How do I get my insurance to just Cut me a Check?

[ActiveMonkey]

Ok, so to make a long story a short, I women hit my car with a metal cage. I did not see her do it, but I know she did. Her companies insurance denied the claim stating that I did not see it happen so it didn’t happen. Usual bullshit…

So I’m going though my insurance. Here’s the problem. My car is pearl and I know they can’t match the color, so how to I go about telling them I just want a check for the estimate?

So I say “I don’t have time to take my car in at the moment, so could you write me a check and I’ll take care of it as soon as my work schedule allows?”

How should I go about doing this?

[aytheory]

you don't even need a reason - you can just request to get a check and take it to the auto body of your choice and time

[GR-RALLYE]

I'm pretty sure they will send you a check and if its more then the initial estimate they will come out to the shop and approve the new that needs to be done and pay the shop the difference directly. Make sure your there though when your insurance adjuster makes a estimate and point out every small thing and try to get it as high as possible or take it to a high end exotic shop where the labor costs a lot more and have the adjuster meet you there.

[infinkc]

you will have to get some estimates to have it done, usually they will send and adjuster out and they will give you a check on the spot for what they think the cost of the repair should be. This check will be a lot less than the body shops estimate. So you basicly have to choose, either to accept what they give you or take it to a shop and have them do the repairs and bill the insurance. the insurance will not give you what the body shop wants, but has no problem paying them to do the job. Best bet is if you know a shop, tell the insurance you wan the repairs done there, they will pay the shop, then have the shop pay you. Or just find a good shop and have it done right. My a4 was pearl and the shop i took it to to get my rear bumper matched it almost perfect, when i sold it there was a guy that owned a body shop of his own as was suprised they were able to match it so well.

[Burntaudi]

My girlfriend was in accident recently. Our insurance told me they write the check for a low amount on purpose because most people take the check and don't get it repaired. If you do get it repaired the shop will call and get supplements.

Just as a example she was in 2 different accidents within 2 months the 1st accident they wrote her a check for $900.00 the repair came to $2400.00. 2nd accident they wrote a check for $1600.00 the repair came to over $4000.00

One other thing. Your comment about them not matching the paint is completely true. If you find a good paint it can be matched it's tough but it can be done. They may need to paint the whole side of the car to blend the color.

[ActiveMonkey]

One other thing. Your comment about them not matching the paint is completely true. If you find a good paint it can be matched it's tough but it can be done. They may need to paint the whole side of the car to blend the color.

Which would mean painting the driver side rear door which is in perfect shape. The initial estimate was $2073, so if after my $500 deductible if i can walk with $1000 i'll take it, otherwise ill try and find a shop that could help me out.

*Cough* EIP Tuning "Cough*

Now what if i don't want the actual damage repaired, but say i want an RS4 or S4 bumper put on. Kinda like $2000 in damage was done, so could i just get $2000 in body work done?

[GTO]

Not as easy as everyone states, Depending on the insurance company, it could work maybe. The job of the insurance is to make the car whole again, most will just offer to fix the damage, the excuse of car color isn't going to get you off the hook. They'll say they'll just have to do tint match. Who's your insurance company? You might be better off discussing this with a shop that doesn't require an adjuster from your company. Some body shops are under contract to do repairs without the adjusters signing off. They are usually trusted body shops that have performed work quite frequently for them, state farm refers to them as Service first, AAA are called AAA approved repair facilities, and so on. My thinking is with your excuse of not wanting to fix it now they'll just pend the claim until your ready to have the work done. If you get into a car accident with another veh. insurance can pay out of liability to fix the other car and then at a later date you can have yours done. its not like both cars have to be fixed immediately. Say if your having trouble coming up with your deducatble for all those running high deducatbles. Anything else just send me a pm, im been in the insurance bus. for a while now so i can generally answer most questions.

[ActiveMonkey]

I have Esurance

I just got a second estimate from Mike Rose's Auto body for $1655. Now will they pay the cost of repair at what ever shop i take it to?

I honestly would rather give the business to EIP Tuning.

[Burntaudi]

If you go to a shop telling the insurance your having it fixed and have a bumper put on instead. Thats insurance fraud. Like I said you won't get as much money if you walk away with a check.

