GETTING WHAT YOU DESERVE FOR YOUR DAMAGED VEHICLE – REPAIRS, TOTAL LOSSES. RENTALS
Regarding payment for your car, the insurance company will often suggest you take the car to a specific shop that they like to use. You actually have the right to have your car repaired at any place you want, including the dealer. The other thing about property damage the insurance company doesn’t usually explain to you is that when a car is repaired, if they find some additional damage beyond what the original estimate said, the insurance company should pay for that additional damage. If your car is damaged beyond the value of repairing the car, the insurance company should pay you the value of that car before the accident. The insurance company will try to limit the value they pay you to what’s in a “Blue Book” type estimate, but there are ways to have the insurance company pay more than that for your particular vehicle, but they won’t tell you about that. Also, when it comes to a rental car, the insurance company often times limits the time they give you for the rental car to a shorter period of time than Florida law gives you.
