My wife had her Tahoe run into the other day in a parking lot. Instead of getting the actual repairs done, we are thinking of just having the insurance company cut us a check and using that towards a new vehicle. My question comes on the estimate that the insurance company provided us for what their repair estimate is. Everything looks good except for what they are claiming for cost of labor. They are using a $46/hour estimate but I don't know of any shops that charge that little any more. Has anybody ever had any luck getting an insurance company to allow for more $/hour before they cut you a check? I'm going to ask the insurance company but wanted to ask here first in case anybody had any advice.

Thanks

I always took the car to a shop of my choice, that was the quote provided to ins.

Body labor is cheap. usually $44-$48 per hr. Mechanical is where i gets expensive

I take it to a stealership body shop for estimates. Their insurance labor & material rates are usually higher.

thanks

Labor rates for walkin/out of pockets estimates at shops will always have higher rates....insurance estimate rates will be lower and 99% of body shops accept those insurance rates. Think of medical insurance at the Dr. office, if you pay out of pocket for something vs, using medical insurance you usually pay higher, where the Medical Insurance companies have an "agreed" amount to they will pay the Dr.

jsc8116 said:

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Labor rates for walkin/out of pockets estimates at shops will always have higher rates....insurance estimate rates will be lower and 99% of body shops accept those insurance rates. Think of medical insurance at the Dr. office, if you pay out of pocket for something vs, using medical insurance you usually pay higher, where the Medical Insurance companies have an "agreed" amount to they will pay the Dr.

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You actually generally end up paying less without insurance since it's assumed you're a lolpoor

Dill-Ag13 said:

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jsc8116 said:

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Labor rates for walkin/out of pockets estimates at shops will always have higher rates....insurance estimate rates will be lower and 99% of body shops accept those insurance rates. Think of medical insurance at the Dr. office, if you pay out of pocket for something vs, using medical insurance you usually pay higher, where the Medical Insurance companies have an "agreed" amount to they will pay the Dr.

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You actually generally end up paying less without insurance since it's assumed you're a lolpoor

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No, not due to assumptions of LOLpooredness, but because the labor overhead is non-existent. No need for assistants to follow up with inscos, etc.

When I paid cash for my Aunt or Dad's medical procedures/tests it was always about 25% of what they showed " if insurance paid".