My husband and I have been victimized by participating parties grossly exaggerating auto repair costs. We are not the type of people who try to swindle their way out of their responsibilities, we pride ourselves in being upstanding citizens, but we have become extremely sadden at the ploy of certain individuals making additional monies on our dime.
On January 7 my husband was driving our 2004 Pontiac GTO, after making a right hand turn from a stop he lost traction control and flipped into the other lane hitting a parked 2003 Chevy Silverado. At point of impact my husband was going less than 6 MPH and had hit the driver side corner of the bumper. The impact did cause the truck to shift towards the curb.
My husband being a mechanic looked under the truck to inspect that damage he caused, he noticed that the suspension would have to be replaced, the driver side headlight, the bumper and to be generous the driver side panel. My husband estimated that the repairs wouldn't exceed $7,000. Our vehicle looked to be in worse shape than the truck!
Since this accident happened in front of an auto body repair shop and the truck belonged to the general manager of the shop, the employees immediately got their tow truck and towed his vehicle to the back of their shop. The owners son was onsite and begged and pleaded w / us for our business and since it was more convenient and I would save on towing fees I agreed to have them service our vehicle (I should have 2nd guessed myself, but our vehicle repair is a seperate complaint).
At the scene of the accident I reported it to our insurance carrier CSAA and provided the gentleman w / the claim information. A few months past before I called to check the status of his claim (only because I was fighting to have our car fixed properly), I was informed by our adjuster that he decided to report the accident to his insurace co., State Farm, and that they got an estimate for $12,267.56 to repair the truck and since the vehicle is only worth around $19,000 they called it a total loss and paid out a total of $16,804.23. I was speechless, I asked if CSAA had pictures and if they had an one of their estimators evaluate the truck, she said that State Farm only sent one picture of the passenger side (the accident was all on the driver side) and that since State Farm sold the vehicle back to the owner for $4000 before requesting reimbursement from CSAA, they were unable to investigate the vehicle and verify that it was actually a total loss. She offered to forward all documents to me for my review.
After receiving the paperwork, my husband noticed forty five items reported that were unnecessary repairs (i.E. Replacement of brake lights, replacement of back window, top of cab repairs, and etc.) We also discovered that this estimate was given by the SAME auto body shop where this gentleman and his wife work (not only is that a conflict of interest, but is clearly a special interest to this individual!). How dare State Farm accept an estimate from them!
In conclusion, we feel that our only obligation is to make this person whole again (pre accident condition) and not for him to profit from our insurance on this accident. I have filed a report with the California Department of Insurance Fraud and I will not rest until disciplinary actions are followed through against State Farm (since they are representing this gentleman). I would like to see State Farm refund at least $9,300 back to CSAA and our account adjusted to reflect an appropriate out of pocket expense for this accident.
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