Sorry but not wanting to paint the drivers side rear door because it's perfect is a dumb excuse. Painting adjoining panels to blend color is the way it's done. If you get a good painter you won't be able to tell it was ever repaired. I used to be a painter by the way.

[ActiveMonkey]

I'm just really worried about the color not matching. Is there anyway i could ask for a guarantee in writing stating something like "If i'm not 100% satisfied with the paint match, then i want it redone."

I've had my rear bumper done twice (rear ended twice) and neither time has the paint matched.

I'd rather get a check, but assuming I might be willing to have it repaired , and i can't stress this enough, if it is not 100% PERFECT then it will be worse than before and i'd want it to be redone.

[Burntaudi]

The side of the car is gonna be a lot easier to match than a bumper. With the bumper they just painted and got the color as close as possible without painting and adjoining panels. This would be the case with any color but pearl white is worse since it is a 3 stage color.

With the side of the car it's gonna be easier to get the color since they have the whole side of the car to blend out the color if needed.

It's to bad you live halfway across the country I have a shop locally that I know could get the color perfect.

I would do some research. Find a shop that has a good reputation. Look at some of their finished work. Any good shop is gonna guarantee that they will get the color right. And if your not satisfied redo the paint work until you are happy.

FYI the reason pearl white is so had to match. Like I said it's a 3 stage color. Base coat, mid coat, and clear coat. Both the base and mid coat need to tinted separately for the color to match.

[ActiveMonkey]

Yea, i think i'll try Mikes Auto Body in Walnut Creek. They do good work so i'll try and get an estimate.

[GTO]

Yeah, not to sound like "The Man," but it is Insurance Fraud so whatever course of action you take make sure your story is whole and stick to it, the penalties even if it seems trivial, are harsh. They look at it all as insurance fraud, whether its to get $100 or $5000, its the same violation. Be careful!

[ActiveMonkey]

Yea, i'm not going to do anything that could get me in trouble. I'll have to think about this.

[ActiveMonkey]

What if i said, "I don't feel confident in any of the body shops and since i don't have a rental car option on my insurance i can't go with out a car for too long. I'm going to try and fix this myself. So i would prefer a check be cut for $...."

But then how much should i try and get in the check? I'd say i'm going to buy the panels off a junked A4 then install them myself.

[ActiveMonkey]

So the insurance says they will cut a check payable to Me & My lien Holder (Bank i have loan with)

Now the bank says they can't sign off on the check until they see all the repairs completed. I'm think to my self, Wait... i have to pay for everything out of pocket then get reimbursed? wtf?!


Any ideas?

[GTO]

So the insurance says they will cut a check payable to Me & My lien Holder (Bank i have loan with)

Now the bank says they can't sign off on the check until they see all the repairs completed. I'm think to my self, Wait... i have to pay for everything out of pocket then get reimbursed? wtf?!


Any ideas?

that's just some insurance's way of doing business, on the plus side, is if they ok the shop you can have the guy charge you one thing and have him write an invoice at something else. The big name insurers just require you to pay your ded. at first, some require the whole amount and then reimburse minus your deductable.

[Kievskiy]

ok, what i did in the past, remember that rear door "dent", well, they said that they can give a check either to me+bank or me+body shop, i picked body shop, also they take dedactible from the check and the shop recieves tha clean money, that they can spend, and if the shop is in need of more money, lets say more parts required then estimate showed, then they, the shop contacts the insurance company, not you.
hope this helps.

So the insurance says they will cut a check payable to Me & My lien Holder (Bank i have loan with)

Now the bank says they can't sign off on the check until they see all the repairs completed. I'm think to my self, Wait... i have to pay for everything out of pocket then get reimbursed? wtf?!


Any ideas?

[ActiveMonkey]

But i just want the check so i can buy a new Tranny...

[nizmosx]

wait a month and then fuck with her car, thats bs.... but you will have to pay a deductable for your insurance. When they are ready to write a check out just tell them to send it to you. End of story. no reasons needed. any pics of the damage.

[Kievskiy]

tlk to your shop then....only they can help you period.

But i just want the check so i can buy a new Tranny...
and be carefull with all those thoughts of yours, try not to put them on forum too much, you never know whos on here, just my 2 cents;)