Shop has had my car for three months...Suggestions

[nevin]

Please give me some advice. I'll try to keep this a wordless as possible.

I got into an accident March 8th. The insurance company told me that the car would be finished March 28th. Now they are telling me MAY 24th! I have rental insurance for 30 days but haven't had the time to go and get one. Insurance will pay $30 a day for a rental for 30 days. I have been telling them I want to get reimbursed that $30 everyday i haven't had a rental and my car is in the shop.

All four people say no, thats not going to happen. I tell them i'm not going to stop asking so we keep moving up the until i talk to the supervisors supervisor. He finally gets someone yesterday to drive a rental over to me.

Is it wishful thinking to keep asking to be reimbursed for either my car payments + my insurance payments each month ($850) or the $30 a day i didn't have a rental?!?!?

I am pretty upset about not having my car! Now that i have a rental (Chevy Malibu), I'm worried that my chances of getting any money from them is gone.

[shawrf1]

First of all, which insurance company is this? Second, how severe was the accident - was the chassis involved, or just body damage? The length of time needed to make repairs depends on how severe the damage was, so I can't comment on whether 8 weeks is justified for repairs.

As for the rental/car payment/reimbursement issue, if $30 a day for 30 days for a rental is what your policy covers, then that is what they're obligated to honor. Period. However, I've been in my fair share of accidents and dealing with insurance companies and found that getting what you want really depends on the customer service of the company and having a good attitude with them - otherwise, I wouldn't expect any type of reimbursement.

Good luck!

[FredVMI]

You haven't provided enough info to assess the issues. It does seem unusual that you were given a completion date in March that was moved to May; however, there could be a reasonable explanation. We need more info on the damage and repairs. Regarding the car rental, you're likely not entitled to anything beyond your policy coverage. The lone exception might be if the insurance company did not adequately manage the repair shop to ensure timely completion of the work. If you went to a shop they recommended, you may have some leverage. If not, you're out of luck. Regarding loan/lease and insurance payments, you'll receive no sympathy from your insurance company for those items. Provide more info if you want better guidance from the forum.

[Mr Tonka]

First of all. The length of time needed doesn't often involve the time necessary to repair the vehicle. It often has more to do with the shops backlog and how much of a priority that insurance carrier is to that body shop. They deal with several insurance carriers and there is a pecking order.

Second. You may want to contact a 3rd party adjuster to review your policy for you. They may charge you a fee to review, they may want to represent you free of charge unless they get you over and above what your policy says. Then they will likely want a percentage of that.

Most insurance policies have contingency money built into them that the general public would never find. Those contingencies are why the 3rd party adjusters exist. My business burned down 7 years ago and my policy clearly stated that the limits of my contents coverage was $320,000. This was cut and dry since the building was a bulldozed to the ground making it a total loss. A 3rd party adjuster (Adjuster's International) were able to find an additional $220,000 that i was entitled to because of certain circumstances. i'm not 100% sure but they may work with auto policies as well.

Bottom line is that the time frame given to you is absurd. It took less time for that vehicle to be produced and shipped to you from Germany.

[bily]

My wifes car was hit. A relatively minor rear end collision. I had my ins co look at it and then went through the other persons company. Both adjustors said 4-6 days. At the first shop it was there 24 days. At the second shop 21 days. Its going to a 3rd shop on Thursday. Net result is the insurance companies don't fix the cars, they just do quick estimates. Part availability is another issues.

Did you use one of your ins co shops? I did not recall.

As far as rental coverage. You have the option to get the car or be compensated. There is a lot more flexibility if you take the car, rather then the cash. But keep in touch with your ins company and ask them for the reason for the delays and ask them who will cover the car. Sounds like it may have been your fault, not sure. That does not help. But remember these guys / girls can do almost anything if they want to. Just be nice, and ask politely. We've been upgraded to a full size SUV each time, and I've already gotten $3100 in DV and the car is still not fixed.

Good luck with the repairs. Make sure you look it over both outside in natural light and inside under artificial light to make sure the paint work is good.

[mykcheng]

First, sorry for your situation.

In your situation, you didn't mention who is at fault for your accident. If you went through your own insurance company, then you're stuck with whatever rental reimbursement policy you signed up for. When I worked for Enterprise Rent-A-Car over 10 years ago, an insurance company like AAA had three different policies. They had $15/day, $30/day, and $45/day towards a rental car. So, if it's $30/day on your policy, then that's what it is. You won't get a comparable vehicle.

If the fault was someone else's and you're going through their insurance company, then the $30/day policy should not be a factor. Back in the day, if another insurance company was paying for your rental, they would rent you something "comparable." NOW, what the insurance company considers "comparable" is not the same as what everyone here thinks. "Comparable" to an insurance company does not mean a brand new M3 for you to rent. Besides, you won't find one to rent. "Comparable" is determined based on your car's year, milege, and depreciation. So, a 2008 E92 M3 may be "comparable" to a 2011 Inifini G35 Sedan. Again, this is not a perfect comparison, but I think you get the picture on how this works.

Finally, if you didn't use the rental policy on your insurance policy and rented a car, then you basically threw away money. You paid for that $30/day policy the entire time and you decided not to use it. I have never heard of an insurance company giving their customer the policy money if they never used it. Most of the time, the $30/day will be directly billed to the insurance company from the rental car company, or the insurance company will reimburse you with a check covering the $30/day for 30 days.

In any case, I wish you luck in dealing with the insurance companies. And, I hope you get your car back soon.

[RevFreak14]

Hire a Taliban and blow them up !!!!!!!!! They could've built you 40 cars by now. 3 months is unacceptable.