premium jump from $1200 - $4000. What kind of shitty insurance company do you use? You should go shop a new quote. The amount of $$ matters. But I doubt $2K vs $7K differs much. The "at fault" accident record matters more in this case. There is nothing you can do. The repair shop took the opportunity and ripped the insurance company big with those absolutely excessive labor charges. For the insurance company, they see it as part of the business expense. $7K is a chump change to them. They only fight tooth and nail when injury is involved.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Insurance paid out $7000 for scrape on Tesla Model 3 bumper...
- Thread starter helpmeinsure
- Start date
Geico was not redacted on the pdf. Yeah, I tried shopping but my premiums have increased drastically still. I am getting quotes around $2k if I get close to bare minimums and around $2500 if it is very similar coverage.
I called the adjuster and for context I asked him for a typical quote to replace the entire Tesla bumper. He said it is about 1k for the part and 2k for the labor and paint. This is way off. I believe he went to visit the shop. He was stammering the entire time during the entire conversation.
Yeah, I can see how people can go bankrupt without health insurance or car insurance. One unfortunate event whether you are at fault or not and your life is over.
Health insurance doesn't work that way. Surprisingly, healthcare costs a lot more when you have health insurance than when you don't.
Years ago we chose to pay out of pocket for our family's healthcare costs instead of paying for insurance through my employer. On the rare occasion that we had to visit a provider for something unexpected, the costs were always reasonable for self-pay customers.
Once President Osama mandated health insurance for all, we got onboard... and I was shocked at how much more expensive these occasional unexpected visits became.
A bit of googling and I found that I wasn't alone (and not just since the insurance mandate). Many people had learned long before me that healthcare service are billed exorbitantly higher for customers with health insurance.
There might be some psychology involved in healthcare provider's decisions to do that (e.g. cash pay customers might pay you $300 if you bill them for it, but might pay you nothing if you bill them $6k), but it's still unsettling to me.
No exaggeration, some insured people get billed 10-20x the amount of a cash pay customer. And I'm not talking about the amount covered by insurance... I'm talking the out of pocket cost for the insured patient. It's outrageous.
Off topic (and very personal), but perhaps interesting to some of you. My own anecdotal experience:
Pre-pandemic, I was seeing a university medical office about 1.5 hours from home. They'd been prescribing an autoimmune medication to me for years that I'm required to take daily. 2020 came around and they wouldn't fill my prescription. They said I should be seeing a doctor closer to home. (probably they were massively overloaded).
I'd run out of my prescription, and they wouldn't fill it... so I just stopped taking it. A few months later I had the skin color of an Oompa Loompa and all I could do was sleep.
My wife called lots of places, but none would see me without at least a few months waiting list. They all recommended going to a hospital. What a mistake that was.
The hospital wouldn't admit me unless I went into the emergency room. They kept me for 3 days, ran lots of tests, doctor after doctor came and paid me a visit... then they finally sent me home with my prescription and a doctor's appointment with someone local about 30 days later.
Bill for services: $7,000
$7k for a prescription and an appointment. And I had family health insurance that my employer was paying about $17k per year for. Maybe that'll make the OP feel just a tiny bit better about this situation (but probably not, LOL).
They billed me for a private room, LOL... and for emergency service (even though I sat in the ER for like 7 hours waiting for someone).
The very fact that they put me in a bed was silly... I drove there myself. Every doctor that walked into my room and introduced themselves billed me for it. What a sham.
The hospital sees an insured patient like a golden goose. A cash-paying customer gets a very different experience, and a more honest one (IMO).
I've been paying them $25/month for the last 3 years. Although I *WILL* eventually pay them the $7k they swindled me out of, at $25/month it's essentially negligible.
Pre-pandemic, I was seeing a university medical office about 1.5 hours from home. They'd been prescribing an autoimmune medication to me for years that I'm required to take daily. 2020 came around and they wouldn't fill my prescription. They said I should be seeing a doctor closer to home. (probably they were massively overloaded).
I'd run out of my prescription, and they wouldn't fill it... so I just stopped taking it. A few months later I had the skin color of an Oompa Loompa and all I could do was sleep.
My wife called lots of places, but none would see me without at least a few months waiting list. They all recommended going to a hospital. What a mistake that was.
The hospital wouldn't admit me unless I went into the emergency room. They kept me for 3 days, ran lots of tests, doctor after doctor came and paid me a visit... then they finally sent me home with my prescription and a doctor's appointment with someone local about 30 days later.
