As mentioned before, I was bent about hitting some half buried junk with my new car on the fourth. Last Monday, I took it to the body shop and their estimate was just over $1000. Thinking that was our deductable amount, I made an appointment for today. My wife decided to check with the insurance company. She found that our deductible was only $250. she checked to see how it would affect our coverage and they got back and said that we would lose our miniscule accident free discount, but otherwise, it would not affect anything. They said the adjuster would take a look at it in a couple days.

Thursday, I got a call to schedule the inspection. He said it would be Monday. I mentioned that I had scheduled it to go to the body shop then. No problem, the inspector would check it there. He had to make two trips since my wife did not get the car to the shop until 10:00. When I went by at noon to check on things, the shop manager told me that the adjuster had looked it over and found two problems. The lower rocker trim had a couple of minor gouges out of sight, and there was a small chip in the edge of the door paint. So they are going to take care of both problems through the insurance.

I hate that this happened, but it is great when the insurance company treats their customers well.

Cool

seadog, with the additional amount that it will take to repair the car, are you sure that you're still in the "no harm/no foul" range?
But this is a perfect example of what can and does happen in a accident damage situation. If you had decided to pay it out of pocket, then you'd have been unpleasantly surprised when the shop told you, after they had the car, that it would be more money. This is the reason you have insurance.

We checked on how it would affect our rates. This one will not affect us, but another one would be painful. As for the additional costs, the main expense is the cost for the plastic trim piece and installation. The gouges are small and not noticeable. If this was my nickel, I would have said let it be. And any time I have a vehicle worked on, no additional work gets done without authorization. My big point is that a good adjuster can make life a whole lot better for customers. It also helps when you demonstrate that you are not demanding anything. We have dealt with adjusters on about a half dozen occasions. The only time I have had any problems have been with agencies outside of mine. I have had three accidents caused by idiots with less than ideal insurance coverage. Some of the stunts they have pulled are eye openers.

I've seen almost all of it, of course!