Crashed my new (to me) Turbo today!
08-29-2012, 09:53 PM
#32
Burning Brakes
The OP needs to establish that he is wearing the pants in this process.
Sure, let the third party insurance do their estimates...but at each and every step of the way, the OP needs to exert his control: what shops look at it, when the adjuster may have access to the car, WHO will be there when he is there... all of these things telegraph a simple message:
*I* will fix *MY* car to perfect condition and *YOU* will pay the bill. Your insurance policy, your 'procedures' and 'how you do things' are really not my concern. Your client is LIABLE for my loss and you (or your client) WILL pay that loss.
I particularly like the "Oh, he didnt have rental car coverage"... many people fall for this. Heck, the biker is liable for your lost time from work, as well as any other losses you sustain in the accident. The INSURANCE will say "we dont cover it"... same as Diminished Value...but actually, they will in the end if you successfully fight them.
People that take direction and obey the insurance company are not treated as well as someone who knows the ropes and establishes they might turn into a total disaster for the adjuster.... very firm, not irrational, but just showing them how poorly it may go if they F with you.
Interested to hear how it goes- good luck
A
Sure, let the third party insurance do their estimates...but at each and every step of the way, the OP needs to exert his control: what shops look at it, when the adjuster may have access to the car, WHO will be there when he is there... all of these things telegraph a simple message:
*I* will fix *MY* car to perfect condition and *YOU* will pay the bill. Your insurance policy, your 'procedures' and 'how you do things' are really not my concern. Your client is LIABLE for my loss and you (or your client) WILL pay that loss.
I particularly like the "Oh, he didnt have rental car coverage"... many people fall for this. Heck, the biker is liable for your lost time from work, as well as any other losses you sustain in the accident. The INSURANCE will say "we dont cover it"... same as Diminished Value...but actually, they will in the end if you successfully fight them.
People that take direction and obey the insurance company are not treated as well as someone who knows the ropes and establishes they might turn into a total disaster for the adjuster.... very firm, not irrational, but just showing them how poorly it may go if they F with you.
Interested to hear how it goes- good luck
A
08-30-2012, 03:03 AM
#33
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The other insurance company probably already has all the details. When I sat down to negotiate for settlement for my new Cayman S the other driver's insurance company rep knew to a penny what I had paid for the car, in fact he knew as much about the car as I did.
My advice is to be sure you push for recognition what a proper repair of this car requires.
My fear is that the estimate is a low one and the repair will be sub-par as the insurance company refuses to allow for any legitimate additional charges as more damage is found. In my Turbo's case additional charges increased the most up to date estimate by over $5K. That's a big jump from around $20K to $25K.
The insurance adjusters always seem to come in with a low estimate while by way of an example my body shop friend had the estimate nailed in no time. It took several adjusters, finally an exotic car adjuster, to come up with numbers close to the initial estimate my body shop friend arrived at and then the car was declared a total loss. IIRC the last adjuster stopped counting at around $45K in damages for a car that listed for $62.6K and for which I paid $50.6K.
In your car's case the impact probably bent the tub. Where the suspension/steering attaches these points probably got pushed in.
They probably got pushed in at an angle which makes pulling them out harder.
Also, any damage to side riails or the A pillar area, the door frame area, is particularly hard to repair and repair right.
Remember in CA you are entitled to have the car repaired as close to its pre-collision condition as humanly possible and this works to have cars totaled that in other areas might be repaired. But this is good for us in CA for as I touched upon sometimes a car through no fault of its own or its owner gets totaled.
My advice is to let nature run its course and focus on getting a fair settlement all you are entitled to and then go out and find another car.
Sincerely,
Macster.
My advice is to be sure you push for recognition what a proper repair of this car requires.
My fear is that the estimate is a low one and the repair will be sub-par as the insurance company refuses to allow for any legitimate additional charges as more damage is found. In my Turbo's case additional charges increased the most up to date estimate by over $5K. That's a big jump from around $20K to $25K.
The insurance adjusters always seem to come in with a low estimate while by way of an example my body shop friend had the estimate nailed in no time. It took several adjusters, finally an exotic car adjuster, to come up with numbers close to the initial estimate my body shop friend arrived at and then the car was declared a total loss. IIRC the last adjuster stopped counting at around $45K in damages for a car that listed for $62.6K and for which I paid $50.6K.
In your car's case the impact probably bent the tub. Where the suspension/steering attaches these points probably got pushed in.
They probably got pushed in at an angle which makes pulling them out harder.
Also, any damage to side riails or the A pillar area, the door frame area, is particularly hard to repair and repair right.
Remember in CA you are entitled to have the car repaired as close to its pre-collision condition as humanly possible and this works to have cars totaled that in other areas might be repaired. But this is good for us in CA for as I touched upon sometimes a car through no fault of its own or its owner gets totaled.
My advice is to let nature run its course and focus on getting a fair settlement all you are entitled to and then go out and find another car.
Sincerely,
Macster.
I told them to tow it to Amatos, the only Porsche-certified body shop in San Diego (as referenced on the Porsche website). They agreed even though they are not on USAA's list. It's also apparently the most expensive shop in town working with mostly high end cars.
Once at the body shop, a USAA inspector will give a more detailed inspection and estimate. Amatos told me they would then take it apart and reinspect it in more detail and give a second estimate using all Porsche parts. We will see at that time if and how much the estimate goes up and if it really is still repairable.
I drive by this place to work so I will be in there nearly every day looking over their shoulders.
Amato's also told me that if the car had been totaled, they were sure USAA would have reimbursed me what i paid for it based on my receipts from the dealer and recent comps from Autotrader.
I will also try to get USAA to go after the 3rd party insurance company (Farmers) to get a reasonable diminished value reimbursement from them or I will go after them myself.
Anyone know the best way of getting a reasonable independent estimate of diminished value for a Porsche that an insurance company would believe?
08-30-2012, 01:27 PM
#35
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I will definitely push them in that direction to find everything they can that's wrong with it and I think they will since they want to fix everything and not have it come back. However, I would think it's in the financial interest of the body shop to NOT have it totaled since they obviously lose the business.
08-30-2012, 02:34 PM
#36
Race Director
I had a call from my USAA insurance inspector today who checked the car out. He told me, "the car is definitely repairable." He also said even if they used the most expensive Porsche replacement parts it would still be repairable.
I told them to tow it to Amatos, the only Porsche-certified body shop in San Diego (as referenced on the Porsche website). They agreed even though they are not on USAA's list. It's also apparently the most expensive shop in town working with mostly high end cars.
Once at the body shop, a USAA inspector will give a more detailed inspection and estimate. Amatos told me they would then take it apart and reinspect it in more detail and give a second estimate using all Porsche parts. We will see at that time if and how much the estimate goes up and if it really is still repairable.
I drive by this place to work so I will be in there nearly every day looking over their shoulders.
Amato's also told me that if the car had been totaled, they were sure USAA would have reimbursed me what i paid for it based on my receipts from the dealer and recent comps from Autotrader.
I will also try to get USAA to go after the 3rd party insurance company (Farmers) to get a reasonable diminished value reimbursement from them or I will go after them myself.
Anyone know the best way of getting a reasonable independent estimate of diminished value for a Porsche that an insurance company would believe?
I told them to tow it to Amatos, the only Porsche-certified body shop in San Diego (as referenced on the Porsche website). They agreed even though they are not on USAA's list. It's also apparently the most expensive shop in town working with mostly high end cars.
Once at the body shop, a USAA inspector will give a more detailed inspection and estimate. Amatos told me they would then take it apart and reinspect it in more detail and give a second estimate using all Porsche parts. We will see at that time if and how much the estimate goes up and if it really is still repairable.
I drive by this place to work so I will be in there nearly every day looking over their shoulders.
Amato's also told me that if the car had been totaled, they were sure USAA would have reimbursed me what i paid for it based on my receipts from the dealer and recent comps from Autotrader.
I will also try to get USAA to go after the 3rd party insurance company (Farmers) to get a reasonable diminished value reimbursement from them or I will go after them myself.
Anyone know the best way of getting a reasonable independent estimate of diminished value for a Porsche that an insurance company would believe?
Whenever possible I like to let the other insurance company handle this -- though I start the process of filing a claim with my insurance company in case there's some delay from the other insurance company. So far, well with 2 rather recent events, there has not been any real horrible delay.
But insurance companies do not fork over lots of dough on a whim.
Anyhow, it reads like a reasonable approach.
It is an iterative process to work towards an as close as necessary estimate of the extent of the damage.
An experienced/skilled body shop estimator can come close but really even my body shop expert wouldn't take on a car without a partial teardown and a more thorough examination of the car and a very high confidence estimate of what it will take to put the car right.
One critical part of this involves putting the car on a Celette Bench and with (rented) jigs/fixtures determining what if any damage the tub/chassis has sustained.
Now this might not be some huge dent that is obvious -- although sometimes it is obvious. I can show you a pic of the front trunk of my Cayman S which one can see the trunk cavity is obviously out of shape/position. But the damage is more subtle or hidden, yet not any less serious because of it.
Here's a pic showing the extent (at least from the outside) of my Cayman S.
Here's a pic showing the front trunk cavity. You can see the trunk's shape is not right as the driver's side is bowed in.
On this note I can show you a pic of my Turbo, the one tub/chassis area that was damaged was the metal shelf that runs along side (in this case the passenger side) of the front trunk to which the top inner edge of the passenger fender bolts too. This shelf was pushed down some from the force of the impact with the mule deer.
Here's the pic that shows the Turbo's fender shelf bent down:
But this shelf's hardpoints were brought back into factory position and the passenger door, passenger fender, front trunk lid, and front bumper cover fits/gaps were all restored to factory.
Anyhow, this Celette Bench time can add up and the jigs/fixtures rental adds cost.
Why rent? Well, for consistency and high quality.
The jigs/fixtures come from Celette and Celette is responsible for ensuring these jigs/fixtures are in good shape (checked against masters at the factory) so when a shop gets them in and makes the car match the jigs/fixtures the car has the same shape, the hard point locations as when it left the factory and as replacement body panels (trunk lids, fenders, doors, etc.) will be made to match up to.
My body shop expert tells me that even factory replacement panels for damaged panels on older model Porsches have the same fit as when the car was new. Porsche is very good -- my friend tells me it is the best of all the ar brands he has worked on the last 30 or so years -- about keeping the jigs/fixtures that it uses to produce new and replacement body panels in tip top shape.
For diminished value my thought is you want to be careful.
If you focus on DV the other insurance company might fork over a few thousand dollars and at the same time feel it can skimp on the repairs and save the DV claim and more in this regard.
You walk away with a car that you think is repaired as good as humanly possible, when it is not, but you have your DV check and are happy.
First and foremost I think your focus should be on if the car is deemed repairable to focus on getting the car repaired as good as humany possible.
Now I am sure the body shop would be your advocate and press for a proper repair regardless, but by bringing up DV early you might make its job harder.
The body shop might run into more pushback of the insurance company is facing a big repair bill and some unknown at this time exposure to a DV claim.
I'm not saying you should not go after everything you are entitled too to make you as nearly whole again as possible, al I'm saying is you might want to think things through some.
Speak to the body shop manager/owner and see what he advises. He may tell you there is no problem and you can get this DV on the table early. He might even tell you it might provide some extra incentive to the other driver's insurance company to be more responsive to additional claims for found damage.
Sincerely,
Macster.
08-31-2012, 01:42 AM
#38
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Are you using your insurance company or are you going to let the other driver's insurance company handle this?
Whenever possible I like to let the other insurance company handle this -- though I start the process of filing a claim with my insurance company in case there's some delay from the other insurance company. So far, well with 2 rather recent events, there has not been any real horrible delay.
But insurance companies do not fork over lots of dough on a whim.
Anyhow, it reads like a reasonable approach.
It is an iterative process to work towards an as close as necessary estimate of the extent of the damage.
An experienced/skilled body shop estimator can come close but really even my body shop expert wouldn't take on a car without a partial teardown and a more thorough examination of the car and a very high confidence estimate of what it will take to put the car right.
One critical part of this involves putting the car on a Celette Bench and with (rented) jigs/fixtures determining what if any damage the tub/chassis has sustained.
Now this might not be some huge dent that is obvious -- although sometimes it is obvious. I can show you a pic of the front trunk of my Cayman S which one can see the trunk cavity is obviously out of shape/position. But the damage is more subtle or hidden, yet not any less serious because of it.
Here's a pic showing the extent (at least from the outside) of my Cayman S.
Here's a pic showing the front trunk cavity. You can see the trunk's shape is not right as the driver's side is bowed in.
On this note I can show you a pic of my Turbo, the one tub/chassis area that was damaged was the metal shelf that runs along side (in this case the passenger side) of the front trunk to which the top inner edge of the passenger fender bolts too. This shelf was pushed down some from the force of the impact with the mule deer.
Here's the pic that shows the Turbo's fender shelf bent down:
But this shelf's hardpoints were brought back into factory position and the passenger door, passenger fender, front trunk lid, and front bumper cover fits/gaps were all restored to factory.
Anyhow, this Celette Bench time can add up and the jigs/fixtures rental adds cost.
