Auto Insurance Claims: Auto claim, auto claim, insurance company

Question
Hi:  

I had an accident on 04/2005 where I was at fault.  There were no injuries and my insurance company at the time paid the other claimant and gave me an estimate for my vehicle when I filed my claim.  To date I have never had my car fixed (I know, it has been over two years, but I did not have a secondary vehicle and a rental was not available on my policy).  The only thing I did fix was the bent wheel which I needed to fix in order to pass inspection.  The car had a small dent and some damage to the undercarriage but drives fine with no other problems.  A few months ago, I dropped the insurance company because of my rates and signed with a new company.  A couple of companies I looked into would not insure me until the car was fixed and the one I did get never asked.  I would like to get it fixed now since I now have a second vehicle I can use while this car is in the shop.  I live in Virginia and was wondering if the claim will still be honored since I am no longer with the insurance company and it has been over 2 years since I filed the claim?  Is there any problem with the estimate since it was 2 years ago?

Thanks.

Answer
Hi David,

Your insurance company at the time should have issued a check minus your deductible at the time you made the claim. If they did not then you will need to contact them and tell them to issue you a check based on their original estimate less your deductible. Since it has been 2 years the insurance company will not be responsible for any additional costs that have occured due to the passage of time, such as the parts and labor costs will now be higher than they were 2 years ago. You will have to pay the difference.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh