My Insurance company quoted 36/hr for body shop labor. Does that seem right?

 

Thats really cheap. I don't know about your area though here in cali its around $50

 

That's low for the Dallas/Fort Worth area as well.

 

Well this is what the insurance company says it should cost and all they will pay for. Basically they are effing with me here as well as not paying for a 4-wheel alignment or my left front tire and rim that were damaged when i jumped the median during my accident.

insurance companies are just a bunch of con artists that got together to collectively screw the people.

 

I work in claims for an insurance company.
Your profile indicates Maryland . Unfortunately, my company doesn't sell in Maryland - yet. So I don't have any details on the prevailing rates for that area. Body shop labor rates vary widely all over the U.S. the highest I'm aware of is the San Francisco bay area, which averages around $65/hour right now. Down here in Southern California where I'm based it's anywhere from $34 to $44 or so.....

Seems like your insurance company doesn't want to pay the shop's rate. My company has a 'regular' rate they write the estimates at, and then they may have to make concessions on the rates to get an agreed price with the shop.

Check your actual policy. Does it have specific language limiting what they will pay for repairs? If it doesn't, they would have to reach some agreement with the shop. You would also have a 'right of appraisal provision if they are standing their ground.

There is also the possibility that your shop IS charging too much. Call around to some other body shops comparable to the one you are using and ask what rate they would charge (your insurance company) for repairs. Just remember that there is usually a 'posted' labor rate and then a lower 'insurance' labor rate for ins. companies that have a lot of business at a particular shop.

 

Body shop labor is kinda a pain in the ***. Since youre even aware of the body shop's charges I get the impression you're not going through a DRP. See, if a shop's on a DRP list, they basically get spanked by the insurance company. I'm sure your insurance company probably has the small shops by the ***** enough to pay such low rates. However, if you go to a shop not on a DRP list, they're not going to charge rates that low, they're going to charge something *closer* to what they *should* be getting.

 

I haven't been to a body shop yet. I just got the estimate appraisal and insurance check in the mail yesterday. It was postmarked Dec 6th. The insurance company sent it to my old address.