fishy insurance practices or cause for celebration?

[denverunner]

So, you may have seen my thread about thieves breaking in and tearing up my vehicle in 3rd gen section.

My insurance called to tell me they are mailing out a check today for $4600 (less my $500 deductible). I missed the call and immediately called back because we never agreed to a settlement amount and I thought it somewhat rude that they would just tell me that a check was in the mail without any explanation or my consent on the settlement amount.

Turns out, Progressive claims that my vehicle is not totaled, but that instead, they are sending me money to "repair" the vehicle. They also state that, in the future, if I cannot document that the repairs were made and another break-in or other claim occurs, then they would not cover the damage to sections of the vehicle that were previously repaired from this incident, unless I could prove that they were repaired.

Does this sound weird? To me it sounds way too good to be true, but I'm not sure about it. I just want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing before I sign and deposit the check they sent me.

 

[azshtr]

In my experience your car should have been looked at by a repair shop and an adjuster. The repair shop then fixes the car and insurance pays them. If they run into an overage the adjuster is called out again to look at the situation and approve more repairs.

 

[d_clark]

Pretty normal.

You are getting paid directly to fix / repair your vehicle instead of the money going to a body shop. You could have the vehicle inspected, or document repairs done to your vehicle. Progressive is making sure that you don't take the money, skip the repairs, then claim the same damage on another claim to get more money.

Unless you know the repairs can be done for the amount they sent, you don't have to accept it. Is that enough to cover all the work/ parts ?

They could be low-balling you thinking you will fix the vehicle.

 

[SJC]

That is what they did when our Rav got totaled.. but we never fixed it. But someone in a shop did look at it and price the damage

 

[KidVermicious]

Their own adjuster has looked at the truck, I'm assuming? He's noted the damage he sees, and consulted their tables to find a cash amount to give you. Don't sign anything and don't cash that check until you have a shop or two also look at it and give you their estimates. If your insurance company has come in too low, that's how you'll find out, and you'll need professional opinions if you want to get a bigger check.

That's not to say that they're cheating you, just that that's how they do it.