Why rent? Well, for consistency and high quality.
The jigs/fixtures come from Celette and Celette is responsible for ensuring these jigs/fixtures are in good shape (checked against masters at the factory) so when a shop gets them in and makes the car match the jigs/fixtures the car has the same shape, the hard point locations as when it left the factory and as replacement body panels (trunk lids, fenders, doors, etc.) will be made to match up to.
My body shop expert tells me that even factory replacement panels for damaged panels on older model Porsches have the same fit as when the car was new. Porsche is very good -- my friend tells me it is the best of all the ar brands he has worked on the last 30 or so years -- about keeping the jigs/fixtures that it uses to produce new and replacement body panels in tip top shape.
For diminished value my thought is you want to be careful.
If you focus on DV the other insurance company might fork over a few thousand dollars and at the same time feel it can skimp on the repairs and save the DV claim and more in this regard.
You walk away with a car that you think is repaired as good as humanly possible, when it is not, but you have your DV check and are happy.
First and foremost I think your focus should be on if the car is deemed repairable to focus on getting the car repaired as good as humany possible.
Now I am sure the body shop would be your advocate and press for a proper repair regardless, but by bringing up DV early you might make its job harder.
The body shop might run into more pushback of the insurance company is facing a big repair bill and some unknown at this time exposure to a DV claim.
I'm not saying you should not go after everything you are entitled too to make you as nearly whole again as possible, al I'm saying is you might want to think things through some.
Speak to the body shop manager/owner and see what he advises. He may tell you there is no problem and you can get this DV on the table early. He might even tell you it might provide some extra incentive to the other driver's insurance company to be more responsive to additional claims for found damage.
Sincerely,
Macster.
Whenever possible I like to let the other insurance company handle this -- though I start the process of filing a claim with my insurance company in case there's some delay from the other insurance company. So far, well with 2 rather recent events, there has not been any real horrible delay.
But insurance companies do not fork over lots of dough on a whim.
Anyhow, it reads like a reasonable approach.
It is an iterative process to work towards an as close as necessary estimate of the extent of the damage.
An experienced/skilled body shop estimator can come close but really even my body shop expert wouldn't take on a car without a partial teardown and a more thorough examination of the car and a very high confidence estimate of what it will take to put the car right.
One critical part of this involves putting the car on a Celette Bench and with (rented) jigs/fixtures determining what if any damage the tub/chassis has sustained.
Now this might not be some huge dent that is obvious -- although sometimes it is obvious. I can show you a pic of the front trunk of my Cayman S which one can see the trunk cavity is obviously out of shape/position. But the damage is more subtle or hidden, yet not any less serious because of it.
Here's a pic showing the extent (at least from the outside) of my Cayman S.
Here's a pic showing the front trunk cavity. You can see the trunk's shape is not right as the driver's side is bowed in.
On this note I can show you a pic of my Turbo, the one tub/chassis area that was damaged was the metal shelf that runs along side (in this case the passenger side) of the front trunk to which the top inner edge of the passenger fender bolts too. This shelf was pushed down some from the force of the impact with the mule deer.
Here's the pic that shows the Turbo's fender shelf bent down:
But this shelf's hardpoints were brought back into factory position and the passenger door, passenger fender, front trunk lid, and front bumper cover fits/gaps were all restored to factory.
Anyhow, this Celette Bench time can add up and the jigs/fixtures rental adds cost.
Why rent? Well, for consistency and high quality.
The jigs/fixtures come from Celette and Celette is responsible for ensuring these jigs/fixtures are in good shape (checked against masters at the factory) so when a shop gets them in and makes the car match the jigs/fixtures the car has the same shape, the hard point locations as when it left the factory and as replacement body panels (trunk lids, fenders, doors, etc.) will be made to match up to.
My body shop expert tells me that even factory replacement panels for damaged panels on older model Porsches have the same fit as when the car was new. Porsche is very good -- my friend tells me it is the best of all the ar brands he has worked on the last 30 or so years -- about keeping the jigs/fixtures that it uses to produce new and replacement body panels in tip top shape.
For diminished value my thought is you want to be careful.
If you focus on DV the other insurance company might fork over a few thousand dollars and at the same time feel it can skimp on the repairs and save the DV claim and more in this regard.
You walk away with a car that you think is repaired as good as humanly possible, when it is not, but you have your DV check and are happy.
First and foremost I think your focus should be on if the car is deemed repairable to focus on getting the car repaired as good as humany possible.
