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Nessal · 10-17-2012, 12:28 AM

I got a quick question for you guys....

Say for example, there was some damage done to my home and the insurance company had the damaged assessed by an outside company. Lets call this company A. They determined that it would cost them $20k to fix the damage. So the insurance cut us a check for $20k to fix the house.

After going through the list of things that this company wanted to fix, we were not satisfied with it. So we hired company B that was willing to actually replace things instead of just "cleaning" it. The total end bill was actually CHEAPER than company A by $1k.

What do we do with the difference? The insurance company is now asking for receipts for the repairs. Since the actual repair was less than the estimated amount, do we have to cut them a check back for the difference?

My personal opinion is no. The reason being that the house did take a "loss" of 20k. The insurance company is supposed to pay for the "loss" on the house. However, the amount spent to fix it is solely at the discretion of the owner. If say the owner does not need the repairs to be "perfect" and there is a price difference, it is for the owner to keep because he did take a "loss" at the full value to begin with.

What say you guys?

10-17-2012, 12:28 AM	#1
Nessal Drives: Exige, Miata, Ghia Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: CA, Bay Area Posts: 2,309	Insurance overpayment question I got a quick question for you guys.... Say for example, there was some damage done to my home and the insurance company had the damaged assessed by an outside company. Lets call this company A. They determined that it would cost them $20k to fix the damage. So the insurance cut us a check for $20k to fix the house. After going through the list of things that this company wanted to fix, we were not satisfied with it. So we hired company B that was willing to actually replace things instead of just "cleaning" it. The total end bill was actually CHEAPER than company A by $1k. What do we do with the difference? The insurance company is now asking for receipts for the repairs. Since the actual repair was less than the estimated amount, do we have to cut them a check back for the difference? My personal opinion is no. The reason being that the house did take a "loss" of 20k. The insurance company is supposed to pay for the "loss" on the house. However, the amount spent to fix it is solely at the discretion of the owner. If say the owner does not need the repairs to be "perfect" and there is a price difference, it is for the owner to keep because he did take a "loss" at the full value to begin with. What say you guys?