Car Vanadalized and Insurance Claim.

[moosejaw]

Hey all.  My car was vandalized last week to the tune of $2500.00.

Since I am frugal we have a $1000.00 deductible.

Insurance has been decent with the claim but everything has been super inconvenient.  They didn't give us a rental(our tires were slashed so we couldn't drive the car anywhere.)  They also chose the place to have our car fixed.

Here is a short list of grievances:

1.  Autobody place lied about picking up our SUV.  This cost us an entire day of them working on it.  Literally, they told the insurance company they had picked it up at 10am on a Monday in spite of me looking at it at 1pm the same day in our driveway.

2. They said it would be completed by Wednesday.  When Wednesday rolled around they blamed an issue on being sent the wrong back windshield.  So we would have it by Friday.

3. Friday rolls around and they didn't have enough time to fix it that day.  It will be done by Monday.

4. Monday they claimed that the back windshield sent up had the wrong tint(I very much doubt this, it is more likely they asked for the wrong tint.)

Still no car as of today.

I am going to owe the $1000.00 of the total bill, how hard would you negotiate with them(if at all) to get them down in cost due to inconveniences on their part?  What would a reasonable ask be or should I just put it in their court and see if they offer?

[gimp]

You should definitely complain. Threaten to leave, or actually leave if they don't give you a deal. You've been treated poorly and if they don't fix it, you shouldn't be their customer.

For what it's worth, I've never heard of insurance demanding the use of a specific shop. They may send out an adjuster to make sure that the quote a shop gives you is legitimate (and the shop itself is legitimate), but demand  the use of a shop? Hell no.

[merula]

Regarding the rental, does your policy have rental reimbursement coverage? The insurance company doesn't have to arrange the rental, but if you have the coverage you can submit the claim.

I'm not sure you'll have much leverage, since you agreed to the $1,000 deductible and no insurance contract promises a hassle-free claims process. It's worth trying to say "Hey, I used your shop and this was my experience and I'm not happy. Is there anything you can do?", but IMHO you're probably not going to get what you want.