Insurance quoted less than the cost for damages

[GoDDy]

Hi, I need some advice. I recently bumped my car to a wall and the front left door and the front bumper got badly damaged. The insurance agent(A*****z) quoted 35,000/- but the damages looked like it would cost more. I asked him and he said if it cost more to talk to the insurance company. I received the 35,000/- in 2 days.

So now what should I do? Should i go to my garage and get an estimate for the repairs and if its higher than what the insurance quoted should i contact them? Or will the garage deal with them directly?

I have a bad feeling that this is going to drag so i need your advice on how to approach this correctly please.

[iRage]

Uhh....well..how much does it cost to fix ? Seems like you do not know ?
I would have thought the first thing to do is to go and get a proper quotation to actually fix the car.

Sometimes the damage might look bad to the owner but in reality the damage is not as bad. When you get the actual quote, if what you got is around ~70% or more of what the actual cost is...then you might not get more and the effort to try to appeal it might not be worth it. 

[tiv]

On 11/9/2023 at 8:55 AM, GoDDy said:

Hi, I need some advice. I recently bumped my car to a wall and the front left door and the front bumper got badly damaged. The insurance agent(A*****z) quoted 35,000/- but the damages looked like it would cost more. I asked him and he said if it cost more to talk to the insurance company. I received the 35,000/- in 2 days.

So now what should I do? Should i go to my garage and get an estimate for the repairs and if its higher than what the insurance quoted should i contact them? Or will the garage deal with them directly?

I have a bad feeling that this is going to drag so i need your advice on how to approach this correctly please.

If you have a trustworthy garage, just put it there and ask the insurance to settle it. They will negotiate and do the needful. 
But make sure the garage is reputed or trustworthy such that they won't collaborate with the insurance and do a shoddy repair to balance both sides and make a quick buck. 

Example, If the bumper is broken beyond repair ( large cracks, holes, tears in plastic, tears in clips and mounts, insist on replacement as the insurance may negotiate with the garage and try to fix it. Do not hesitate to attack or escalate any dispute with the insurance as their entire profits now depend on underpaying claims. Threaten to appeal via the insurance ombudsman or social media. Sri Lanka is that good now.

Edited November 10, 2023 by tiv