insurance adjusters suck

**1MileCrash** · 06-14-2007, 06:51 AM

got my car looked at the other day for the hail damage by the only body man in town that i trust. his father has worked on cars all his life doing body repair and painting, and both of his sons (including my body man) have done auto body repair and painting exclusively their entire lives...so let's just say that they know their shit.

my guy took one look at my hood with over a dozen dents and how it is bowed up and misaligned with the fenders and said "nope...this thing is done...can't be fixed." adjuster took one look at it this morning and said "this isn't bad it can be fixed."

the giant dent in the rear quarter. my body guy said that it has to be pulled, stripped, metal worked, and painted otherwise it won't be flat and true...the metal will be bowed out and the paint would be cracked otherwise. adjuster said that the dent could be fixed without any issues.

my body guy looked at it and said it was close to $4k in damages. adjuster looked at it and wrote me a check for $1,400.

they told me that "we will fix your car using paintless dent repair. they will massage the metal from the backside of the dent until it pops back into place. this wont' damage the factory paint unlike the old way where they strip the paint to fix the damage and then repaint the car which never comes out as good as the factory paint."

i don't know what kind of bad granola these fat bastards have been smoking...but a good painter makes factory paint look like a turd. and paintless dent repair is a load of crap. i've worked around it and seen what it looks like when it's finished and it's nowhere near perfect. the guy even said "paintless repair brings the dent out 95% or better."

hey fatty. this is my dream car. i've waited 10 years for this car and i'm not about to accept 95% repair when i expect no less than 100%.

i'm going down and talking to my insurance guy here in the next few minutes and see what he can do. this is bogus. i'm not doin paintless dent repair on this car...especially not on a black car.

grrrr...end rant.

**tnthub** · 06-14-2007, 06:58 AM

Get two more quotes from good shops for the same amount at the four grand you were quoted by the guy you know. Even nif you have to drive out of town to get them just do it.

Then make copies and go back to the insurance provider. Inform them if they continue to argue you will be forced to hire an attorney to represent you. Remind them that you pay them to work on your behalf. Do not make it personal. Their job is to keep people from scamming them. However you are not one of the scammers so get the additional estimates and make your case in a professional manner.

I had to go back three times before my estimates were approved when my house was hit by lightning. I ended up receiving the full amount but their first approval was for only 30% of the final cost.

**third_shift|studios** · 06-14-2007, 06:58 AM

i'd fucking explode...fuck that. you need to get your body guy to help sell his plan too. Don't fight the battle alone-if the shop wants 4000, they gotta help fight.

who's your provider?!

**third_shift|studios** · 06-14-2007, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by tnthub

Get two more quotes from good shops for the same amount at the four grand you were quoted by the guy you know. Even nif you have to drive out of town to get them just do it.

Then make copies and go back to the insurance provider. Inform them if they continue to argue you will be forced to hire an attorney to represent you. Remind them that you pay them to work on your behalf. Do not make it personal. Their job is to keep people from scamming them. However you are not one of the scammers so get the additional estimates and make your case in a professional manner.

I had to go back three times before my estimates were approved when my house was hit by lightning. I ended up receiving the full amount but their first approval was for only 30% of the final cost.

ok, that's the levelheaded way of doing things

**NE98LS1** · 06-14-2007, 07:08 AM

bastards. demand an SS hood while you're at it (if you're into those i know i'd want a ws6 hood if my hood got hailed on)

**1MileCrash** · 06-14-2007, 07:33 AM

american family insurance is my provider.

the adjuster isn't a local guy...he's from national and not from the area so he doesn't have to make me happy...he has to keep money in his bosses pockets. my provider has to keep me happy.

they are busy and will be calling me back..he has a full day and had people in the office when i went in 10 minutes ago. and i have no fears that he won't call me back cause he always does and has never screwed me.

i'm going to get the estimate from my guy, and then hit up a couple other places for estimates like you guys said to do and take all that in and show my agent.

the replacement hood is expensive i called on that already...it's $1k...ouch...hence why they didn't total the hood.

i'm not much of an ss hood guy...i've always liked the lines of the cowl induction hoods.

actually i think i'm going to head over right now after i have my pizza and get a quote from the chevy dealership for the repairs.

thanks for the tips and the shoulder to cry on fellas.

**1MileCrash** · 06-14-2007, 11:34 AM

oh you'll love this. nobody...and i mean NOBODY...will look at the car and give me an estimate. i went to 2 places...both said that i had to talk to my insurance company and that they would write me an estimate. then they asked me when i wanted to schedule my car to get it fixed. i told them i wanted an estimate first and they said that it was a waste of their time and they walked away from me.

so i went to another place where i know a few fellas and said "hey...what did the insurance guys do? tell you guys that you aren't allowed to write up an estimates." "yeah. that's pretty much what they did actually" was the reply from the body shop manager.

are you frickin serious!? you can't go anywhere in this town and ask for an estimate now. you have to go to your insurance adjuster and they low-ball the repair price by a couple grand and when you take the car in to get it fixed your tech has to call the adjuster when he's runnin low on cash and send proof of why he needs more money and THEN the insurance will write another check to cover the cost of the next round of parts.

why the hell can't they just give me a check for $3k right off the bat and get that out of the way instead of givin me a check for under $1,400 and makin my body man stop what he's doin on the car and call and get more money. fuckin retarded.

insurance sucks. if it wasn't for my $0.00 deductible on this i'd say it was a complete waste.

