When To Accept Appraiser's Estimate
By teamrose
@teamrose (1492)
United States
June 2, 2012 5:05pm CST
Last week, a guy in a pickup ran into (well, ran OVER) my car while it was parked in the parking lot. I came back from lunch to find some pretty ridiculous damage and a note with his insurance info (thank goodness for that, at least).
Now, the appraiser has taken a look at the damage and seems to be seriously low balling me. She estimated $1347 of repairs, with a lot of "fix hood/fix bumper" instead of "replace".
My car was no beauty queen before getting hit, and I was honestly planning on putting any settlement money into my 'next car fund' account. So, how do I get the repair estimate revised upwards... short of getting the repairs done? Should I try to get a 2nd opinion from a repair shop? Get an adjuster from my insurance company to come and take a look (I have liability only, so I don't know if they'll get involved)?
My car is still drivable, but the damage has certainly taken a chunk off of the resale value. The adjuster also didn't include all of the damage (ie; the door handle that got knocked off, possible engine repairs - it sounds like one of the hoses cracked or something - my engine just sounds terrible and makes a high pitch compression noise when it's running and for about 5 seconds after I turn it off).
2 responses
@freqspaz (220)
• United States
3 Jun 12
I would call the insurance company that did the appraisal back and complain about the engine noise, however I wouldn't call their local branch I would call the 1800 number or a corporate number, also when you call them ask for clarification on what and why they appraise- for example- what constitutes the bumper being 'damaged and repairable' vs 'damaged need replacing'. Voice the fact you were not happy with the original appraisal because of the obvious missing parts from your car were not included.
It wouldn't hurt to call your company too, just because you have liability only doesn't mean that they can't help answer your questions or even help get you a better appraisal rating. They can't 'do' anything unless you say "yes put this in my record/yes I want this to reflect on my insurance' or something like that.
Good luck!
Oh and if push comes to shove you can always sue the guy? truck / that ran over your car for damages.
@freqspaz (220)
• United States
3 Jun 12
Yeah, really it's a last ditch effort to sue, but it is an option. I'm glad I could be of a little help, it sounds like they should have 'totaled' your car, but if its old you might be getting more money with the adjuster writing 'repair' on it, than what the car maybe worth to them. Good luck!
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
6 Jun 12
I have 16 years experience in the auto collision repair industry, although I have been out of it for 6 years now, I still have some knowledge in the area. I am however a little unfamiliar with the terms you use here as they are different in Australia. Some of the terms I use here may be different to what you know too.
Is the Appraiser the repairer or someone who works for your insurance company? If it is the repairer, then yes, I would get a second quote from another repairer to compare it with.
It might also depend on who your insurance company is. There are some insurance companies over here which automatically replace most parts and there are some who have tight budgets so they need to watch every dollar so they will try and repair as much parts as they can. I used to hate doing work for some of those insurance companies, particularly when I was contracting as you would often spend way too much time repairing something.
Normally, it is the ones with the cheaper premiums that tend to repair everything rather than replace with new parts. You think that you are getting a bargain when you pay your premiums for the year, but when it comes time to make a claim, then you realise that you only get what you pay for.
The repairers will ask you which insurance company you are with and they will quote accordingly as they have knowledge about what the particular insurance company will normally allow or not. They will not bother quoting new if they know that the company will not allow it. It can come down to the individual insurance assessor working for the company too. I have known some to allow more new than others even though they are working for the same insurance company.
