State Farm refuses to pay the shops

rg0r

rg0r

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Hi guys... ended up going through insurance ... insurance is claiming they can not offer to pay more than 55$ per labour hour to the shop. I called a number of places and it seems the going hourly rate is $80-90... I told the insurance company this... and asked for a list of shops that will do it within the budget. Their response was, we dont deal with motorcycle repairs much... but we had a client with "Ducati" and they had it fixed for $55 an hour. Is this a joke? ... thought state farm was better than that. My deductable is $1000 and full coverage... $7000 in damages...any help?
 
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I would ask this in the insurance sections..

I would also see if they can find you a shop that charges that rate...and post it hear thats a good deal!
 
Lol.. Isn't state farm one of the major guys to insure bikes? I guess most I the claims are theft???
 
You have the right to take your vehicle to "any" certified repair facility. Insurance companies can not dictate where you take it only "recommend" what shop you take it to. There are competition laws and fair trade laws that prevent such favouritism!!!!

My father owns an auto collision shop and he deals with this B-S all the time!!! They wonder why the family business in the Canadian economy struggles to survive over the franchises. FML! Disgusting really.

Take it to a shop "you" are comfortable with and if they refuse to pay. I'd have BBB or small claims involved.

Just my opinion.
 
Actually you are right.. they did say any shop i wish to bring to.. only problem
is they refuse to pay more than $55 ... Small claims ... got no time... working like a dog :(
 
$7,000 in damage? What is your bike worth?
They will usually write your bike off around the 75-80% of the bikes value range.

Maybe they are just saying that due to if you go over the $55/hr then they will not pay as it would be cheaper for them to write it off?
 
09SV650S said:
You have the right to take your vehicle to "any" certified repair facility. Insurance companies can not dictate where you take it only "recommend" what shop you take it to. There are competition laws and fair trade laws that prevent such favouritism!!!!

My father owns an auto collision shop and he deals with this B-S all the time!!! They wonder why the family business in the Canadian economy struggles to survive over the franchises. FML! Disgusting really.

Take it to a shop "you" are comfortable with and if they refuse to pay. I'd have BBB or small claims involved.

Just my opinion.
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They can't tell him where to take it, that's right. But they can tell him how much they value the cost of repairs at. If one shop wants $7000 to fix, and state farm says its worth $5000, you are free to get it fixed for the $7000, and SF will pay the $5000 they think it's worth.

OP, more details. Did SF appraise the damage? Who said its $7000? How much of that $7000 is labour?
 
09SV650S said:
You have the right to take your vehicle to "any" certified repair facility. Insurance companies can not dictate where you take it only "recommend" what shop you take it to. There are competition laws and fair trade laws that prevent such favouritism!!!!

My father owns an auto collision shop and he deals with this B-S all the time!!! They wonder why the family business in the Canadian economy struggles to survive over the franchises. FML! Disgusting really.

Take it to a shop "you" are comfortable with and if they refuse to pay. I'd have BBB or small claims involved.

Just my opinion.
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+1, my father also owns an autobody repair shop. He can only charge insurance companies what they dictate. He can't tell them what his hourly rate is, they tell him. He has to deal with it, or lose the job to the competition.

I'm assuming you're checking around with local bike shops? Try an autobody shop. I know it's a bike, not a car - but it doesn't matter. Body shops have lower hourly rates than mechanical shops.
 
5.5 damage... rest is labour... buncha crooks. i guess they want me to repair it myself
 
Riders Choice repaired my bike after a crash through Statefarm.....many other bikes too.....easy !
 
rg0r said:
5.5 damage... rest is labour... buncha crooks. i guess they want me to repair it myself
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So that's 27 hours labour @ $55/hour to make the $7000, if a shop charged $90/hour for 27 hours the difference in cost is $930, what's the value of the bike??
 
150dpi said:
Tell the shop to charge 55 dollars/hour but charge 2 times the time.
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Pompey said:
what's the value of the bike??
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+1 Or the year and type

Thats the key variable being left out. With that it will be alot easier to try to see where they are coming from.
 
jeffjones said:
+1 Or the year and type

Thats the key variable being left out. With that it will be alot easier to try to see where they are coming from.
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They are coming from where they are always coming from - watching their own ***, not giving a flying leap about the guy who's been paying into his policy for years. There is no industry more scandalous than insurance.
 
rg0r said:
5.5 damage... rest is labour... buncha crooks. i guess they want me to repair it myself
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It is the insurer's choice to consider a vehicle a total loss or not. When they appraised it they have to give you the option of a preferred body shop that would do it at that price. Check the appraisal report if you have a copy, it should indicate a body shop.

If you're not getting anywhere with your agent, escalate it to a supervisor. Good luck with the repairs man, this weather is too nice to wait for repairs!
 
I get into this as well. I make damn sure I have a 100% appraisal done with a reserve for unkowns (usually $500 plus materials) just incase something is damaged thats not visible. SF is the ONLY company that I have dealt with that uses its own appraisers.The rest use contract appraisers, most are ex body guys that have little or no bike experience. They come to the shop with a van thats internet capable and the guy sits in the back and goes over the estimate line for line. I have had them sit in my driveway for hours and come in the shop many times to ask questions. In my experience they are no more difficult to deal with than any other and in some way better.
Many shops will not do a detailed estimate. they will simply try to throw a number at them, for good reason because it can take a couple hours to look up part numbers and get values. The insurance will not pay for it, if they write the bike off the shop gets nothing for the estimate. The only way is to charge storage and towing.
You can take your bike wherever you want. Dont let them push you around. The shop and the insurance company will have to work it out. In the end its not your worry.
 
JimZYellow said:
It is the insurer's choice to consider a vehicle a total loss or not. When they appraised it they have to give you the option of a preferred body shop that would do it at that price. Check the appraisal report if you have a copy, it should indicate a body shop.

If you're not getting anywhere with your agent, escalate it to a supervisor. Good luck with the repairs man, this weather is too nice to wait for repairs!
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Thank you... no preferred body shops listed... state farm says they don't specialize in motorcycles therefore cannot recommend any shop...... hope to get this resolved soon...
 
kneedragger88 said:
I get into this as well. I make damn sure I have a 100% appraisal done with a reserve for unkowns (usually $500 plus materials) just incase something is damaged thats not visible. SF is the ONLY company that I have dealt with that uses its own appraisers.The rest use contract appraisers, most are ex body guys that have little or no bike experience. They come to the shop with a van thats internet capable and the guy sits in the back and goes over the estimate line for line. I have had them sit in my driveway for hours and come in the shop many times to ask questions. In my experience they are no more difficult to deal with than any other and in some way better.
Many shops will not do a detailed estimate. they will simply try to throw a number at them, for good reason because it can take a couple hours to look up part numbers and get values. The insurance will not pay for it, if they write the bike off the shop gets nothing for the estimate. The only way is to charge storage and towing.
You can take your bike wherever you want. Dont let them push you around. The shop and the insurance company will have to work it out. In the end its not your worry.
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Thank you... this is actually what happened.. guy in a van showed up... an ok guy actually... however it appears that he was trying to cut costs by skipping certain damages... will see what happens this week, didn't want to think about it over the long weekend.


Thanks to all for the help and advice as always.
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