoted labor hours/parts costs, however they only billed labor @ $48 an hour?
Wtf auto body place only bills $50 an hour, aren’t most $70+???
Going to get a couple of estimates from some other places to compare, but where do I go from here? Anyone have any experience negotiating claims/going about this type of thing?
That’s completely normal. Insurance only pays their negotiated labor rates.
well that’s CSBS
You can definitely negotiate the claim. Get your own estimates and send them in to the rep. They should have to pay for ALL damage and labor rates especially since it was not your fault.
Here’s another question, the claim they sent me included ‘unrelated prior damage’ which was a few dings and some quarter panel damage.
I called to ask them where to go from here, they said they’d be sending me a check for the full amount on the estimate…which included the prior damage. Though they didn’t specify.
Being the naive average consumer that I am I forgot to ask if that was an error, they said they were sending the check as we spoke…win?
take check and RUN. lol
This^ Hope they don’t catch the error either!!!
You dont owe anthing on the car right? If they send you a check cash it as normal you dont have to get repairs done.
Also about the labor rates bodyshop labor rate is way lower than that of a mechanical repairs shop.
When i worked at lia 6 years ago the bodyshop labor rate was 49/hour in front of the building where the service garage was the labor rate was 89/hour. Most body shops are around 60-80 range service is between 80-100
gotcha, yeah the car’s mine, and it’s not a total loss.
my rear bumper got tapped at 3-5mph no real damage(scuff/crack in paint above the rub strip, nothing i care about). got a quote for 930 for the total repairs. the guys insurance tried to tell me 600, i said no way buddy. i have my own estimate and you are way off on it. the guy recalculated his estimate and i ended up with about 850. Fo free money!
^ Sounds like what happened to my car years ago in Mass. I had to get three estimates from different places and they gave me the lowest. Still got $800 for hardly any damage, and replaced the tailgate for $15 myself lol
Well no bodyshop will be able to fix that one spot Chuck Norris side-kicked so idk what to tell ya pal
Get check, buy parts yourself, leave it in primer. Let me know what ya need and I’ll see what I can get for ya
This was on my Focus DD btw.
Fraudulent behavior ITT
Actually it’s not, at all.
LOL. Read the fine print in your policy (assuming you have one in the first place) and then post.
It’s not my policy covering the damages, it’s the chick that hit me’s policy.
Still waiting for the check, I doubt they’d allow a 6-700 ‘oops’ to slip through, we’ll see.
Any company is against that and if they do an audit on you and your “free money” then you had better have a pretty damn good answer for them.
That answer being “I used it to fix the car” the estimate is cryptic as fuck, there are so many codes and different ‘types’ of damage/repair costs that how was I, a lowly consumer, supposed to know the ‘body shop’ I paid to fix it overcharged me.