broadsided

[Senor]

My truck was broadsided by a young lady in January. She was ticketed for failure to yield.
I was instructed by her insurance company to visit one of their shops for an estimate and did.
I also got estimates from shops closer to my home.
Her insurance company's estimates were $1200 less than the one's in my area.
I had my truck repaired by a shop I felt comfortable with, and now her insurance company is refusing to pay the difference.
I was under the impression that if someone hits you and is responsible for the damage, you can have your vehicle fixed at any shop you choose.
Apparently, in Illinois, this is not the case.
Can anyone help?
Thanx.

 

[NYClex]

The problem is that the law says you have to mitigate the damage. If there are two shops next to each other doing the same work with the same quality but with a price difference, you have to take the cheaper one.

Now, this is the easy example. In reality the issue might get trickier: how reasonable is it to expect you to go out of your way, drive to a shop much farther away, etc etc. In the end only a court can decide that. I don't know how courts in Illinois have decided this issue in the past, but it is surely won't be easy to get them to pay more. May be someone else here knows more.

 

[Duranie]

If you went ahead and got it fixed even though you knew it was higher, you might be on the hook. You did not mitigate damages at all. You cannot get the vehicle fixed at any shop you choose because each shop charges differently, and just because they charge the most does not mean the work will be done any better. You also could have gotten a 3rd estimate.