Now I am sure the body shop would be your advocate and press for a proper repair regardless, but by bringing up DV early you might make its job harder.
The body shop might run into more pushback of the insurance company is facing a big repair bill and some unknown at this time exposure to a DV claim.
I'm not saying you should not go after everything you are entitled too to make you as nearly whole again as possible, al I'm saying is you might want to think things through some.
Speak to the body shop manager/owner and see what he advises. He may tell you there is no problem and you can get this DV on the table early. He might even tell you it might provide some extra incentive to the other driver's insurance company to be more responsive to additional claims for found damage.
Sincerely,
Macster.
Thanks for the info about the Celette bench, I will definitely make sure they are using that for the car.
I should get my insurance company estimate tomorrow, then the body shop will get into it deeper to see what else has to be done.
I am going to wait to deal with the DV until after the car is repaired, I don't want to mix that up with the proper repair on the car.
08-31-2012, 06:25 AM
#39
by using your ins you will be out the deductable until your ins gets its money form the other company.
i dont know about your state but in tn if the damage is 60 % of the market value its an automatic total. any structural frame damage would total it in tn. push the shop to go beyond the cosmetic on its inspection. when my amg was wrecked the shop was the only certified shop for mercedes in the area. the damage was 20k and totalled but they knew it could never be right.
ask yourself this question. when its repaired will YOU feel safe in this car at 150 mph+ at a high speed event?
i dont know about your state but in tn if the damage is 60 % of the market value its an automatic total. any structural frame damage would total it in tn. push the shop to go beyond the cosmetic on its inspection. when my amg was wrecked the shop was the only certified shop for mercedes in the area. the damage was 20k and totalled but they knew it could never be right.
ask yourself this question. when its repaired will YOU feel safe in this car at 150 mph+ at a high speed event?
08-31-2012, 01:33 PM
#40
Rennlist Member
Just an FYI - In regards to insurance coverage, if you go to the Barrett Jackson website and click on insurance, you will get a great deal. They have decleared value policy no depreciation, and for me they charge you annually not every 6 months and I saved big. wrothwhile just to do the internet quote
08-31-2012, 07:38 PM
#41
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file the claim with your company, while you attempt ( if you haven't already been able to ) to get the at fault party to admit fault on record ( but who ever does that after the fact? so that may be moot point ). i was fortunate in that the accident report in my total loss indicated clearly and with a verbal admission to the LEO's that it was not my fault nor was there any contributory negligence.
unless you have absolutely no choice, don't have this replaced and put on a cellete bench and all that. get them to replace your at car market value and count every single option in the car at build time. they gave me an extra $5000.00 for the x50 option they neglected to estimate into my loss payout initially. i actually profited from my loss, and replaced my car with another tt within 3 weeks of the accident. all things considered, it went down well. your results shouldn't be different if you were not at fault. although a canyon road clip/accident is a bit less cut and dried i would think, than my having someone pull dead in front of me when they were supposed to yield. good luck, but that's my advice vis a vis insurance and repairs.
those pics look like a "total" loss to me, but again, as 32crazy says, it's about cost of repair relative to market value. how does that damage figure to be UNDER 60% of fair market value. i doubt it is.
08-31-2012, 09:18 PM
#42
Race Director
about the same in CA. i sweated bullets until they declared my car a total loss as the damage was not unlike the damage to to OP's car. airbags deployed ( both ) frame bent etc.
file the claim with your company, while you attempt ( if you haven't already been able to ) to get the at fault party to admit fault on record ( but who ever does that after the fact? so that may be moot point ). i was fortunate in that the accident report in my total loss indicated clearly and with a verbal admission to the LEO's that it was not my fault nor was there any contributory negligence.
unless you have absolutely no choice, don't have this replaced and put on a cellete bench and all that. get them to replace your at car market value and count every single option in the car at build time. they gave me an extra $5000.00 for the x50 option they neglected to estimate into my loss payout initially. i actually profited from my loss, and replaced my car with another tt within 3 weeks of the accident. all things considered, it went down well. your results shouldn't be different if you were not at fault. although a canyon road clip/accident is a bit less cut and dried i would think, than my having someone pull dead in front of me when they were supposed to yield. good luck, but that's my advice vis a vis insurance and repairs.
those pics look like a "total" loss to me, but again, as 32crazy says, it's about cost of repair relative to market value. how does that damage figure to be UNDER 60% of fair market value. i doubt it is.
