Auto Insurance Claims: Insurance performed wrong repairs on my car, flood damage, carfax

Question
I blew the engine in my car while driving down a flooded street. Insurance company claimed it as flood damage and towed my car to their shop and took 6 weeks installing a new engine and transmission. I was told that an engine from the same model and year of my car was being installed and was provided written estimate showing that. The past 2 months I have made 4 trips to the insurance company for follow up repairs and my car still isnt running right. I finally pulled the VIN Number off the engine and ran a carfax and found out that the engine is from a new version of my car. The problem is that the new engine would require new parts (a new ECU, transmission and wirring harnesses) to work properly in my car. I dropped my car off again to get it fixed because the check engine will not go off and the car has been stalling on me. I told the insurance rep what I had found out and they said that I would have to pay to have an acura expert look at my car and prove that the engine would not work in my car at wich point they would involve a third party and start a dispute.

At this point I would rather fix the car myself and take whatever legal matters are necessary to get compenstion from the insurance company. My question is do the insurance companies have to provide me with an acurate written estimate of the work to be done before they start repairs? What options would be available to me since they put the wrong engine in my car and I can prove that? Sorry this is so long and thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Keith,

The first thing you need to understand is that insurance companies do not repair vehicles. Their only jon it to cut a check to pay for the repairs. Since they are the one cutting the check, they will do anything to make sure the check is as little as possible.

It is up to you to be sure that you chose the correct facility to be sure the work is done correctly. At this point you should refuse too have any work done on the vehicle other than by an Acura dealer. Thake the vehicle to the dealer service department. Rxplain to them what has happened. They should be able to put in writing the fact that this is the wrong engine and what will be needed in terms of parts and labor costs to make any needed corrections. Then you can submit that to the insurance company and tell them to write the check to pay for it. If they refuse then you can file a complaint with your state insurance department and/or you can pay to have the work done yourself and then sue them to for the amount it cost to do the repairs.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh