slavver01

Hey guys, looking for some advice from the experience available here. My wife was rear ended the other week. the pics show the damage. My insurance company only had one "preferred" auto repair in the area. They were gonna send over an appraiser but looks like they had no one in the area either, so i drove by the shop and had them do the estimate.

The insurance company ended up approving their estimate, but i am obviously not required to use them. i can bring it anywhere as long as they're licensed. and they have to use the quote from this first place.

so heres my dilema. the appraisal was in my opinion quite hight. $3900! ive gotten 2 quotes from other reputable shops and they are $2200-$2500. i'd like to go to one more place that has a great rep and see what they say.

The insurance sends the check in my name and the shop. I havent been telling any of the shops insurance is involved so they dont just raise the price! is it possible for me to have a shop fix it for say $2500, and sign the check so i keep the rest? Im planning on using it to get new tires and a new front bumper since its all pitted and one of the mounting tabs on the side broke.

the other question is since its in my best interest to get a lower estimate from another place, should i take off the rear bumper myself and tell them to quote the trunk damage and the rear quarter panel?

The pic of the rear door is hard to tell but the rear quarter panel pushed in a bit. the next pic is a slight crease in the wheel well where the panel folded a tad. im wondering if this will require a frame machine?

Looking forward to some good advice, thanks fellas!!

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

I was backed into and went through the other person's insurance and the process was that the insurance company sent an adjuster to assess the damage, he came up with a quote, and then wrote a check to me. I was free to do with that money whatever I wanted. I ended up taking it somewhere that cost far less and was able to keep the difference and apply it to other fixes.

Because that's my only experience with going through insurance for an accident, that's always been my perception of how it works. Insurance assesses damage, writes a check, you take it wherever and if it's less you keep the difference. I can't generalize and say that's always how it is everywhere or with every company. This was also about 5 years ago.

I hope others know more specifically what the process is and post here so I can learn about it myself.