Dealing with insurance companies

Claims:
If you are ever in a car accident that was clearly not your fault, e.g. someone backs into you, do not use your insurance company. Follow up the claim ONLY with the other person's company. You should do this because your insurance company sees the claim, even though it wasn't your fault, as a claim none-the-less and it can count against you. For instance if you have had 2+ claims within 4 years (not your fault) and you went through your insurance company each time, you will likely see higher rates if you try switching insurance companies (if you wanted to)! I came across this information from an insurance representative when trying to switch car insurance companies myself.

Repair:
Never, repeat never accept the repair estimate from an insurance company's adjuster. They will almost always low-ball the estimate.You will often find that your insurance company's adjuster will leave off work and, or parts. When challenged on the subject, they something like: "We give an initial estimate and then when you get the repairs made, we may add supplements." This is designed to reduce the cost to them if you decide to keep the money rather than get the repairs made.

Always hire for a minimal fee (most of the time free) another independent company to give you an estimate. If the "independent" company wants to start with the insurance companies estimate, RUN don't walk to a different repair company.

Another way to approach a repair company is to straight forwardly tell them that you have damage and that you want to pay for the repairs out of pocket. This will help to get an honest estimate of the work to be performed.