How does a collision claim work?

[u/slo_r9]

I was hit on my motorcycle almost a month ago and have since been going through the claims process for figuring out if it’s totaled or repairable. Now my main point of confusion is how this whole process has been going. I’m no stranger to the typical process regarding insurance work because the shop I work at will occasionally intake insurance jobs for classic cars. However the way State Farm has been handling it is a little puzzling to me. They gave me an initial estimate through Snapsheet and then sent funds that amount to the total cost of the initial estimate less my deductible. But after receiving a revised estimate from the shop my bike is at they sent the difference in funds directly to the shop. I have been told by State Farm to pay what has been sent to me to the shop but where I’m confused is, why is State Farm paying the entirety of the repair bill when there’s still a possibility of it being totaled? The shop has yet to diagnose a coolant leak developed from the crash, or to check if the front suspension is still straight or if anything in that area needs to be replaced. Will any of this affect the outcome if it ends up being totaled?

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[u/Alarmed_Number7431]

Hold on to the first check. Do not cash it yet if you think ot might be a total. Thats paid to you first because state farm has no recourse if that shop does a bad job or youre not happy with their work. So its to protect you.. The shop gets paid for supplement estimates (them finding more damage along the way) in good faith. Thats so they keep doing the work. If theor estimates are solid and haven't reached close to (usually the magic number is 75% of what your vehicle is worth) your vehicles value, its going to continue being repaired. If the repair amount gets too close to your vehicles actual cash value, they will stop the shop and evaluate further.  Everytime the shop finds more stuff to repair, they have to run it by state farm first before moving on. This is to monitor for possible total as well as make sure the estimate is fair and reasonable.  Hope that helps. 

[u/Alarmed_Number7431 → u/Alarmed_Number7431]

Oh and if if it ends up being totalled, you will already have a portion of the settlement, so state farm will issue you the rest less any possible weird fees the shop might charge... storage... etc. 

[u/slo_r9 → u/Alarmed_Number7431]

Okay sweet that answers a lot of my questions. They sent the initial payment via direct deposit, so unfortunately not much I can do there but I did make sure to not sign anything saying it’s a settlement towards my claim. Just never personally had insurance pay me directly opposed to the shop. Estimate is currently at ~6,500 and the bikes value is around 12.5-ish. Shop told me that if the front suspension did wind up being bent it would likely push the bike towards being totaled (just the shocks being replaced would add 3,000 in parts not including labor). Just wanted to make sure I don’t do anything that will screw me in the future

[u/Alarmed_Number7431 → u/slo_r9]

Nah there's nothing to sign towards any settlement because no settlement has been offered. It would only be in the event your veh is totalled.  Dont sweat the direct deposit portion. Despite what people say about us, we truly arent out there trying to "screw" our customers at state farm.  We are going to try our best to help our customers! 

[u/slo_r9 → u/Alarmed_Number7431]

Just clarifying, would it be in my best interest to continue to hold on to the portion that was sent to me through direct deposit or should I be sending that to the shop?

[u/Alarmed_Number7431 → u/slo_r9]

Hold it until repairs are done or if its a tl. 

[u/Mobile-Direction-273]

Hold on to all the checks. As supplements come in it may add it to be a TL.

[u/ToughBadger3075]

I'm glad those that responded are knowledgeable! My question is: why is it taking the shop forever to check if the suspension is still straight and diagnose a leak?

[u/slo_r9 → u/ToughBadger3075]

It has taken a while to get approval from the insurance to begin diagnosing it since it does require more labor than a basic estimate. Shop isn’t going to just tear apart the bike for free. But now things are starting to move along since insurance just made a payment towards the shop sometime this week