Insurance Pay out

[jwilburn]

Ok so with in the first 2 weeks of owning my X, some f***** scratched down the entire driver side with his passenger mirror. It left a decent little scratch and even dimpled the side paneling some and knocked my side mirror loose. So I took it to be appraised and they came back with a $3.5g's figure, yikes.

After many weeks of back and forth I finally was able to submit a claim to his company, Budget, since that’s when I got hit and he was on the job. Their claims adjusters were very nice, sent someone out, took pictures, and I just got my checks. Yes two checks totaling a whopping $900 bucks. They also sent an "independent appraisal" which equaled the 900 figure.

When I asked why it came in so much lower, I was told I had to take this estimate to the shop of my choice and if the repairs cost anything more, then the insurance company could be notified for more funds.

As I have never done this before, is this common place? I just don’t want to take it in and then get stuck paying a grand out of my pocket when its not my fault at all. Just wondering what others have done/would do before I authorize work to be done. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post!

Oh it just hurts to look at it too.