Bill for services: $7,000
$7k for a prescription and an appointment. And I had family health insurance that my employer was paying about $17k per year for. Maybe that'll make the OP feel just a tiny bit better about this situation (but probably not, LOL).
They billed me for a private room, LOL... and for emergency service (even though I sat in the ER for like 7 hours waiting for someone).
The very fact that they put me in a bed was silly... I drove there myself. Every doctor that walked into my room and introduced themselves billed me for it. What a sham.
The hospital sees an insured patient like a golden goose. A cash-paying customer gets a very different experience, and a more honest one (IMO).
I've been paying them $25/month for the last 3 years. Although I *WILL* eventually pay them the $7k they swindled me out of, at $25/month it's essentially negligible.
Bankrupt without. Nearly bankrupt just paying for it.
As a healthcare provider, we accept a reasonable discount for cash pay. Why? No one ever comes back 6-12 months later and takes back a cash payment
Insurance companies require a huge amount of overhead to submit with the claims, argue with the claims (sometimes including reviewing with multiple levels of hired doctors that have no clue and their job is to say NO), and process any monies that come back including all the discounts they take off. They can also come back and recoup a claim 6-9 months later if they decide it shouldn't have been paid. For example, if the patient failed to pay their insurance bills. Or they somehow magically decide the patient *might* have had two insurances at the time. Usually by the time the recoupment comes back the patient is loooong gone.
It's not psychology in our case. It's real savings. We also don't discount 10-20x. Maybe 25%.
The real bankrupt problems come if there is a serious medical issue or a visit to the ER. I'd gladly take a true high deductible plan for the big surprises, but those are so expensive too.
Insurance companies know when to fight and whether it is worth to fight, they handle many claims at the same time, plus they can always increase the premium to recoup part of the cost, drop someone or increase their premium to a point that they will leave voluntarily. There really nothing you can do, other than find another insurer, change to a cheaper to insure car, adjust the coverage, move ... at least for the next 3-5 years will have to pay more. Unless Tesla decided to cover NY which may give you a different choice with some caveats.
if I was in this situation, for a minor scratch like that. I would've offered the other driver a couple hundred dollar cash payment. Also tell the person, if you involve insurance, your car will have a accident history on carfax that impacts resale value. May be enough to convince the person to settle privately. You could also offer to go to a paint shop together for a quick estimate. I would not expect it to be more than $1K.
If I were the owner, I'd pocket that $7k check and DIY this with a paint kit. It wouldn't be perfect like the collision shop would do it, but it'd be close enough for me. $7k seems totally wasted repairing such small damage.
Then I'd take that $7k and spend 100% of it on the world's largest collection of Christmas socks. I'm gonna be somebody some day.
Then I'd take that $7k and spend 100% of it on the world's largest collection of Christmas socks. I'm gonna be somebody some day.
zoomer0056
Active Member
They're gonna recoup the $7,000 in just a few payments and then some. Both the shop and the insurance making profits.
zoomer0056
Active Member
This story be like:
"Oh no, I just gambled this week's payroll on black but the ball landed on red. I'm gonna lose my Tesla-certified collision shop business!! What am I gonna DO?!?"
"Hi... I called on the phone about this scrape on my rear bumper. Can you provide an estimate for the other driver's insurance company?"
"Oh no, I just gambled this week's payroll on black but the ball landed on red. I'm gonna lose my Tesla-certified collision shop business!! What am I gonna DO?!?"
"Hi... I called on the phone about this scrape on my rear bumper. Can you provide an estimate for the other driver's insurance company?"
Insurance fraud happens, I guess one can file a report in the state's insurance agency, not sure it worth it though. Many years ago, I hit someone around 5-10mph from behind stop and go traffic. The driver's daughter came out said everything is fine, but then her mom yelled at her to shut up, of course later on there are all sorts of medical bills from doctor in her ethnicity against my insurance...
Last edited:
brainhouston
Active Member
yeap, i've known a friend of a friend that was bumped in something like <25mph fender bender.Insurance fraud happens, I guess one can file a report in the state's insurance agency, not sure it worth it though. Many years ago, I hit someone around 5-10mph from behind stop and go traffic. The driver's daughter came out said everything is fine, but then her mom yelled at her to shut up, of course later on there are all sorts of medical bills from doctor in her ethnicity against my insurance...
to this day that friend occasionally wears neck brace claiming it still hurts after the accident...
many doctor appointments were involved...