**third_shift|studios** · 06-14-2007, 11:50 AM

0 deductable but how much is your premium.

I would switch coverages after this. Progressive rox. They let me do as much or little as i want. I was able to get estimates when I killed the batmobile and I talked to the shop more than insurance did. But it's true, insurance only writes small checks at a time. As the shop uncovers issues, they adjust the amount and are supposed to dish out more.

So, it's possible that American Family might just do that, not leave you hangin with 75% of the bill.

**345hpss** · 06-14-2007, 12:04 PM

Not siding with the insurance guys here, but a good Paintless Dent Guy can do pretty amazing work. I was taking the ttops off my SS one day and one slipped and I put a nice crease in the rear quarter, just in front of the antenna, on the curved part of the body. $40 and a good PDR guy and you would never be able to find the spot.

If it were me, I would personally explore PDR first... once you have a car repainted, it is also a 'repaint.' You can always tell and it will not be 'original' (and yes, I know the factory paint blows, but it is what it is).

Regardless, that $1400 sounds way too low... I sure hope you didn't cash the check... what you need to do is send it back to your agent, with a letter stating that you are not satisfied with this settlement. You need to wear them down.

As was suggested, get some more quotes. When you go to a shop, tell them that you are paying to get it fixed YOURSELF (keep insurance out of it) and they will be more likely to give you a quote. Don't be a dick about it.

If you cashed the check or signed ANYTHING from insurance, then you are SOL. If you haven't, then the case is still open and beleive me, if it stays open long enough the right people get involved.

Hope it works out for you. Patience and persistence really pay off.

**1MileCrash** · 06-14-2007, 01:13 PM

well i'm not touchin it anymore tonite. i've got some other things goin on now. but i'm pickin it up again tomorrow and just takin the car over to my guys place.

anyway. i haven't cashed the check at all it's sittin on my table. haven't signed anything either.

like i said...you can't get quotes anywhere around here either. the shops have been told that they can't give quotes out on the cars. the first question is it insured, the second is when would you like to schedule to bring the car in for repairs. there is zero negotiation about it. i asked if they would give me an estimate so i would know how much it would end up costing and they literally walked away from me. nobody...and i mean nobody in the area is writing estimates plain and simple...if they see hail damage they will walk away from you and send you to insurance.

some of the minor minor dings could be done with paintless but i'm facing facts here. i've got some very large and very deep dents that dentless will not take out. the hail warped my hood so that's not even a question that it has to be replaced. and working at a used car lot i've seen dentless "repairs" if that's what they want to call them. very small dings less than the size of a penny sure it can handle that. but anything bigger and you can still see that there was a dent there. not because the dent is still there but because of the way that the metal has reshaped during the dent process and now the metal bowes outward a bit. it stands out on black cars big time...i know...i've seen it. i'm not touchin their dentless cause all it is is a cheap way for insurance to get these people out of their offices and back into their cars quickly. when they tell me that it comes out 95%...well that doesn't cut it. not when this is my dream car...nothing short of 100% will do and dentless does not do 100% plain and simple.

**Hot Black Trans-Am** · 06-14-2007, 01:26 PM

That was some major hail you guys got down there! Your lucky you didn't get any broken windows from it like some people did. Maybe you should try up here by Wausau. I know a shop BRB Auto body that has done quite a bit of work for me over the years. I've gone there and American Family has not even stopped there to check on anything, they just cut me a check for the estimate. Being out of your area bit it might work.

**1MileCrash** · 06-14-2007, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by Hot Black Trans-Am

That was some major hail you guys got down there! Your lucky you didn't get any broken windows from it like some people did. Maybe you should try up here by Wausau. I know a shop BRB Auto body that has done quite a bit of work for me over the years. I've gone there and American Family has not even stopped there to check on anything, they just cut me a check for the estimate. Being out of your area bit it might work.

yeah i know a lot of people are goin to point and the surrounding areas to get work done. the chevy garage is booked through october right now...earliest you can get in is late october/early november. insane.

the guy that i'm having do my work works out of his dad's garage after he gets out of work doing body work at the gmc dealership. it may take him a little longer...but he does the job right the first time.

actually our house did suffer two windows knocked out not to mention we now need a new roof...$13,000 check for damages on the house. the adjuster is coming to take a look at my apartment building next door on saturday morning. i pray i don't need a new roof as mine is only 6 years old...but i'm sure that they are going to say that it needs to be replaced.

**third_shift|studios** · 06-15-2007, 04:05 AM

how 'bout some pix cuz...i wanna see this poor hood

**gwballin** · 06-15-2007, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by 1MileCrash

oh you'll love this. nobody...and i mean NOBODY...will look at the car and give me an estimate. i went to 2 places...both said that i had to talk to my insurance company and that they would write me an estimate. then they asked me when i wanted to schedule my car to get it fixed. i told them i wanted an estimate first and they said that it was a waste of their time and they walked away from me.

I would think that if you told them that you did not have comprehensive insurance and would be paying for the repair out of pocket they would give you an estimate since no one would just give them a blank check to do body work.