Car insurance paid repair shop, car was totaled after?

[Cheyahcarly]

I got into an accident back in 2018, my Insurance was full coverage with Geico, the car was sent to a repair shop and Geico paid that repair shop over $5000 for repairs, when they started the repairs the shop actually damaged my car more and had a second adjuster come out to try to get more money for the repairs and the second adjustment declared my car a total loss, the car loan company is trying to get money from me for what was not paid towards the loan, my question is if the repair shop was paid over $5000, and Geico paid 3000 to my loan company due to the fact that they paid the repair shop already, is the shop responsible for paying the car loan company or Geico back for the repairs that were not made with the money that was paid to them from Geico?

 

[adjusterjack]

Unfortunately, you borrowed the money, it's your responsibility to pay it back.

Whether you can recover any money from the shop or GEICO is anybody's guess.

What does the GEICO claim rep say about this?

 

[Cheyahcarly]

Geico claim reps refuse to answer any of my questions about it, even tho the shop that was supposed to repair the car cashed the check they sent without my signature which im pretty sure is not legal? i could be wrong but i have requested to speak to management with the claims center and they never call me back and when they do they say they dont know anything except they paid the shop and thats it :(

 

[adjusterjack]

the shop that was supposed to repair the car cashed the check they sent without my signature which im pretty sure is not legal?

Was the check made out to you AND the shop or you OR the shop. If it was AND, you can report your lack of endorsement to the bank and see if they will stop pay and send the money back to GEICO.

If it was OR then it was legal for the shop to cash the check.

The question becomes how much work was actually done on the car. The shop is entitled to charge for only that amount of work.

The shop might be the problem, not GEICO.

 

[Cheyahcarly]

Yes the check was written out to the shop and me as well. Can I still contact the bank now and let them know I didn’t sign even though this happened back in 2018? I’m not sure which bank was used since the repair shop cashed it out. I definitely believe it was the shop and I have paperwork showing what work was done, I have also sent this to the car loan company so they can see for themselves. I think the shop ordered all parts and then once they damaged the car they stopped to get the supplement adjustment for more money and then totaled the car. If they failed to return those parts, is that something I can come after them for if I need to?

 

[fed up]

I don't know the extent of the damage but I have worked in body shops and techs are paid for the work they perform in the week that they perform the work. You have tear down and removal of parts to find the damage. You could have had frame damage that was repairable before any parts went on the vehicle. You are also speaking of an event that happened 3 years ago. If the initial claim was that close to a total declaration someone should have told everyone to hold until the teardown was complete. Let GEICO speak with the loan company and get it worked out

 

[Cheyahcarly]

I have tried that and geico to my surprise have refused to assist with the loan company issue. I’m going to try and talk to them and ask if I can let the bank know my signature was not endorsed on the check to the repair shop and see if they can get that money back to pay my loan company :(

 

[adjusterjack]

Yes the check was written out to the shop and me as well. Can I still contact the bank now and let them know I didn’t sign even though this happened back in 2018?

I forgot that it's been 3 years. I seriously doubt that the bank will care any more.

I definitely believe it was the shop and I have paperwork showing what work was done,

What work was done? Have you determined what the cost of that work should have been?

I have also sent this to the car loan company so they can see for themselves.

The loan contract was between you and the lender. I doubt that the lender cares about anything other than getting paid.

once they damaged the car

How, exactly, did they damage the car? If all they did was start the tear down and then discovered hidden damage, they didn't damage anything.

If they failed to return those parts, is that something I can come after them for if I need to?

Probably.

Why, after three years, do you now suddenly want to "go after" somebody?

 

[Cheyahcarly]

They welded a piece onto my frame that shouldn’t have been welded. The shop was not technically a repair shop, just a shop similar to break masters who didn’t have qualified mechanics to fix cars. The supervisor of the shop was fired for embezzlement in regards to my car and situation. I’m not trying to go after anybody, but it’s been 3 years and the car came off my credit and I assumed the loan was satisfied by geico or the shop since they never contacted me. Now they are trying to collect on the debt from me which is why this is all getting brought up 3 years later

 

[Cheyahcarly]

Another interesting thing about my situation is that the repair shop kept my car in their garage for a year after Geico or the loan company was supposed to pick it up for being totaled and then made my loan company paid $4000 to get the car back? I had asked the shop where the car was because I wanted to go through the process of keeping it as a salvage title and they told me the Geico came and picked the car up which was a lie and then the car loan company had to pay the shop to get the car back, that is also part of what they are trying to collect from me which seems unusual