Insurance check written to me and an auto body shop?
Posted by admin on February 10, 2010My car was recently in a bad hail storm and got about $5200 worth of hail damage. After my deductible was subtracted from the estimated damage, my insurance company will right a check to me and an auto body shop of my choice for $4700. I’m wondering if it’s possible for me to have the auto body shop just do a couple thousand dollars of repairs and give me the rest of the money…..does anyone have some advice for me?
There are shops that will do that sort of thing, you just have to know where to go and who to ask. Generally you don’t walk into a certified high quality shop and make that kind of deal. The guys you are looking for are in bad parts of town and are a bit shadier. They work on a lot stolen cars.
See, if you have a successful, profitable business you don’t risk all of that by committing INSURANCE FRAUD where your cut would be less tha $1,000. Would you risk your livelyhood and jail time for that?
doubtful since this is your insurance company and they have a contract with you and your lien-holder, thus the reason for the 2 party check.
now if your car is paid for, you could do this, but;;;;;;;;they could then tell you that they will not insure you for collision and comprehensive since you would still have prior damages.
one other option would be if you can find a shop that will do all the entire repairs for less, but that would have to be between you and the shop, otherwise if the other shop wrote estimate for less, that is what they will pay.
in this economy, there might be some shops willing to do this to keep/and/or get business rather than lose it. they just lower their hourly rate as an example. or another example would be if you have a fairly new car, they can use used parts vs new parts which can substantially lower the amount. in some states, by law the insurance company has to use new parts for repair even if you can get used parts.
hope this helps, good luck
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auto adjuster
No. The reason they do that is to make sure the repairs are done and that you don’t pocket the money. The car is financed, correct? So the lienholder also wants to be sure it is repaired completely – the car is the security for the loan.
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No – insurance is strictly a contract of indemnity- you are reimbursed for your actual amount of loss. If you do not get the car repaired than you will lose that much amount of claim from the insurance company. Besides, if the insurance company finds out that the car was not repaired and you meet with an accident again they can deny the second claim since the vehicle was not in good condition – your negligence.
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Underwriter
There are shops that will do that sort of thing, you just have to know where to go and who to ask. Generally you don’t walk into a certified high quality shop and make that kind of deal. The guys you are looking for are in bad parts of town and are a bit shadier. They work on a lot stolen cars.
See, if you have a successful, profitable business you don’t risk all of that by committing INSURANCE FRAUD where your cut would be less tha $1,000. Would you risk your livelyhood and jail time for that?
References :