USAA Lowballed Me on Direct Payment

[jerry2017]

I had some hail damage recently, and my Auto Insurer- USAA, sent an adjuster who wrote me a direct payment check for $1700.00 less than a local well respected auto shop wrote me damage repair estimate for.

After complaining to the USAA adjuster , and also to the department at USAA who wrote the policy and issues the check, the adjuster called back and said that I must take it into a body shop repair facility and that any additional damage ( beyond my deductible) will paid directly to a body shop.

Have I reached the end of the line as far as getting compensated more equitably for the damage? - I mean, a $1700 discrepancy in what USAA wrote up and what the body shop estimated the repairs will be is basically a dirty lowball tactic IMO - and this from one of the largest most respected Insurance companies there is.

( I can't see any use to go around with them again on this, I have already gone through the proper channels once at USAA and it seems pointless to do it again).

BTW , I've been a USAA policy holder for over 30 years, and have a perfect driving record, and they just raised my premium 20 dollars a month , presumably to recover their hail damage payout.

Thanks.

 

[Newby]

Try Auto Owners. They have treated me great on claims. And I'm not even their customer (yet). I was the damaged party.

Great company. And I assume they use actual agents. I would never use any company that chops out the agent like USAA or Progressive.

 

[xrac]

Try Auto Owners. They have treated me great on claims. And I'm not even their customer (yet). I was the damaged party.

Great company. And I assume they use actual agents. I would never use any company that chops out the agent like USAA or Progressive.

Auto-Owners is a great company and I like Pekin also.

 

[Josh]

The way it usually works is if you take it to the shop then USAA pays the shop for the difference between the estimate and the actual charges. If you want to just take the check and run that's a different story.

Are you trying to get the repairs done?

 

[jerry2017]

No, I do not want to have the car repaired just yet. That's why I was looking for more cash direct to me from USAA, so I could have it done if and when I manage to get the high deductible cash together.

Also, USAA *does send out a adjuster- obviously they are there to write low claims and bank that if you wanna keep the cash, you'll settle for less, which, well, in my case is probably right. But 1700.00 discrepancy between the shop estimate and USAA's cash payment?; that's flat out unethical IMO.

Anyhow, I suppose there is nothing that can be done- I don't want to just be spinning my wheels..I had thought there might be some recourse to make USAA pay me directly an amount closer to the body shops estimate, But apparently not.

 

[BenJackson]

If you are not looking to get the repairs done ASAP then you want to keep the claim money? If your car is financed, then they are living up to their end of the legal agreement with your lienholder.

 

[jerry2017]

If you are not looking to get the repairs done ASAP then you want to keep the claim money? If your car is financed, then they are living up to their end of the legal agreement with your lienholder.

Thanks.I own the vehicle outright if that makes a difference.

 

[djs]

Body shops will provide very high estimates to do the work. When the job is actually being done, the adjuster works with the body shop to ensure only the needed repairs (due to the cause of loss) are done.

You do always want to get the work done as soon as possible. If it was in the body shop and they felt they needed more money to finish the repairs, they ask for a supplemental, the adjuster goes and looks at what they need and will make the adjustments, if needed.

Did you get estimates at other body shops as well?

Insurance companies pay standard rates for repairs, but they do push for repairs when the body shop might want to replace. The insurance company works to keep the cost of the repair down while striving to get you back to where you were before the loss.

You need to get the work done. If you can't afford the deductible, you need to get a lower deductible, especially for comp coverage. A lower deductible for comp is peanuts compared to paying the claim (collision is a different story a lot of times).


Dan

 

[jerry2017]

You need to get the work done.

Dan

I don't buy that. But thanks.

 

[INSUREGEEK]

Unless hail damage is severe, most companies will want to try a Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) procedure first. When/if that doesn't work, they'll move on to more traditional repair methods or replace panels.

My shop doesn't do PDR at all. If you came to me for an estimate, I'm writing it to pull dents & repaint panels = generally much more expensive than PDR.

That is likely why your USAA estimate is so much lower than your shop.