Just curious if anyone knows if after the Inurance company cuts you a check for your car repairs and if u dont use the "entire" total of the check do u have to give it back to that Insurance Company?...or do you get to keep the remaining money??

Also...on the Estimate paper is says " This is not an authorization for repairs"

What does that mean?...lol

One last thing Do I need to make a copy of the reapirs done from the body shop i get my repairs done from?...I think the Appraiser guy mentioned that I wasnt sure what he was talking about!!

I left in a hurry and forgot what he said!...lol

Thanks!!!

 

well the idea is if u have a friend that has a body shop that would be best, because most insurance companies will cut a check to the body shop, not you....so u can tell ur friend at the body shop to give u the money and u can do what you want with it.

 

I alrerady have the check.

Just wondering since I will have money left-over if I get to keep the remaining amount or not.

 

yeah i believe so....they give u the check, and what u do with it is up to u...

 

i grew up with my dad in the insurance business....you get to keep the whole check whether you use it for your car or not.

and the estimate paper is just that...an estimate. its saying how much they believe the repairs would be, not that you have to get it fixed.

 

This can go several ways...

I edited my original post because i was describing many different scenarios and would be better if I knew what type of claim you are filling


First, tell me what type of claim you filed.
Collision / Comprehensive / Uninsured Motorist /
At Fault / Not at Fault?

If not at fault are you filling with the at fault parties Property Damage Insurance?

 

If you just get an estimate and check you can do whatever you want with it. If the insurance company determines you have $2500 in damages, they owe you for that. If you find someone who will fix it for less, you get to keep the difference.
If you don't get it repaired, you can keep all of it.
The insurance company doesn't care about what the body shop estimate is. You don't have to give them a copy.
But if you give the body shop the insurance company estimate, they will make you give them all the money from the estimate.

If you take it to the shop and the shop tells you there is more damage than the estimate lists, the insurance company will come out and complete a supplement - or pay for the additional damages. You cannot negotiate the amount of damage the insurance company pays unless it is at a body shop.

 

In my scenario there was no money left over.

In fact after they removed the back end of the car they found out that a lot more stuff would need to be repaired. I still have the check they first issued after I filed my claim and the body shop guy said that they would issue a 2nd check for the total of work that was not originally included on the estimate. (they gave me the estimate before they had the car tore apart so they were unable to see some of the damage)

So there may be a good chance there might not be any money leftover at all.

The the two checks added together (or maybe just one check in your case) should equal the final cost of the repairs minus your deductible. You will need to foot that part of the bill. So if the final cost was less I guess that, I guess it means your deductible would essentially be less.

 

they always seem to do this and they are very smart in doing this even though is not good for us

 

Greg Ill give you a call today about this.

 

ahh deadtoaster, informative