Insurance Claims
INSURANCE INFORMATION
Commonly asked insurance claim questions answered
For almost everybody (excluding businesses and people with very rare high-risk insurance policies, ect) the only way an insurance claim can affect your insurance rates for policies written in California are if ALL 3 of these requirements are met.
• A collision (NOT comprehensive)
• that is at least 51% or more your fault
• and the total of all damages are $1,000 or more.
So if any of those requirements are not satisfied, for almost every single situation, your rates will not be affected.
See Department of Insurance website for proof Here.
The insurance premium increase does not increase as the repair estimate increases once the total claim is already at or above the $1,000 threshold in California. If you fit all 3 of these requirements listed above, then a point will be generated on your driving record and affect the insurance premium. The dollar amount of the estimate does not matter after it reaches the $1,000 threshold (the estimate can be $1,000, $10,000, $50,000- the premium increase will be the same). However it should be mentioned that claims involving an injury or a person affect your premium more than just one with vehicle damage only.
Some of us at B2 come from an insurance background (with the inside info!) so this is an easy question to answer. A vehicle is deemed a total loss if the dollar amount of the repair exceeds the “threshold” for repairs set by the insurance company. This threshold usually ranges from 75%-100% of the valuation of the vehicle (not the blue-book, although the blue book is usually a decent ballpark for the valuation). The valuation is always completed by a non-biased 3rd party company.
Insurance Companies
After getting the claim number from Allstate, just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can do a “Virtual Assist” with an Allstate adjuster. A virtual assist is very close to a Skype call where we show the adjuster the damage live through our phones which helps Allstate to speed up the process. As long as the insurance has the claim fully established, this usually generates an estimate to start repairs within the hour.
Alliance United / Kemper structures their claim process to have one of their adjusters physically view/write the original estimate for the car. They will have an original estimate inspection of the vehicle at your house/workplace or sometimes the body shop. Once you have that estimate from them (their approval), you can bring it straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
After getting the claim number from Ameriprise, just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can do an estimate and take all the photos that Ameriprise requires. As long as the claim has been fully established, we will digitally send the estimate package to Ameriprise’s NuGen program for approval right in front of you. The approval process typically takes 24-48 hours. Once approved, we will then notify you and have you drop off the vehicle for repairs.
Rarely, Ameriprise will write their own version of the original estimate and give that to you (usually meeting with you at your work or house, ect). If this happens- that is also their approval to begin disassembly/repairs. Just give us a call and we can get you in to start work ASAP.
After getting the claim number from AAA, just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can do an estimate and take all the photos that AAA requires. As long as the claim has been fully established, we will digitally send the estimate package to AAA right in front of you through a program called CCC ONE. This approval process typically takes 24-48 hours. Once approved, we will then notify you and have you drop off the vehicle for repairs.
Bonus Tip- in most instances, you can even leave the vehicle for us to start repairs without an original approval. This is because AAA prefers us to disassemble the vehicle and send them a “good estimate” which will include hidden damages, ect. This shortens the overall claim process time.
Rarely, AAA will write their own version of the original estimate and give that to you (usually meeting with you at your work or house, ect). If this happens- that is also their approval to begin disassembly/repairs. Just give us a call and we can get you in to start work ASAP.
After getting the claim number from Esurance, just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can do an estimate and take all the photos that Esurance requires. As long as the claim has been fully established, we will digitally send the estimate package to Esurance’s CCC ONE program for approval right in front of you. The approval process typically takes 24-48 hours. Once approved, we will then notify you and have you drop off the vehicle for repairs.
Rarely, Esurance will write their own version of the original estimate and give that to you (usually meeting with you at your work or house, ect). If this happens- that is also their approval to begin disassembly/repairs. Just give us a call and we can get you in to start work ASAP.
We are in partnership with Farmers insurance called the COD (Circle of Dependability) program. After getting the claim number from Farmers, just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can start the repairs right away (assuming the claim has been fully established). We, through our training/agreement with Farmers, are the approval for repairs. Approvals are instant.
GEICO structures their claim process to have one of their adjusters physically view/write the original estimate for the car. They usually do this by having you drive to one of their drive-by estimate locations. Once you have their written original estimate- that’s their approval to begin disassembly/repairs. You can literally drive from your GEICO inspection straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
Rarely, GEICO will have an original estimate inspection of the vehicle at your house/workplace or the body shop.
Liberty Mutual / Safeco structures their claim process to usually have one of their adjusters physically view/write the original estimate for the car. They will have an original estimate inspection of the vehicle at your house/workplace or sometimes the body shop. Once you have that estimate from them (their approval), you can bring it straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
Sometimes, we can do an estimate and take all the photos that they require. As long as the claim has been fully established, we will digitally send the estimate package to them right in front of you. The approval process usually takes 48 hours. Once approved, we will then notify you and have you drop off the vehicle for repairs.
Mercury structures their claim process to have one of their adjusters physically view/write the original estimate for the car at the body shop. They’ll schedule a day that works for both you and them. They’ll request you to leave it at the body shop when the shop opens (around 8am for us), then they’ll be by later that same day to give us an approval to begin repair work on the vehicle.
We are in partnership with Nationwide insurance called the OYS (On Your Side) program. After getting the claim number from Nationwide, just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can start the repairs right away (assuming the claim has been fully established). We, through our training/agreement with Nationwide, are the approval for repairs. Approvals are instant.
Progressive structures their claim process to have one of their adjusters physically view/write the original estimate for the car. They will have an original estimate inspection of the vehicle at your house/workplace or sometimes the body shop. Once you have that estimate from them (their approval), you can bring it straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
State Farm gives you 2 options to choose from.
Option 1: They can write an original estimate of the vehicle at your house/workplace or sometimes the body shop. Once you have that estimate from them (their approval), you can bring it straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
Option 2: You can utilize their Pocket Estimate app on your phone. This app allows you to take the photos of the vehicle that they require to generate an original estimate (don’t worry- it shows you how to do it!). Once you have that original estimate e-mailed to you or populated in the app (usually in 24 hours), just come down to our body shop (no appointment needed!) and we can start the repairs right away (assuming the claim has been fully established).
Bonus Tip – We can also help you do the Pocket Estimate photo app if you’d like our help.
Travelers structures their claim process to have one of their adjusters physically view/write the original estimate for the car. They will have an original estimate inspection of the vehicle at your house/workplace or sometimes the body shop. Once you have that estimate from them (their approval), you can bring it straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
USAA does their claim process 1 of 2 ways (usually they’ll decide which way).
Option 1: They can write an original estimate of the vehicle at your house/workplace or sometimes the body shop. Once you have that estimate from them (their approval), you can bring it straight to our body shop and leave the vehicle for repairs.
Option 2: They’ll allow us to do an estimate and take all the photos that USAA requires. As long as the claim has been fully established, we will digitally send the estimate package to USAA’s CCC ONE program for approval right in front of you. The approval process typically takes 24 hours. Once approved, we will then notify you and have you drop off the vehicle for repairs.
In general insurance companies always go down 2 paths.
Path 1: They write the original estimate at your house/workplace and you bring their estimate (also known as their approval) to the body shop to begin disassembly/repairs.
Path 2: The body shop writes the estimate and takes all the required photos and sends it to the insurance company for an approval.
Feel free to e-mail or call us with your insurance information and we can track down how they’d like to proceed.
