Auto Insurance Claims: What is fair and reasonable?, rental car, out of pocket expenses

Question
Hello Ernest, In early October a tailgate from a concrete company truck fell off on the freeway and hit the side of my car.  The company's insurer finally agreed fault and will pay the claim. I obtained an estimate and sent them the quote.  They negotiated a lower rate than the company originally provided me, good I suppose. They are sending me the check but say if it changes they are not responsible. They are not making it easy for me to rent a car and say that they will only provide 6 days of rental and anything more I'm responsible.  What is fair and reasonable?  Should I be compensated for my personal time and inconvenience to get the repairs made?  The car is only 4 months new.

Answer
When you say "if it changes they are not responsible", I assume you mean that if the repair company charges more than the estimate to fix the car that the insurance company will not increase their payment.  You need to make it clear to the repair company that you are receiving a fixed sum for the repairs and that they need to guarantee the repair will be completed at that fixed price.  Try to get it in writing on the "estimate" they give you.

As far as the car rental is concerned - it's probably governed by their insurance policy with the concrete truck but you might ask to see a copy of their policy to confirm the 6 day limit.  It's probably not a real contractual limit it's just the limit that they're willing to pay for this type of expense.

At the end of the day you're really limited in your power to change their mind.  I try to change their mind with a well crafted lawsuit but your disagreement is too small to justify a law suit - and they know that.  So they're just flexing their muscles and unfortunately, there is not a lot you can do about it.

They probably will not pay you for your time and inconvenience unless you can show them actual out-of-pocket costs you incurred - and even then you might not get anything... it all depends on the particular insurance carrier.

I know it's not what you want to hear but they're just acting like an insurance company and you can either fight them using the legal system or you're stuck grinning  and bearing it.

Sorry I couldn't give you a magic bullet but good luck.

Best regards, Ernest Ferraro