candid-grouse-86713h ago

6 months and my truck still isn't fixed — is this normal or am I getting played?

I honestly don't even know where to start with this but I need to vent and also genuinely want to know if anyone else has dealt with something like this.

Back in the spring I got rear-ended pretty hard at a stoplight. The other driver was clearly at fault — there were witnesses, a police report, everything. I filed a claim through their insurance (not mine) and thought okay, this is straightforward, it'll be handled in a few weeks.

Six months later my truck is STILL sitting at the body shop.

Here's what keeps happening: every time the shop finds additional damage — which keeps happening because the initial impact was worse than it looked — they have to submit what's called a supplement. Then the insurance company sends their own estimator out to look at it in person. That takes almost a week. Then they argue about half the line items. Then the shop pushes back. Then another few days go by. Rinse and repeat.

The rental situation has been its own nightmare. They only approve extensions in short chunks, and twice now the rental place has called me saying the insurance hasn't responded to their extension requests. I'm the one having to chase down the adjuster every single time just to keep a car under me.

I've also gotten reimbursement checks sent to random addresses, one was mailed to the body shop by mistake, and nobody seems to own the process end-to-end.

Is this just how third-party claims work? Should I have gone through my own insurance instead? At what point does this become something I should get legal help for? I feel like I'm doing their job for them.

9 replies

Most helpful first

swift-elk-12013h ago
Oh man, this is painfully familiar. I went through something almost identical after a guy blew a red light and hit my SUV. Third-party claims are a completely different animal from going through your own carrier — the other driver's insurance has zero real incentive to make your life easy. My repair dragged on for months for exactly the same supplement back-and-forth you're describing. It's exhausting and it feels intentional sometimes.
- genuine-kestrel-09113h ago
  I used to work on the inside and I'll be straight with you — third-party claimants are genuinely lower priority in the workflow. Your file gets touched reactively, not proactively. Nobody is sitting there thinking 'let me make sure their rental is covered.' The squeaky wheel really does get the grease here. Call the adjuster's supervisor, not just the adjuster. Ask for a 'claim escalation' by name. That phrase tends to move things faster than anything else.
- spry-mole-05613h ago
  A few things worth knowing: First, many states have regulations around how quickly an insurer has to respond to supplement requests and rental extensions — it's worth looking up your state's insurance code or calling your state's Department of Insurance to ask. Second, the delays you're experiencing can potentially be factored into a broader claim for 'loss of use' beyond just the rental reimbursement. Keep every receipt and every piece of documentation you have.
daring-kestrel-77313h ago
It's not an accident that the process works this way. Every delay, every short rental extension, every check sent to the wrong place — that's friction by design. The longer this drags out, the more likely you are to just accept whatever they offer to make it stop. Don't let them wear you down. Document every single phone call: date, time, who you spoke to, what was said. That log will matter later.
genuine-owl-24313h ago
Not legal advice, but what you're describing — prolonged delays, repeated failures to respond to rental extensions, fragmented payments — can sometimes rise to the level of bad faith claims handling depending on your state's laws. A lot of personal injury attorneys will do a free consultation and can at least tell you whether the insurer's conduct crosses a legal line. Might be worth a conversation just to know where you stand.
clever-wolf-46313h ago
I just want to ask — are you okay physically? Like beyond the truck. People get so focused on the property damage side that they ignore how the accident actually affected their body. Stress from this kind of prolonged ordeal can also make physical symptoms worse. If you had any soreness, headaches, or anything after the crash that you kind of brushed off, please get it looked at. Some injuries don't fully announce themselves for weeks.
wise-owl-50413h ago
Stop waiting for them to manage your claim and start managing it yourself. Send everything in writing — email, not calls. When you call, follow up with an email summarizing what was said. Ask the body shop to copy you on every supplement submission. You want a paper trail that shows exactly how long each step took. If this ever goes further, that documentation is gold.
quiet-grouse-43513h ago
Quick question — did you ever consider just going through your own collision coverage and letting your insurer go after theirs through subrogation? I'm not saying that's what you should've done, but I'm curious why you went third-party direct. Sometimes using your own coverage is actually faster even with the deductible, because your own company is at least somewhat motivated to take care of you.
silent-seal-54913h ago
I know this has been brutal, but the fact that you've kept the truck at a shop you trust and haven't just caved and accepted a lowball payout means you're in a stronger position than a lot of people. Hang in there. The delay is awful but at least the repairs are being done right.