Re: Insurance Co Hassles

[Mark Williams <williamh@xxxxxxx>]

> Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 20:30:21 EDT
> From: Bmmerpilot@domain.elided
> Subject: Insurance Co Hassles
>
> Digesters-
>
> I had a bicyclist run into the door of my E36 as I was opening it- the guy
> must have been pretty close, as it was only open about 4" when he hit it. The
> bicyclist is OK, though he took quite a spill.
>
> The damage is confined to the outer inch or so of the door, but the body shop
> says they need to refinish the entire door, because they can't match and
> blend the clearcoated metallic (bronzit beige) paint closely enough.
>
> My insurance company, State Farm, will only pay for "Blending and
> colorsanding" the outer edge of the door- the difference amounts to about
> $800.
>
> Certainly a visible "patch" job like this will have a negative effect on the
> resale value of the car. I vaguely remember that there are companies that
> will inspect the car, and estimate the effect of the repair on the vehicle's
> value. Anybody know what these services are called, and/or have experience
> with one in the San Francisco area?
>
> TIA for your help-
>
> George W. Traminer

Sorry about your accident George... If you are using a
State Farm approved (reference) body shop then regardless
of the difference in the estimates between State Farm and your
shop then the repairs are GUARANTEED.  You simply have
to let the company work for you rather than working against it.
Give your SF estimate to the shop and have them do  the repairs
per SF's estimate.. If it turns out that the repairs are not done
properly then the shop will redo the work free of charge. In the
event that the SF estimate is causing the repairs to be done
improperly then you can have your car reinspected after the
work is done, and SF will work with you and the shop to make
SURE the repairs are done properly...(at no cost to you).

If your shop is NOT a reference shop then you must check with
the shop to see if they provide a guarantee to you about their repairs.
State Farm cannot assist you if the repairs are done improperly.

If you completely doubt the veracity of the SF estimate, then I
suggest you have a few other estimates done (being sure to
explain to them that you are an SF policyholder so that they
will give you quotes with the same labor rate)  from other
shops and get other opinions..

Having not seen the damage on the door, but basing my opinion
solely on your description, your shop's reasoning that they need
to paint the entire door is Hogwash...  Body shops will frequently
overbid this type of work in order to fatten their profit margin..
It works too!  The if they are really shady, they'll just blend
the part of the panel and pocket the extra cash they overbid....!

If your shop can't blend a ding across the door panel then you
should run far and run fast... As a training exercise at SF
my class was shown a fender that was painted with two
different shades of gray and blended in the MIDDLE of the
panel. It was IMPOSSIBLE to see the area where the blend
was done... If someone can blend a single fender using two
different shades then certainly any body shop that does quality
work can blend the same color on the same panel..
   Think of it another way... If the damage from this loss is
at the outer edge of the door, and they feel they need to
paint the entire door, then why is it that they don't need to
paint the entire adjacent panel (towards the rear of the car)?

Finally with regards to your question regarding diminished
value, you first need to get your vehicle repaired.. Then
you can discuss possible diminished value based on the
repairs and the condition of the repaired vehicle. IMHO,
any diminished value here is negligible, as no body panels
were damaged such that they needed to be replaced.

if you have further questions, I'll be happy to assist
you off-line, or you can also contact your California claim
representatives (whom I hope have advised you as I have)...

Mark Williams
Dallas, TX
91 ///M3
State Farm claim rep

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