Car wreck, lowball offer.

[gregk24]

So, the story goes like this….neighbor backs into wife’s new car, neighbors insurance accepts liability, neighbors insurance gives lowball offer.

My question is, how do I handle it?
Also, how much do you think this would cost to repair, I think their offer is garbage.

Here is the damage…

 

[jhellwig]

I would go get an estimate or two and tell them this is what it costs.

 

[oggb]

I don't understand.

You don't haggle with your neighbor's insurance, you take it to a body shop and get an estimate.

 

[dishdude]

Take it to the body shop of your choice and let them deal with the insurance company.

 

[atikovi]

2 hours R&R bumper
2 hours repair bumper
3 hours paint bumper
4 hours repair quarter
3 hours paint quarter
Maybe $300 for paint and supplies.
$1200-$1500 retail total.

 

[Nick1994]

It doesn't matter what the offer is, when it's at the body shop they will get more money if needed from the insurance company with a supplement.

And for the millionth time: Claim with your own insurance not the other person's insurance.

They will get reimbursed.

 

[Nick1994]

2 hours R&R bumper
2 hours repair bumper
3 hours paint bumper
4 hours repair quarter
3 hours paint quarter
Maybe $300 for paint and supplies.
$1200-$1500 retail total.

I had a 15' Sonata and got rear ended lightly. To replace the rear bumper (that was it) was $2,450 in 2017.

 

[gregk24]

It doesn't matter what the offer is, when it's at the body shop they will get more money if needed from the insurance company with a supplement.

And for the millionth time: Claim with your own insurance not the other person's insurance.

They will get reimbursed.

Forgive my ignorance, but why would I claim in under my policy. Filing a claim typically raises your rate.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I would have your insurance go after theirs then they will step up the game. Or take it to a couple body shops and have estimates. As new as it is I’d take it to the dealer and have them estimate and do work so it would most likely be more expensive and you would get genuine parts.

 

[FordMan59]

There's only one way to handle this. Take the car to your favorite body shop and get an estimate. That's why it's called liability insurance because they are liable for your damages. Usually I'll take my car to several body shops if I don't have a preferred and then turn in the highest 2 estimates I get. Sometimes lowball estimates also reflect the kind of job that will done on the repair. I noticed it's a VW and you said you wife's new car so I'd take it to a VW dealer and tell them you want it repaired with VW parts not some aftermarket part that doesn't fit right. Insurance companies will get you any way they think they can. I had a water heater leak a few years ago and my homeowners insurance recommended I get an estimate from Servpro. They gave me an estimate of less than $5K and there wasn't even anything listed on the estimate about drying it out, just listed replacing a small area of flooring and drywall which wasn't near the extent of the damage. When I got a couple of estimates of people I chose one was $48.5K (general contractor) and the other was about $30K (water and mold remediation company). I took the insurance companies money, bought a dehumidifier dried everything out cleaned the mold sprayed it with Mold Control, painted all the effected studs/floor joist to control mold return then bought the outer materials needed to do the finish work. My materials alone were about 3/4 the cost of Servpro's whole estimate. The ones who gave me estimates were saying it would take about 3-4 months to complete everything. I had everything done in about 3 weeks.

 

[Nick1994]

Forgive my ignorance, but why would I claim in under my policy. Filing a claim typically raises your rate.

Filing a claim raises your rates if you're found at fault. Your insurance company would get their money back, it wouldn't be an issue.

And your car gets taken care of by your insurance, which has your best interest compared to the other party's insurance, which wants to pay as little as possible. And they might have fly-by-night insurance.

When I had the VW I got the door dinged by someone and their insurance was "Gainsco Auto Insurance" and they were an absolute nightmare to deal with.

When I got rear ended in my Sonata, it was a breeze to deal with my insurance company. My rates did not go up.

 

[Nick1994]

Also, when it's all done, ask for a diminished value claim. The standard is 25% of the repair, so $2,500 repair would mean you would get $625. I got them to go to 40%, so I got almost $1k.

 

[gregk24]

Also, when it's all done, ask for a diminished value claim. The standard is 25% of the repair, so $2,500 repair would mean you would get $625. I got them to go to 40%, so I got almost $1k.

So you file this after it is repaired? Or during the whole claims process?

 

[atikovi]

I had a 15' Sonata and got rear ended lightly. To replace the rear bumper (that was it) was $2,450 in 2017.

Don't imagine they will replace that bumper. New Sonata bumper is $400. R&R 2.5 hr. Paint 3 hr. There was more damage if they charged you $2,450.

 

[Pew]

So you file this after it is repaired? Or during the whole claims process?

During the whole claims process. +1 with claiming your own insurance and not theirs. You may have to pay your deductable but you will get it back anyways. The body shop will charge the insurance company anyways so you shouldn't have to get in the middle of that. Just make sure it's a reputable shop.

 

[GoldDot40]

I agree with letting YOUR insurance handle it. That's ultimately what you pay them to do.

Several years ago, my truck was hit...the other party's fault. I thought I was going to show them who's boss and deal with them myself. What a freakin nightmare. While I ended up getting what I demanded in the end, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

It was a complete headache and inconvenience. People got their feelings hurt, people got cussed out, people got hung up on. It drug out over a month before I got results and I had to go close to the top of the ladder to get it.

 

[dishdude]

There's no reason for OP to get his insurance involved, the other insurance company already accepted liability. All that needs to be done is select a body shop and schedule the repair - whatever the estimate is at this point is irrelevant.

I'm assuming OP is getting this fixed since it's a brand new car.

 

[USask2000]

You going to trade the car once it’s fixed? I can’t imagine the mental anguish knowing it’s no longer factory perfect.

 

[Andrew1972]

Forgive my ignorance, but why would I claim in under my policy. Filing a claim typically raises your rate.

No it does not because they simply pass the cost to the other insurance to pay it. Ask them. The process they do is called subrogation and they constantly do it with one another.

 

[dishdude]

Forgive my ignorance, but why would I claim in under my policy. Filing a claim typically raises your rate.

It won't raise your rate but it will show up on your CLUE report. Insurance companies don't like unlucky people so even if it isn't your fault it can impact your ability to change insurance companies.

I switched homeowner's insurance a few years ago and they asked about car insurance so I figured I'd get a quote. I had a not-at-fault accident that I had filed a claim with the other driver's insurance. The agent stopped right there and said don't even bother. Damage was very similar to yours and came to about $2,500. They botched the repair and I ended up trading the vehicle as a result....avoid collision centers named after baby food.