Auto Insurance Claims: incomplete collision repairs, improper repairs, collision shop

Question
I was in a wreck early 2008 in heavy traffic I was completely stopped on a major highway my vehicle was hit from behind 2x then pushed 50+ft into a vehicle in front of me;the at fault vehicle was traveling 55+MPH when they hit me his truck was underinsured so my ins has been paying the costs even though he was faulted. My car sat for 3 months in a "Preferred repair shop" per the ins co rep. totaled almost 18k in damage back and forth on corrective repairs for 2 months finally got it back after 5 months total. after getting my car back from the shop I was still concerned about its safety and had to relocate to another state because of a job situation -after being assured the vehicle was safe-I took possesion of it again.within weeks of moving the rear passenger door trim started falling off took to dealer collision center-who has put in writing that repairs on the list from orig shop were not actually done and damge was actually painted over with undercoating to cover up unaddressed issues. What is my recourse in all this? when i drove the car to my new home my front tires blew out the shop that replaced the tires said they blew because in the accident they had separated from the inner core.I called the orig shop mgr the next day who did state that they had not even inspected them.  My current attny said i cant do anything but request they finally total out the car but that I cant go after the orig shop for fraud and improper repairs because no injuries occurred as a result. Please help me sort this out as i am frustrated and upset because to replace the vehicle I have is going to cost me 40k+ (I have a luxury vehicle) the orig shop put me and my family a a huge risk and stated the car was safe and completely repaired. the new collision shop has estimated almost 14k in repairs to correct it. I dont know what else I can do at this point I dont want to srive a car that is not safe.

Answer
Hi Marnie,

Your attorney is wrong. You absolutely have recourse, although it may be a difficult process. If the first body shop was a preferred shop of your insurance company and you went there on their recommendation, then you have recourse against your insurance company as well as the shop itself. Here are some basic steps:

1) You need to have your new dealer shop write a re-repair estimate.
2) You need to ask the new dealer shop if they will be willing to put in writing all of the items that were either not completed by the first shop or not done properly.
3) You need to write a letter or have your attorney write a letter to your insurance company outlining all of the items of bad repair that was done by their preferred shop. Enclose a copy of the re-repair estimate and demand payment of the cost of the re-repairs or that they total your vehicle and pay it's full value back at the time of the accident plus sales tax.
4) The next steps will depend on the answer you get from your insurance company.

If your insurance company did not specifically refer you to the shop that did the work then your recourse would be directly against the shop. You would send the same letter directly to the shop. If they do not agree to pay for the re-repairs or to total your vehicle then you would have to file suit against the shop.

For additional assistance or consultation visit www.collisionclaims.com

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh