Insurance Advice Needed

Will,

Sorry to hear of the accidnent ..car was looking excellent.

My advice would be ... Drop the car off at the shop of your choice and meet the Adjuster there ...obviously drop it off prior so Your body shop has a chance to do an estimate. Thats what i did when my car came from Calif and was damaged.

They should send the insurance check to you ...prior to paying the body shop obviously inspect the car that its to your liking ... don't worry about pissing them off ... because what i went thru i was pissed off most of the time thru the entire ordeal. My body shop didnt replace some of the suspension parts ..so i deducted money from the estimate.


Good Luck
Ron

If you were rear-ended then the other driver is at fault and THEIR insurance company has to fix your car. Didn't they have insurance?

Will,

I got rear ended by a teenager that was not paying attention while driving my 1981 TR-7 convertible. I had State Farm Insurance and what a nightmare. The accident was not my fault and they chiseled me something terrible. Accident was not my fault at all, but the adjuster made me feel like it was, and if I were to do it differently I would have taken the car to get repaired with who I felt comfortable with and had it repaired to MY satisfaction, not the insurance company "standard". If they try and low ball you, which they will do, then you need to look at claiming decreased value because of repairs improperly completed (such as a paint job that does not match, or not using good enough repair panels, or not repairing underlying structure as this is just "cosmetic"). I've heard it all.

The other thing that you can do that will work is to not agree. Do not sign off on ANYTHING until you are satisfied. Do the waiting game on them; there is no reason why you need to rush into anything with the insurance company. That was my biggest mistake. I should have thought about what I was agreeing to before I actually agreed to it. Before signing anything, I would suggest that you sleep on it. Take another day or until you have clarity on what will work for you.

All the work you put into your car and some bone head rear ends you. This is starting to piss me off. I better stop while I'm ahead.......

Best of luck getting it done the way you want.

Mark

I didn't realize that Canada has no fault insurance. Your own carrier takes care of your claim regardless of who is at fault.

Most insurance companies have "preferred shops", but you are under no obligation to use one of them. I'd take it to whoever painted it last, it certainly looks like the did a beautiful job.

The State Farm rep told me yesterday that an estimater will come to my house and give me an estimate and I would take that estimate to any shop of my choice. Thats ridiculous. The shop has to quote the job.
I smell trouble.
Will

Will, for the average car there is a "standard" repair estimating guide; a 2009 lexus with a front left accident is a standard fee, they just input it in the computer add details to cover the level/extend of the damage and they get a number. The body shops are acredited with various insurance companies, so they might not tell you to go to such and such's but will reccomend you go to an acredited shop. The acredited shops will do the job for the stated price but then may also call the adjustor to "add" unforseen items or labour.

Surprise for them is going to be you car is not in the database. All parts have to be researched manually or hand made,(don't know if Johnny Woods or Wilkinson's have rear panels) so I doubt he will be able to give an good accurate reliable number on his visit. Get your own estimates from shops you trust if 1st 2 are within 10% good otherwise get a 3rd.

D

Yes, in Ontario we have "no-fault" insurance, but as long as the other driver DOES have insurance, and better still if the other driver was charged with careless driving as this one was, then their insurance company will ultimately pay for the damages and there SHOULD be no at-fault claims on Will's record meaning his rates and claims status shouldn't change.

I like Mark's suggestion of taking the car to the preferred body shop and when the estimator wants to see the car, tell him that's where he can see it. NOT at your house is right, IMHO.

Good luck buddy.

Mark

The easiest thing is to let State Farm go thru the motions that they want to go thru. Let them do their estimate. The estimator will probably ask you if you know who you want to repair it which gives him a clue of what to write if he is familiar with the shop. The estimate is just a starting point. Take it to your shop and let them work it out with State Farm. They are not new to this. I have owned a body shop for over 30 years here in Arizona, and State Farm is one of the better companies to work with, and we do a lot of exotics. Good Luck! www.finishingtouchaz.com

"Ohhh, my neck hurts..."

Seriously though, the adjuster just comes out to write up a 'standard' estimate based on a repair estimating guide like Denis mentioned. If you know who you want to do the work, take it there first and get a 'real' detailed estimate; then you can hand a copy of it to the estimator when he shows up to help inform him of what it will take to return your car to pre-accident condition. After all, it's not a cookie-cutter Honda or Toyota.

FWIW, a friend of mine who wrecked his Pantera had State Farm, and he thought they were great! The estimator showed up, took a look at the car, and told him to pick a knowledgeable shop to provide a detailed estimate. I think he pointed out some of the idiosyncracies of the Pantera to the estimator too - headlight buckets being different for different years, etc. State Farm paid for the car to be shipped from NorCal to SoCal to a Pantera vendor for a proper repair estimate, and covered the repair costs.

quote:

Originally posted by 4NHOTROD:
The State Farm rep told me yesterday that an estimater will come to my house and give me an estimate and I would take that estimate to any shop of my choice. Thats ridiculous. The shop has to quote the job.
I smell trouble.
Will

shop of your choice.......OK

Want quote from Pantera vendor

Want to take it to a Pantera Vedor for repair...............

PI Motorsports
Hall Pantera
Precision Pro-Formance
Pantera East
Steve Wilkinson Panteras & Parts