Can a body shop increase their charges to match an insurance payout even if their original estimate in writing was less?
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Can a body shop increase their charges to match an insurance payout even if their original estimate in writing was less?
A lady hitmy car. Her insurance accepted responsibility, looked at my car, did the estimate and cut me a check for the amount of their estimate. I took the car to a bodyshop. They did an estimate in writing and it came in $400 less than the check that her insurer wrote me. The bodyshop asked me to bring in the insurance estimate when I dropped off car. When I wentto pay for the work, all of a sudden the total was now the exact amount of the insurance estimate, not the original estof the bodyshop itself. Is this legal? Can I refuse to pay anything other than the original estimate amount (which I have in writing)?
Asked on February 16, 2012 under Accident Law, Virginia
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
No this is absolutely not legal and basically this body shop is trying to take the money you were going to get. So your best bet at this point is to take to a body that will do it for the same amount as your original estimate and not one penny more and further, file a fraud complaint against this repair shop with the department of motor vehicles and the state attorney general. I will bet this will turn into an investigation regarding fraudulent billing practices.
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