need insurance claim advice...

[tdwinklr]

Had a fender-bender the other day, very minor, no injuries. Anyway,
turns out it was the other person's fault, so their insurance claimed responsibility. They want to send me a check from their OWN estimate from my photos only, which is waaaayyy too low for the repair. I went and got my own estimate from a shop, who did an physical examination of my car, that I will use and sent it to the adjuster. Seems they rushed to come up with their own and now they're going to ignore mine.
How should I precede with this and what options do I have in order to force the liable company to pay me what the repair is actually costing, other than getting a lawyer involved? I don't want to come up short on this.

[ultralite09]

If they're trying to screw you and wont come up on their offer, call your insurance with their insurance information and let them surrogate it for you.

But I'd keep pressing on them to come up first, if no response or budge then call your own insurance.

I only say that because if you do it entirely through their insurance it wont show up on your record at all and that's what you want in the end game. Some companies still rate a not at fault claim in the event you come up for renewal or switch to another company.

[captainsling]

Talk to your company. If I am not mistaken, in Texas, you can use any repair shop you want. Get 3 estimates and tell them to pay the one you chose.

[BitBackShot]

They always try to get you to accept a low amount quickly. Doesn't mean you have to.

When our water pipe broke, the insurance guy showed up with a check for $5k like 20 minutes after I called it in. Big smile, super happy he could help so quickly. I rejected the check.

It cost $25k to repair. They paid like $23.5 of it.

[Bow_Tech_Body_Man]

The repair facility of your choice would supplement the liable ins co for the difference

[big_smith]

I had a similar experience. My son is at college and is playing baseball. During Football homecoming the parking lots were full, but he still had practice. The entire baseball team was instructed to park along the highway. He did so, and a person towing an RV backed his RV off the road and into the front end of my son's Camaro. This car is less than 2 years old and totally smashed the right quarter panel, door, mirror, front bumper, and headlight. Other guys fault no doubt. He had Geico which is a crap company. They would not come do the estimate, we had to take the car to them. I get the estimate and take it to my body shop. They said "Do you want used parts on your car?" Of course not. Then they inform me that the estimate includes after market parts from a company they refuse to do business with because the parts never fit. I called Geico and told them they were not putting used parts or aftermarket parts on my new car. They said it was their policy. I went to my insurance and filed. They will be suing Geico to recover my deductible. Here is the crazy thing. I went back to my body shop and told them I wanted only new OEM parts. He said no problem. He called the OEM rep with me sitting there. He asked for a price match and the OEM guy said "NO I will beat the after market price by $100." So I got OEM parts cheaper than the used and after market crap. Good luck. Insurance is there to make money and that is it.

[CTR0022]

Initial estimates dont mean anything. Alot of carriers are going to these estimates based on pics. Ot saves them time for getting an initial estimate and payment out. Take the initial pmt, take the vehicle to the shop of your choice and they will send in a supplement for what ever additional damage that is related to the loss to the carrier. The carrier will then issue an additional pmt to the shop. Just dont sign a release. After repairs are complete dont forget diminished value, won't be much on a small fender bender.

[tdwinklr]

The repair facility of your choice would supplement the liable ins co for the difference

so, what if I don't have it fixed and just deal with the minor damage to a plastic bumper? I understand the supplement wouldn't come into play then but should I still push the other insurance for more, just for conscience sake in that it was their clients fault?
May not be worth the trouble of fighting for it, even though I think I deserve all I can get just because of the fact of all the premiums I've paid over the years/decades.