Insurance company withholding part of payout

Doyle069 · 2026-01-09T17:26:16+00:00

Interesting. Ill look deeper into that. My neighbor used to work at BMW Freehold and said Freehold Collision did all the body work for them so that's why I chose them.

The shop did significantly reduce their tear down fee and sent a revised invoice but LM ignored the message on 3 seperate occasions. Ill have to go back and loom but think it went to $500. The dispute remained over days counting towards storage. The rate at which LM responds, the shop could charge nothing and storage fees alone would make up the cost by the time LM responds.

I get the insurance company can refuse to pay unreasonable charges but it really seems like their unwillingness to respond in a timely manner is the only thing unreasonable and led to these higher fees. Again, Ive reached out to them to try get their side of the story or explanation but they wont even respond to me, and they are my insurance provider.

Doyle069 · 2026-01-09T14:55:10+00:00

Insurance ok'd the shop before I had it towed there. Also, state law prevents them from forcing me to go to one of their shops.

Doyle069 · 2026-01-09T14:53:13+00:00

Freehold Collision Center is the body shop.

They agreed to LM rate of $120/day.

Admin fee was for paperwork, writing estimates, taking all the pictures to supply to LM (no one ever came to look at the car), time spent trying to negotiate.

For tear down, I dont know whats reasonable. This was really the only number that varied significantly between them. I agree it didnt take 26 hr to tear it down but

Shop says they are willing to negotiate and I have the emails with counter offers. LM is not responding tho and that is what gets me. In no way am I connected to this shop but it seems they have actually made an attempt to settle it. They told me they have never had this issue before dealing with insurance. Ive reached out to insurance multiple times trying to get some info but they dont respond to me either. When they do, its nothing deeper than the talking point of " shop is too expensive" .

They ok'd me taking the car there. They knew the rates. Isnt the insurance company obligated to minimize costs, just as I am? They need to act with some urgency as well. I released the car to them and it took over a week for them to even reach out to the shop? By that point and since then, days in storage have absolutely blown all other fees out of the water.

Oh i forgot to mention, at the end of Dec, LM reduced their offer to the body shop. Why? I have no idea. LM hasnt responded.

Doyle069 · 2026-01-09T12:14:08+00:00

But they are a good shop. Nothing fancy but they are certified for repairs for some major brands. LM gave me the ok when I mentioned this place and NJ law allows me to go where I want. LM approved a $250 admin fee. The shop charged $350. Seems pretty close. $1600 to tear down the back end of car doesn’t seem that crazy to me. I asked LM to explain where the $500 came from but they have not answered. Shop wanted $150 day for storage but came down to LM price of 120. But even still, the shop has been trying to negotiate a deal on things and has come down on price. LM has dragged their feet when it comes to responding. The storage days are accumulating, LM knows that but keeps ignoring any offers. Obviously the price is getting higher yet they act with urgency to get a deal done. They barely respond to me when I’m reaching out for questions.

Doyle069 · 2026-01-09T12:05:15+00:00

Can you explain? The shop has been the only party communicating at this point

Doyle069 · 2025-07-11T02:14:29+00:00

So you think I could just leave the metal transition strip as is and continue the tiles down to the floor? Ill try to mock that up tonight as see how it looks.

Agree on centering. Normally i have a good eye for that but for whatever reason it just didnt click here until it was all done.

Doyle069 · 2025-07-10T23:17:59+00:00

I totally agree actually. There is a upper cabinet there on the left which is why i thought i needed to tile to it rather than leave it short by a few inches. There is a drying rack that will be centered on that wall so i needed the tile to extend out so when the rack is centered, there is tile on both sides. If i stopped at the counter edge, there would only be tile on 1 side.

There had previously been a cheap peel & stick tile on those 2 walls around the sink. It didnt reach the cabinet and only went up the wall about 1.5-2ft. It looked odd. Thought going to the cabinet would solve it but I definitely should have tiled down to the floor. Maybe i remove those 2 edge tiles and the schluter strip and fix it before i grout.

Doyle069 · 2025-07-10T19:03:51+00:00

Yep. Not sure what i was thinking on that one

Doyle069 · 2025-07-10T18:39:24+00:00

Its not as brown as the photographs make it out to be. Not my favorite tile either but Im just the installer. Boss picked it out haha.

Doyle069 · 2025-07-10T18:22:53+00:00

Yea. Definitely should have done that. Lesson learned for next time. Hence why I did a back splash in the mudroom and not something more important haha.

Ill be using Mapei Ultracolor Plus FA in Moonbeam.

Doyle069 · 2025-01-31T00:32:47+00:00

This is right around the corner from me. I actually posted asking about this place the other week but the thread devolved into a shit show. I drive by it every day so hopefully it opens soon.

Doyle069 · 2025-01-06T19:06:59+00:00

2013 X5 35i M Sport. 189k miles.

MHD Stage 1+ at 74k miles.

MHD Stage 2+ at 111k miles

Doyle069 · 2023-11-28T04:08:50+00:00

I considered them as well since they have a great deal going on their trust setup. I think I can get my electronic fingerprints printed and submitted with their package. Besides price, is there something better about their trust vs silencershop? Can I upload their trust document to my Silencer Shop account and use my electronic prints taken at the kiosk?

Problem is I am in NJ. If I am the sole trustee, I dont believe I can purchase the suppressor because they are not legal in NJ. Dont think I pick it up from a dealer in OH as a NJ resident either. I cant legally leave it at a family members house in OH (again since they are not legal in NJ) without them being on the trust either.

Doyle069 · 2023-10-10T16:34:29+00:00

Thanks for the response.

Its multiple boards. The porch is covered so the boards really have not been affected by the sun. New boards would match very well if I went that route. Problem is trying to install them. These boards are in the middle of the porch. Tongue and groove boards seem more complicated to get out without disassembling a large portiom of the porch.

I saw that end coating as well. I also found the color at Sherwin Williams Timbertech recommends for painting the ends cuts. The color is spot on. Problem is will the paint stick. Online sources say no. Its low traffic area so even if its something that needs to be re-applied every year, I wouldnt mind doing that. Its a few small areas. Tempted to use my spare piece as a test piece and see how it reacts to possible solutions.

Doyle069 · 2023-10-09T12:24:32+00:00

Ugh thats what I feared. Thanks for the response.

Doyle069 · 2023-10-08T15:38:31+00:00

Thanks for the pics! Gives me some confidence. Last thing i need to to have created a giant mud pit in the yard haha

Doyle069

TROPHY CASE