Can I negotiate the total loss declaration with my insurance if I have proof another body shop will fix the car for a cheaper rate? For example, my car is worth 10k and the damages are estimated at $6400-$6800. I found a small shop that’ll do it for 5k and send the documents to my insurance.
I’m in Kansas and a vehicle is declared totaled when damages exceed 75% of the cars value.
Also what happens if I simply do not accept my settlement offer or sign any paperwork. Does this claim stay in limbo?
Drivable car declared total loss: found a body shop that’ll do the work for much cheaper
byu/valid_internal827 inInsurance
Posted by valid_internal827
6 Comments
What car is it and how where was the damage
Unlikely. Your insurance owes the prevailing labor rate for your area and the actual cost of the parts, not what some cut-rate shop is willing to do the work for. You could look at owner-retaining the salvage if you hold the title.
You can take the total loss payout minus the estimated salvage value and you keep it and then have it repaired. Caution, it will likely have a salvaged title and be worth much less if it is total again and you may run into issues getting it insured to begin with
A total loss designation is a State Rule not insurance rule. Don’t know Kansas salvage rules about salvage/rebuilt though.
Vehicles have to be totalled at 75% but can be totalled for a lower percentage depending on what is damaged.
As an adjuster, I would not bite at this. What’s from the shop getting into a repair and miraculously finding out it’ll cost more?
You could ask for a property damage release, which means you are saying I accept X for the damage and understand insurance won’t pay more. Those are very rare.
How are they making it cheaper? Insurance company cannot omit damage as that is ilegal. If your shop of choice is not omitting damage and is willing to fix the vehicle for a much cheaper labor rate, then you might be able to get them to accept the cheaper estimate. But you need to know this is an uphill battle with a couple hurdles. First hurdle: insurance company will want to know the full scope of damages. This will mean the car needs to be disassembled as needed. If more damage is found that exceeds the repairable threshold, then it will total. Second hurdle: if you are in a state that allows constructive total loss, insurance is allowed to take into account the salvage value of the car and cost of rental (if you have rental coverage). If the net cost to write off is less than the net cost of repairs, then it will total. Please also know that a common tactic by bodyshops is to intentionally underwrite an estimate for the repair of the panel without writing for the needed blend of the adjacent panels or masking/R&I of components needed for refinishing as an example. Then, at like 50% of the repair, they all of a sudden find more damage and they are hoping the insurance will throw their hands up and just let them fix the car even though it should have been totalled in the first place. So your insurance will be doing their due diligence to make sure your shop’s estimate is legit. And if the insurance does decide to play ball, please make sure the shop does not repair beyond what the initial estimate calls for. If they find more damage, they need to stop what they’re doing and let the adjuster know so they can decide to keep going or total the car.