My car was rear ended by someone at the stop light. the damage wasn’t a lot but my bumper got scratch and tail light also broke. the other party had allstate insurance. they opened a claim with allstate. Allstate asked me to take picture of the damage with their app …some quick photo claim … and later sent me an estimate of $875.
whereas my local bodyshop which audi recommended gave me an estimate of $1700.
the adjuster not replacing the bumper and offering buff service which is offcourse not to my satisfaction. Changing the tail light itself will cost around $300 as per dealer.
How should i handle the situation with Allstate?
Also i have asked Allstate for diminished value claim for my car. i haven’t spoken to them yet in that regards.
Appreciate comments from fellow members who have dealt with Allstate in past in similar case.
You have two options, and the two options are not mutually exclusive.
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You open a claim with your insurance company, and you let them fix the damage, and depending on your policy, they will most likely let your body shop perform the work, and allow the body shop to bill the insurance company directly. The insurance company will then subrogate your claim to Allstate. Your deductible is payable, but you should receive it back when your insurance company gets paid by Allstate.
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You pursue a personal injury claim, and you get made whole through that.
You have the right to have your car fixed at the body shop of your choice. Tell the body shop what Allstate said. They will likely tell you that the quick photo claim doesn’t show all the damage and an adjuster needs to see it in person. Call Allstate and tell them that. Allstate has preferred shops that they deal with and if the shop says more work needs to be done than the adjuster thought at first, Allstate doesn’t argue and just lets the shop do the work and pays them. If you take it to your preferred shop instead of theirs, its up to the shop to argue with Allstate that the extra work is necessary. Body shops are used to this and they do it all the time.
Essentially your first step is telling Allstate that you got an estimate in person at a shop that was way off the photo estimate and you would like an adjuster to look at your car in person. Talk to that adjuster about your options.
Would you let a Dr examine you for injuries via a photo? Ask to meet with an adjuster at an Allstate approved body shop.
I will ask allstate for the estimate i have with my preferred bodyshop.
they gave me the estimate which is 100 miles away from my place. may be they are just want to pay the least amount.
Also how about diminished claim? they are putting burden on me to prove the diminished value.
Why are you even bothering negotiating yourself with Allstate? You’re allowed to use whatever body shop you want. Ask the body shop what your next steps are if you want the car fixed there. Generally, they’ll contact the insurance company to get an adjuster to come out and then they’ll argue for why you need everything fixed. They have a large interest in this -
the more they negotiate to fix, the more money they make. Make sure you get a rental car at the same time and that Allstate pays.
Have your body shop deal with this.
They will contact allstate and get the adjuster to come to their site to view the car. This shouldn’t cost you anything or hassle you really if they are a good body shop, this should be normal course for them.
Your mistake was even humoring them with the pictures. The body shop I use hates this. Allstate and others use this picture service, send the pics to some customer service person who low balls the crap out of the fix and then the body shops have to fight to get the estimate fixed on the back end as the pictures don’t tell the whole story.
It will buff right out.
/somebody had to say it
I left Allstate after our family’s last accident and subsequent repair process. It was mostly because I got a cheaper rate, but the thought of not dealing with them for a claim again also pushed me in that direction.
I always notify my own insurance even if another party is at fault. My insurance takes care of any damages and bills the other company and it doesn’t count as a claim on my account.
Does it matter if OP is in a no-fault state?
Even if you don’t directly involve your insurance company, they will know about the accident because you are making a claim to another insurance company, and your insurance company will wonder why you didn’t notify them. Fault in most cases is decided by the insurance companies. Also, your own insurance company will. generally, fix your car quickly without question.
To be fair, the Friday thing is fair. I’d rather keep the car until Monday and, say, get OEM parts than drop it off at the shop at 5PM on a Friday.
As for a rental car, if you’re not at fault, the other party is required to give you a comparable car to yours. Doesn’t matter how much it costs, they are required to make you whole. It gets harder when you just want loss of use as opposed to the rental car, but that’s a different problem.
Handing it over to my insurance company cost me nothing. Insurance companies decide among themselves who is at fault because they want to avoid lawsuits. Yes, my insurance company, last time, charged a deductible, but it got refunded right quickly when the other company paid. In addition, I had medical expenses that were paid by my company and your rates cannot be raised.
When we called usaa about a not fault claim, they just told us no comprehensive coverage, figure it out with the other guys.
Irony is that their discount carrier handled everything well at the dealer. The dealer used a non oem bumper which does not fit our highlander exactly. Their response: you hit it again causing it to pop out 
So sometimes the more expensive option is not the best …
I have USAA. I have full coverage. They handled everything immediately without question and, using a USAA repair network facility, repairs are warranted for as long as you own the vehicle.
After the repair, they contacted the other driver’s insurance, got paid, and sent me back the deductible.