An insurance company sets a premium, which is, paid by an insured. There is no negotiation. When there is a claim, the insurance company does everything in its power to dictate and control repair allowances. The company decides what is to be repaired or replaced. They often try to dictate the use of cheap replacement parts and apply labor rates that do not come close to covering the repair shop overhead.
Repair shops must make a profit and are forced to inflate labor hours. They often “setup” vehicles and make damages appear more severe than they actually are.
Many insurance adjusters have little of no hands on repair shop experience. Most can’t tell the difference between a legitimate estimate and a setup.
Adjusting claims is a game played by both sides. In the end, right or wrong, an agreement is reached. Once an insurance company adjusts a claim and reaches an agreed price, they pay the amount of loss less the deductible. They have fulfilled their obligation under the insurance contract. It should make no difference if the insured paid the agreed price to repair the vehicle, completed all or part of the repair themselves, or if a repair shop did the job for free. Any transaction between the vehicle owner and another party (repair shop) is a separate contract. Insurance companies have no legitimate business interfering.
The insurance company should have the right to verify that repairs have been made and the vehicle is safely drivable, if they continue to insure the vehicle.
We could quibble over a few minor details.. but overall your comments are well stated. With that said, I’d like to add a bit to your ending comment, which was:
“”The insurance company should have the right to verify that repairs have been made and the vehicle is safely drivable, if they continue to insure the vehicle.””
If when verifying the condition of the auto they find that no repairs have been made, and they still insure the auto, should that insured’s premiums be lowered slightly??
My thoughts are…
Say the damage was from a Deer sliding down the passenger side of the car creating about $3000 in damage. The car is safe to drive [just looks like Crap].
At a later time another deer slides down that same side.(where I live that’s not an unusual event) If it had been repaired the insurer would be paying another $3000 to repair it again. But since it wasn’t repaired they likely won’t pay any Dollars at all, saving the insurer $3000.
Also,in the event of a subsequent Total Loss the Insurer will reduce the value of the car by an substantial amount, again saving the insurer somewhere close to $3000.
So, since the vehicle is worth less and one whole side is somewhat uninsured, why should they be paying the same Premium as an auto that is undamaged and worth more??
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An insurance company sets a premium, which is, paid by an insured. There is no negotiation. When there is a claim, the insurance company does everything in its power to dictate and control repair allowances. The company decides what is to be repaired or replaced. They often try to dictate the use of cheap replacement parts and apply labor rates that do not come close to covering the repair shop overhead.
Repair shops must make a profit and are forced to inflate labor hours. They often “setup” vehicles and make damages appear more severe than they actually are.
Many insurance adjusters have little of no hands on repair shop experience. Most can’t tell the difference between a legitimate estimate and a setup.
Adjusting claims is a game played by both sides. In the end, right or wrong, an agreement is reached. Once an insurance company adjusts a claim and reaches an agreed price, they pay the amount of loss less the deductible. They have fulfilled their obligation under the insurance contract. It should make no difference if the insured paid the agreed price to repair the vehicle, completed all or part of the repair themselves, or if a repair shop did the job for free. Any transaction between the vehicle owner and another party (repair shop) is a separate contract. Insurance companies have no legitimate business interfering.
The insurance company should have the right to verify that repairs have been made and the vehicle is safely drivable, if they continue to insure the vehicle.
.
.
The Professor,
We could quibble over a few minor details.. but overall your comments are well stated. With that said, I’d like to add a bit to your ending comment, which was:
“”The insurance company should have the right to verify that repairs have been made and the vehicle is safely drivable, if they continue to insure the vehicle.””
If when verifying the condition of the auto they find that no repairs have been made, and they still insure the auto, should that insured’s premiums be lowered slightly??
My thoughts are…
Say the damage was from a Deer sliding down the passenger side of the car creating about $3000 in damage. The car is safe to drive [just looks like Crap].
At a later time another deer slides down that same side.(where I live that’s not an unusual event) If it had been repaired the insurer would be paying another $3000 to repair it again. But since it wasn’t repaired they likely won’t pay any Dollars at all, saving the insurer $3000.
Also,in the event of a subsequent Total Loss the Insurer will reduce the value of the car by an substantial amount, again saving the insurer somewhere close to $3000.
So, since the vehicle is worth less and one whole side is somewhat uninsured, why should they be paying the same Premium as an auto that is undamaged and worth more??
Just thinking out loud.
Fred,