2 months ago a guy in a parking garage back into me. We exchanged info and I got in contact with his insurance after which I found a body shop that specializes in porches and dropped my car off. When I first spoke to the body shop owner he quoted me on 2 weeks time to fix the front bumper and hood that got effected in the crash it was not a bad crash but the front bumper has a small hole in it. The other guys insurance is covering the whole thing including a rental. 4 weeks have passed by and I did not hear a word form the body shop, at which I got a little worried and passed by personally. I spoke to the body shop owner and he told me that he found something else that was wrong with the holder of the bumper (I guess the piece of metal that holds the front bumper in place). And he said he had to wait for the insurance to come back and reappraise the damage. And he said he needed one more week to finish the work. Well today is the middle of the week that he said he needed and I pass by the shop, and the car is in the same place it was 3 weeks ago. With the bumper off and the hood has not been touched.

This is my first fender bender and my first time having to deal with insurance and a body shop. I kind of have a feeling this guy is putting my car on hold since he already got the money for the work and is doing other jobs. He came highly recommend by the dealer I bought the car form and where I get my maintenance done. I don't want to burn bridges and don't want to make this worst then it already is. At this point I feel like i'm being taken advantage of.

I don't know what to do and I have to pay for the rental out of my own pocket right now, the insurance company is going to reambearse me when its all done. Insurances are not stupid they wont pay a rental for a long time, while the body shot drags its feet, they have to have a cut off point.

Has anyone on this site ran into this problem before? How did you handle it? What was your plan of action?

 

Can't speak about your shop but my body shop is a high-end Euro shop and I can stop by, drop of a spoiler or other parts and have them done and returned to me within two days. Likewise, when I've had small issues I wanted taken care of immediately, the same thing. I would press him for a time schedule. That said, if he found something under the cover that needed to be addressed by the insurance company, it could extend it a couple of days, but not generally weeks. Call both (the shop and insurance company) and get the straight scoop from both and compare answers.

 

Something is not right here, I would contact the insurance company and discuss it with them. Also, be careful, this guy is likely to cut corners and rush to "get the job done." The big mistake here is with the insurance company, they should not have paid the guy until the job was complete and the car was inspected.
Do you have any paperwork? Also, I would ask to see the parts being used especially the new bumper to ensure it's OEM.

Hope this helps.
Jim

 

I had a insurance claim against a road construction contractor for the county that didn't cover these large potholes they were digging up with the flat metal sheets at the front of my subdivision after being warned by the county inspector assigned to this project. long story short my front bumper and lip, side skirt brakeduct scoop and rim all needed replacement and it took my body shop about 2wk. The longest wait was for a new HRE wheel barrel.

I would just stop by and let them know that you are in a situation because the insurance company has stopped paying for your rental because you quoted them the original 4wk time that they promised the repair would be done in. If its the insurance that is draging feet to get a appraiser well then you just need to get with them and make them pick up the rental with out the reinburstment b.s. that they try.

 

Is your own insurance company involved? When we had fender benders before that were not our fault, we would still file a claim thru our own insurance and have them deal with the claim with the 3rd party. If they know for sure the other side is at fault, they waive the deductible. In CA, they cannot increase your premium for not at fault accidents.

 

Great advice I did not know that. I did talk to my insurance after the accident and they told me if I had any problems they would get involved. I went by the body shop and spoke to the guy he said the insurance was dragging their feet and they finally got the go on the work. They started working on it today and will be done by Tues. What I will do is get some kind of proof from the body shop at what date the insurance gave them the go. If the insurance says we wont cover rental past a certain date then I have written proof of who was dragging their feet.

Thanks for the advice guys this really helped out.