Q: Do you believe this situation is worth pursuing from a legal & financial perspective? Is there precedent for this?
Hello & I appreciate your time & expertise.
I took my car to my Ins. Co.’s recommended Collisions Shop.While in for a complete tear down quote, the Shop caused additional damage to my car. They submitted a final quote to my Ins. Co. - which includes the cost to repair their damages, and charges for part(s)/labor my car does not need.
Due to the high dollar amount of the quote, my Ins. Co. declared my car a Total Loss.
After closely reviewing the quote, I contacted the Ins. Co.’s adjuster, his boss & the total loss rep. to express my concern with what I had found - & to arrange for a second quote from a Shop I could trust.
All 3 of the Ins. Co. Reps echoed the identical message = another quote is fine, but the Total Loss determination will not change. NONE of them offered to look into the issue with the Shop or even sounded a bit concerned. It all feels shady & pre-arranged, in my opinion.
I am stuck with the above situation. Is it worth pursuing? Thank you!
A:
Probably not. Look, insurance is a business. It is probably not worth their while to fully investigate what might have happened, especially when clearly, the insurance company is paying a claim anyway, just to save a few bucks.
It is pre-arranged; insurance companies are most collision shops' primary clients. And there is a lot of competition among collision shops for that business. Your insurance company did not pick that collision shop's name at random out of the phone book; to continue getting that business, the collision shop is operating as the insurance company expects.
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