Auto Insurance Claims: Dealing with a claims handler, store surveillance, surveillance cameras

Question
I was truly unfortunate to have my car struck by not one, but by two shopping carts while parked at a supermarket. I witnessed one shopping cart actually strike my car (due to strong winds) as I approached my vehicle. The runaway carriage I witnessed left a very small imprint on my rear bumper, so I figured I can live with that. However,I noticed another shopping cart rather close to my car. I believe that shopping cart placed a sizable dent on the right fender while I was in the store shopping. As soon as I noticed the dent I returned to the store and requested to speak with a manager. The manager agreed to look at the damage and forward my information to their insurance company. He also said he would check the store surveillance cameras to see if they caught the impact by the shopping cart. When the insurance company contacted me, they asked for a single estimate and agreed to reimburse for a rental car up to $30 per day. This sounded reasonable, so I went out and retrieved a total of three estimates. The estimates ranged from $400-$1300; all the repair shops wanted to do similar work, just for a different price. I decided I would do the right thing and submit the lowest estimate to reduce the costs for everyone and assumed that the insurance company would be more likely to settle on a more reasonable estimate (the $400 estimate). To my surprise, after forwarding the estimate to the insurance company, they in turn forwarded the estimate to a third-party claim handler. The claim handler submitted an insurance estimate to the body shop for $200, alleging that blending the adjacent panel (blending to the bumper, in this case), is not necessary to effect a proper repair.

At this point, I want to get at least some reimbursement for the costs associated with this repair. I'm not exactly happy with $200 and the repair shop referred to the third-party claim handler estimate as a complete joke. So we are sort of at a stalemate. The body shop won't lower their price and the claims handler seems to think their estimate is more than adequate. Because of the color of my car (Silver), I believe it's necessary to blend with the bumper. It bothers me that the claims handler is making these claims without having seen my car in person. My car was appraised by a licensed appraiser in my state so I tend to believe my body shop provided me with a reasonable estimate to effect a successful repair.

I have e-mailed the claims handler and explained their flawed logic, however they have put it back on me, saying I'm wrong and that blending is not required.

Now I'm no expert on how to repair this damage, and I don't claim to be, but I don't think this claims handler is dealing fairly.

So at this point, I'm not sure what's going to happen with my claim. I have already scheduled the appointment and will get the car fixed on the appropriate date for the agreed-upon price ($400). I'm really not sure how to deal with this third-party claims handlers so I'm looking for advice as to what to do now.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answer
Hi Steve,

I am very familiar with the process you explained. The third party that revied your estimate is called a "desk review company". There job is to review estimates for insurance comapnies and reduce the estimate. These companies generally do not get paid unless they actuall save the insurance company more than the fee they charge to review the estimate. These companies do not inspect your car and simply try to find things that thay can take off the estimate to justify their fee. The way this process is supposed to work is that the third party estimator is supposed to call the body shop that wrote your estimate and reach an "agreed price". If this did not happen and your shop does not agree to this then the third party estimate is invalid. If the insurance company persists, you should ask them to put in writing that if they use their estimate that will guarantee to pay for the blending and any labor if the paint does not match. You will need this on their letterhead signed by a claims manager. Further, silver is one of the more difficult colors to match and blending is generally appropriate.

You can continue to argue with the adjuster in an attempt to convince them that your $400.00 esatimate is correct and reasonable or you can pay the $400.00 your self making certain the shop provides you with a detailed bill. Then you would file a small claims law suit against the store. Due to the minimal nature of the claim it is doubtful the insurance company will defend the suit and will offer to pay the amount in full.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh