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I just got in a car accident. i rear ended a 93 prelude at about 10 mile per hour and then a 97 accord rear ended me at about 15 mph. My muffler is on the groung and my rear bumper has holes in it and is gfalling off. My front bumper is gone and my upper and lower grill craft grills are gone and so are my headlights, my hood is also crushed. Heres my question. I have allsate insurance and i can take it to their pro shop and that shop will fix everyhting and take care of it all or i could have an adjuster come to my house and write me a check for everything he can see and then if there is more damage found at the body shop of my choice then the adjuster would have to go there in irder for me to get the extra money. If any of you have dealt with this please let me know whats better. I was thinking this is a lot of damage and i could get a lot of money so i wanted to put on a different exhaust system, carbon fiber hood and xenon body kit. do you guys think if i take it to allstates pro shop they would put this stuff on instead of my factory equipment. Allso do you guys think my grills and exhaust will be covered under insurance. please any info would help because i have to make my mind up toimmorrow. thanks

 
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umm.
i think u should receive a check. cause im pretty sure allstate is going to let u put aftermarket parts on your car.

 
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I got into an accident a few months ago (just the fender and bumper). I used the check they gave me and some of my own money to buy a bodykit instead of using the stock bumper.

 
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First, I think Allstate is one of the better insurance companies to deal with. To answer your question, I think you are probably better off sending your car in to a body shop and going through the process of making a claim on the repairs made by the shop. As is the case with most policies, you probably have a $500 deductible. It has been my understanding that insurance will pay the cost for factory replacements, however, it all varies as to who the claims adjuster assigned to your claim will be, what you are asking to do, etc.

 
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an all Honda accident. i hate it when that happens. i just hope everyone is ok.

 
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everyones ok. My car is not drivable becasue my exhaust piping is pinched above the axel. I really wanted to know if you guys thing the body shop that allstate tells me to go to would put on aftermarket parts with the insuarnce money instead of oem parts.

 
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Let me get this straight. At 10 MPH, your front bumper, upper grill and lights are gone. This doesnt sound logical unless you have all aftermarket pieces.

 
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Unless you mentioned to your insurance company that you made modifications and increased value of your car, the insurance company is not obligated to reimburse you for damage done to additional parts. You are paying a premium based on the original value of the car at the time of purchase and if an adjuster comes out, he will certainly investigate further into what the car was originally equipped with if you mention damage done to any add-ons. I had a buddy that tried to get the insurance company to reimburse him for a super charger in a Mustang GT after his front end was smashed in, but when the insurance company found out the car was not originally equipped with it at the time of purchase, they did some math to figure the new value of his car (prior to accident) as well as consider the higher risk of covering him because the car was tricked out with high performance parts and was obviously meant to be driven like a race car. The insurance company got back to him and told him that they would cover the damage (including the super charger), but he had to pay the difference in premiums as far back as 1 year. Needless to say, he was pissed.

Bottom Line: Be VERY honest with your insurance provider and keep them informed unless you like risking your investment.

Logan

 
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02Celica makes a point--are you sure it was 10 MPH? Most of the accidents I've seen where the property damage results in loss of bumper, grille and lights had vehicles going considerably faster.

As for what Logan says, it is very valid. Do not try and seek money for parts you don't have, and unless you had advised the insurance company of the aftermarket mods to the car and they included it in the binder (your policy), they really are not obligated by law to pay for any of it.

 
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i'm in insurance adjuster myself (however I'm in canada) - I do however do work in the US and have a good idea of how insurance works - the message posted by Logan is absolutly correct - the company is only obligated to pay for what is inusred - if they have no idea of what you have , they only hahve to repair a stock 2001 or 02 civic minus all the mods - if you want all your mods insured you have to tell them you have all this equipment and then have premiums charged based on the value of the vehicle - If they give you the option, I would not have a apprasier come out, but i would cash out if given the opportunity and do the repairs at your own shop where you could get your own equipment (ex. aftermarket bodykit, exhaust)

 
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Yeah I would take the money and run.
I made the mistake of going to a "reputable" repair shop, *cough* GM/Chev *cough*, and they had the claims adjuster come in and confirm the amount for the repairs and then ordered all the parts and went ahead with the work. I wish now it would have known how much time and money it was all worth cause I could have gotten a body kit, CF hood, and other things for less then it cost to repair it with OEM parts. To make a long story short, I wish I had parked the car in my driveway and done all the work myself or have a bodyshop do what "I" wanted done.
Good Luck man.

 
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just my opinion - but i would not opt for a check, and i would not opt for a "insurance company recommended" shop. Why?

1) check - the claims adjuster will not see everything that is damaged until they start taking apart your car to see what the real damage is under the metal.

2) if the shop is recommended by the insurance company - they are in bed together - and im sure they will somehow try to save their own pockets as much money as they can and leave you with less than what you deserve.

I have an inherent distrust of insurance companies - no matter how good they are. So - i would take it to your own repair shop that you like. Have the insurance company adjuster come out to the repair shop. This way, the repair shop can already have taken some of the damaged parts off so the adjuster can see "under the metal" damage. Also, the repair shop will know what needs to be replaced and will fight for you to get more money out of your insurance company. For example, the adjuster might claim that a certain part can be repaired (instead of replaced because repairing is cheaper than replacing), and the shop might fight it and say that it cant be repaired but has to be replaced with a brand new part. Make sure you ask for GENUINE PARTS because some insurance companies try to skimp on you with aftermarket or non-oem parts - or even Used Parts!! they call it "aftermarket equivalent" or watever. We're all paying an arm and a leg to insure our Honda's. Accept no substitutions!

 
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What you say is true, with the exception of #2. Any type of insurance job yields a lower per hour labor charge for the body shop. Here in the suburban New York City area, an "insurance job" where the company sends a car to a specific shop will only yield about $65/hr in labor to the shop. A non-insurance job is at least $95/hr. All shops make their money on labor, so while insurance companies frequenty send their insured's to specific shops, that doesn't mean that the shop is getting some great kickback.

I have happen to have a body shop on my patrol post where I know the owners and they receive jobs from Geico, State Farm and Allstate, three of the biggest insurance companies. They receive absolutly no kickback for the insurance jobs they take.

 
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now looking at the car it looks like both fenders are bent and the front fram that holds the radiator and hood latch is also bent in, the raidiater is bent and other metal parts are also bent. the car that hit me from behind hit me really hard which i think caused a lot of excess damage from the first hit. i do not think i could repair it mysaelf. Can I take it to my bodyshop and have them appraise it so i have a better idea of what things will cost before the adguster sees it.
the guy that ho=it me from behind is responsible for the back end so is he responsible for paying for my aftermarket exhaust that was badley damaged also. I still do not know what to do becasue i dont want to get screwed.

 
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Either way, I believe that with the damage you describe, an adjuster will want to see the car. If you want to bring it to an establishment of your chosing, the insurance company might request you bring the vehicle to their office for an adjuster to see, or an adjuster may visit the body shop before they cut you a check. Insurance fraud is at it's higher than ever right now. Call your insurance carrier and ask them what options you have.

 
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I WAS IN YOUR POSITION A FEW MONTHS AGO.. if u don't car about oem looks. i say go to allstate... they will fix ur car back to mint condition.. n if tere is a tiny foocked up job.. allstate will tell the shop to redo it again. until they get it right..

but if u want the check.. u wont get teh warranty from allstate that they will keep fixing until it is mint condition.. all up to u

 
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damn sorry to hear