Progressive owes me nothing and I owe them nothing. They’ve fulfilled their obligations by cutting a check for the estimated amount. The only issue I have with them is that they canceled the check directly to me after I’d already deposited it and reissued a check for the entire adjusted amount to the body shop.
Progressive issued you a check. At that point, you could have done a few things with that check. You could have pocketed the money, and drove a damaged vehicle. You could have used that money and fixed it yourself with junkyard parts, and pocketed the remainder (if any was left). You could have used that money to hire someone to fix it on the side, in their garage.
However, when it was obvious that you were getting a body shop involved, which occurred when the body shop requested that an adjuster come to the body shop and provide an estimate for repairs, and was agreed to... then Progressive took back the money back that they'd paid to you. They're not in the business of paying for the same repair twice.
I'm not sure how you find that confusing.
Progressive is going to pay the body shop directly. Period. They're
not going to pay you, and then let you pay the body shop. That's not going to happen when it is their money, too many things to go wrong. Mechanic's Liens are one reason why, amongst other things. An insurance company pays a customer to pay a body shop. Before the repairs on the vehicle are complete, the customer goes to Vegas and loses all of the insurance money at the craps table. Then, when the body shop is done the vehicle, there's no money left for the body shop. Ooops.
They sent me an email today saying I’ll only owe them $132.
Who is "they"? I stupidly assumed it was Progressive, but now it appears to be the body shop. My position on that hasn't changed. You just need to pay it and move on.
The body shop is refusing to credit me the amount insurance paid for parts. Example I got an oe fender for $250 insurance paid them $327 for an aftermarket replacement. Headlamp I got at $118 they were paid $280 for a salvage yard piece. The difference in all these parts would cover the cost of the door skin I purchased and possibly some of the labor difference between repairing and replacing it.
So my issue is I don’t think it’s right that they can charge me markup on parts I supplied. The next time they bring a wheel and tire in to get mounted they’re not going to let me charge them $60 in parts since they supplied their own and the dealership lost profit. That’s exactly what they’re doing to me and their claim is that they are entitled to make profit on the parts markup.
So... the body shop needs to reimburse you for money that you saved them? Did the body shop agree to this up front? The problem is, it doesn't work that way. Maybe if the body shop is owned by your Uncle. And maybe not even then.
Again... Multiple issues created this mess. A body shop should not allow a customer to supply parts, unless the
customer is the one paying the
entire bill. That's their fault, and they should know better. And if a body shop is brave enough to allow a customer to supply parts on an insurance repair, parts should never be bought until the estimate is created. Why? The door skin is why. Which points back to that a body shop should never allow a customer to supply parts, unless the customer is the one paying the entire bill.