Am I liable if bodyshop fails to get payment from insurance Ins. sent me to bodyshop for estimatebut bodyshop forgot to check if repair if approved. I authorized the ins. to send check to the shop.?

Answer 1

Hi Well, unfortunately, the bodyshop has your car and one way or another you aren't getting it back until somebody pays for it, but I think first you should check your policy and make sure you are covered for whatever happened to put your car in the shop. If it is a new car and there is a loan outstanding on it, then you have to carry full insurance, so you should be covered anyway. You need to talk to your insurance guy and ask him if HE thinks you are covered. If he says yes (which is the only reason I can think of that the insurance would tell you to get an estimate) then ask them why they have not paid for the work and sent the check to the bodyshop as you authorized. Your question is a little confusing but you seem to be saying the insurance told you to take the car in (they usually have a "preferred" body shop with twhom they have a prearranged relationship for cheaper repairs). You took the car for an estimate, which presumably the bodyshop sent to the insurance company. The insurance company MUST have given the shop the OK to do the work because the shop is not going to do work without a guarantee that SOMEONE is going to pay them. In which case, that authorization exists at your insurance company and it has nothing to do with the body shop "forgetting to ask the insurance company if it was ok to do the work" Which brings me back to the top of this answer. If the body shop was decidedmto do work that the insurance company has not authorized them to do, then in a perfect world the shop would have to eat the cost and give you your repaired car. Unfortunately, they are more likely to tell you that they are going to sell your car to try and make up the expense of the repair. DID YOU SIGN ANYTHING TELLING THE BODY SHOP TO GO AHEAD AND DO THE REPAIR regardless of the insurance company's involvement? If you did, you are probably stuck if the insurance company doesn't come through. But go to them first. You pay an insurance company to clean up messes like this if they are liable. If they can't or won't help you, either write the car off or you will have to at least talk to attorney otherwise.