file the claim with your company, while you attempt ( if you haven't already been able to ) to get the at fault party to admit fault on record ( but who ever does that after the fact? so that may be moot point ). i was fortunate in that the accident report in my total loss indicated clearly and with a verbal admission to the LEO's that it was not my fault nor was there any contributory negligence.
unless you have absolutely no choice, don't have this replaced and put on a cellete bench and all that. get them to replace your at car market value and count every single option in the car at build time. they gave me an extra $5000.00 for the x50 option they neglected to estimate into my loss payout initially. i actually profited from my loss, and replaced my car with another tt within 3 weeks of the accident. all things considered, it went down well. your results shouldn't be different if you were not at fault. although a canyon road clip/accident is a bit less cut and dried i would think, than my having someone pull dead in front of me when they were supposed to yield. good luck, but that's my advice vis a vis insurance and repairs.
those pics look like a "total" loss to me, but again, as 32crazy says, it's about cost of repair relative to market value. how does that damage figure to be UNDER 60% of fair market value. i doubt it is.
My Cayman S was declared a total loss and even though it was just 4 weeks old I was very happy with that decision. That was the decision I was hoping for. Check that: praying for.
No way I wanted that car to be fixed that new with that level of damage.
I believe I helped this decision by learning -- thanks to my body shop advisor and the techs at my nearby dealership -- a lot about repairing these cars at least at a level that let me keep pointing out things, legitimate things I might add, that increased the cost of the repair.
As much as it is within his power to influence this decision, the OP should strive to get his car declared a total loss.
Sincerely,
Macster.
08-31-2012, 10:59 PM
#43
09-01-2012, 02:39 AM
#44
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I spoke in detail with my body shop today about the car. My insurance company was in there recently to figure out the initial estimate which we should have beginning of next week. The body shop guy says he usually basically throws them out and starts over by taking apart the damage and putting the car on the Celette bench with the proper Porsche jigs. He says he will find more damage but does not think it will be totaled. It's mostly plastic and sheet metal, he did not think it involved the frame much but will not know till it's on the bench.
I've heard from my insurance company and others that it will probably have to be 75% of market value before it's totaled.
Should see next week....once we have the final estimate I can compare it against the bill of sale from the dealer I bought it from 2 weeks ago to determine if it's totaled or not.
I've heard from my insurance company and others that it will probably have to be 75% of market value before it's totaled.
Should see next week....once we have the final estimate I can compare it against the bill of sale from the dealer I bought it from 2 weeks ago to determine if it's totaled or not.
09-01-2012, 10:49 AM
#45
looking again at those ( awful ) pics, it appears as if the majority of the damage may in fact be cosmetic since it looks like mostly the quarter panel rather than full frontal impact. i can't seem to post a pic but if you saw mine, and what constituted a total loss, you'd be shocked. since it doesn't look like more than a front end collision with the hood and bumpers destroyed. as the process ( very quickly determined ) that the costs were reaching "loss"payout", the auto shop began by adding up parts and i was on the phone we got to $25,000.00 they weren't finished, but said..
go get what ya want from the car. the insurance company ( mine ) as i've said, fedexed me a check within 24 hours of the loss determination. once we had agreed on a price. i as i said got them to add EVERYthing up in the car from build sheet even including alum shift handles, x50 kit etc etc.
they want you to take the money as fast as they can get it to you, as they seem to prefer closed claims, so you can't come back and say, "hey wait, i forgot..". on a side note it was the other parties insurance that tried a little insurance foot dragging in spite of the clear cut admissions of fault by the other party. an accident of that severity has to be reported to your company immediately as you know. to CYA. don't forget to notify CA DMV about the accident also. it's the law, and can affect your driver license status.
push for the loss so you can begin again, if possible, i can't stress that enough. again, good luck.
go get what ya want from the car. the insurance company ( mine ) as i've said, fedexed me a check within 24 hours of the loss determination. once we had agreed on a price. i as i said got them to add EVERYthing up in the car from build sheet even including alum shift handles, x50 kit etc etc.
they want you to take the money as fast as they can get it to you, as they seem to prefer closed claims, so you can't come back and say, "hey wait, i forgot..". on a side note it was the other parties insurance that tried a little insurance foot dragging in spite of the clear cut admissions of fault by the other party. an accident of that severity has to be reported to your company immediately as you know. to CYA. don't forget to notify CA DMV about the accident also. it's the law, and can affect your driver license status.
push for the loss so you can begin again, if possible, i can't stress that enough. again, good luck.