Question About Auto Insurance Claims

sw00shm4n · Nov 10, 2011

Got rear ended last week, luckily no injuries, but my rear bumper cover needs replacing. I filed a claim with my insurance company the next day, as well as getting an estimate from a body shop. It's been over a week and the insurance company has yet to inspect my vehicle (the claim is still in the "investigation" stages). I get a call today from the body shop telling me they can start communicating and working with my insurance company directly, claiming the process can be expedited if they get involved.

Do simple accidents like mine usually take this long to get resolved? It it common practice to let body shops handle your claim, or are they just trying to make extra cash out of this?

asianplayer · Nov 10, 2011

I'm assuming its the other drivers fault if you got rear ended, so I would think the other drivers insurance covers it while your insurance company does not get involved. I don't think the body shop is trying to make extra cash, they just want to do the work so they can get paid by the insurance company. It shouldn't be that long, probably give your insurance company a call and see why its taking so long.

bc60997 · Nov 10, 2011

I work for an insurance company - your company must not be that great or really swamped with all the storms coming from the Northeast right now.

Most companies have DRP shops which are direct repair shops setup with insurance companies if not all the shop is going to do is send over an estimate/photos for the insurance company to review.

Just call them they will tell you what to do and to answer your question NO IT SHOULDN'T TAKE THAT LONG.

bballinjc21 · Nov 10, 2011

yeah if youre in the NE it might take a while with all the claims being filed from the snow storms.

sw00shm4n · Nov 10, 2011

Thanks for the response guys. I'm with Farmer's (I'm actually in Cali, not NE) so you'd think they'd be pretty solid about the standard procedures. This was my first accident however so I wasn't sure how long standard procedures would take. But yea, considering this is a pretty standard rear ending accident, this seems to be taking unreasonably a long time. I'm with Farmers, and so is the other party, so you'd think this could get handled relatively quickly, but the guy I spoke to at the garage says Farmers is notorious for being slow. Guess I'll give the body shop a call tomorrow.

dankenstien88 · Nov 10, 2011

What kind of car was it ?

Some cars are rather expensive to fix in comparison to their assesed value. Even if its only alittle body damage alot of times Insurance ends up calling it a total loss. This happened to one of my Eldo's before. It took my insurance forever to decide wether or not to fix it before they just called it a total loss.

sw00shm4n · Nov 10, 2011

Originally Posted by dankenstien88

What kind of car was it ?

Some cars are rather expensive to fix in comparison to their assesed value. Even if its only alittle body damage and Insurance ends up calling it a total loss. This happened to one of my Eldo's before. It took my insurance forever to decide wether to fix it or just call it a total loss.

07 Subaru WRX. I got an estimate at a body shop and they said it just needs the bumper cover replaced, around $800.

sw00shm4n · Nov 10, 2011

Originally Posted by bc60997

Just call them they will tell you what to do and to answer your question NO IT SHOULDN'T TAKE THAT LONG.

You know anything about Farmers? the body shop told me they're supposedly notorious for being slow. I've already called up Farmers a few times to see what's up with my claim, they just seem ridiculously slow. I'm about to just call my body shop and hope they can actually expedite the process.

dankenstien88 · Nov 10, 2011

Well at $800 there is no way they would total it. I really dont know what the delay would be considering you both are under the same insurance provider.

btw WRXs are too sweet! Hope you get her fixed soon.

swag odie · Nov 10, 2011

I was in a similar situation (100% not at fault) and it took a week to contact the other party for their side of the story. That could be the hold up.

0 xm 0 · Nov 10, 2011

if you have the other parties insurance info just contact them directly. they gonna be hte ones paying anyway. At this point Farmers is just contacting them so they can pay up, something you can do directly if you have the other parties insurance code. It's on the accident report. should be a 3 digit code. Google it, call the company, file a claim against their insured.