Rino1313

Some guys Jeep just rolled out of his driveway (while running) with no one in it and hit the rear drivers side quarter panel of my Maxima. He was chasing after it when it ran into me. I called the police, received a police report stating he was at fault, then contacted his insurance compnay (Progessive). My question is this: My car is a 1995 with almost 190K miles, mint condition, but I was planning on upgrading to a 2000 Max soon. A progressive claims adjuster is supposed to contact me within 2 hours, and I was wondering if there was anyway I could accept cash rather than having the car fixed? I figured it may be worth ~4200 in the condition it was before, but now it has a good 2 foot of sheared metal (thanks to the guys tow package on the front of the jeep). The rear quarter panel *will* need replacing, which will not be cheap by any means. I know quite a few people in the body shop industry, and am sure I could get it done fairly cheap. On the other hand, if the damage is over $2000, I would rather opt for cash and hope to get about $2000 for the car as is, with intentions of the buyer repairing it. Please let me know any opinions you have as the adjuster should be contacting me soon. I would just prefer cash rather than having it repaired.
Thanks,
Rob

Scruit

If it was me, I'd contact the Jeep owner directly and offer him the opportunity to pay the cost of the repair in cash in exhange for dropping the insurance claim.

As a 3rd party claim, they should just give you the option of just accepting the money. They cannot force you to go to a specific shop, but they may request that the check be made out to a shop of your choice, depending on state law. (if you know a bodyshop then maybe they will just 'cash' the check for you, as long as this is not illegal in your state.

BE WARNED that the preliminary bodyshop estimate is rarely enough to complete the job. The advantage of going through a bodyshop who will bill the insurance company directly is that they will also deal with incidentals and unexpected cost found during the repair.

A car is never worth as much as you hope. Why would someone buy a damaged car for (cost of car + estimate of repair cost = value of fixed car)? People don't do that. People buy a damaged car for (cost of car + cost of repair < value of fixed car) and hope to make a profit, otherwise it's not worth the hassle of getting a car you just bought fixed.

I personally would get the estimates from two VERY EXPENSIVE bodyshops (one could be your own bodyshop if they are expensive - or they quote expensive parts) and demand the driver or insurance pay the value of the lesser quote with option for further incidentals discovered by the bodyshop during (ie DO NOT sign for "Full and Final Settlement"). THEN take the car and that money to the bodyshop that you want to do the work (and give them the work) and have a fixed car worth the full value, plus something in your pocket for the hassle and inconvenience.

PCGuRu2K

iTrader: (34)

I just went through the same thing with Progessive... here's the deal.. Basically once the adjuster comes out and takes a look at your car they will determine how much damage is done. Once they get that they punch all that data into the computer software that they use and they'll then determine how much the damages are and if it is worth fixing. Progressive has a inhouse body shop that they prefer to send it to. Also, if you don't owe any money on the car and they do make it a total loss then the money is yours. But if you owe money on the car like I did, they will pay off your loan first and then whatever is left you get. They'll give you the redbook value.

ivelweyz

Shouldn't they just give you a check and you decide whether to fix it or take the money???

nismos14

iTrader: (56)

yah insurance companies love handing out money lol, they'd never do that, its not in their best interest

PCGuRu2K

iTrader: (34)

If you have a "Lean" on the car then no they won't give you the money. They pay off the "Lean" first, then whatever left over is yours. That's in the case of a total loss. Otherwise, yeah they'll just cut you a check for the damages after you pay the deductible.

Synki

If you wanted to do with cash and not having it fixed, you would want both insurance companies out of the picture and not contacted.

I hate dealing with insurance companies. I have to deal with them every day. Blah!