I think that's bullsh*t. Sounds like they are trying to string you along. There is no reason that they can't entertain reasonable offers for that claim. I mean, its already been estimated.

 

Some insurance companies prefer to pay shops directly as they have their own "preferred shops" they will deal directly with. I personally do not think it is a wise practice, nor will I even do it unless the claimant specifically asks me to pay the body shop direct.
I would NOT trade it in yet. If you do that, you no longer have anything left to bargain with as the vehicle is no longer yours. If you had to go to court about it, you would have to have that vehicle so that all parties could inspect it to determine the diminished value. That insurance company would love it if you traded that car in because they would be able to screw you on the DOV claim.
The car will be safe on the freeway. That shop would not let it out of there if it wasn't. If something went wrong, that shop would be in deep doo doo for not fixing the car correctly.

 

I got the dealer to give me an appraisal on my car as someone had traded in an unwrecked one almost identical to mine earlier this week. Mine is about $1800 lower than that one. They were able to do this because they work closely with the body shop that my car is at (the body shop buys all of their Honda parts from this dealer) so they know the quality of the work. Plus my car had just been at the dealer getting serviced 4 days before I was in the accident so they know pretty much what kind of condition it was in before. I sent these appraisals to the insurance company but the adjuster won't discuss an amount with me until the car is completely finished. Should be sometime next week though. I went by there yesterday and they had it up on the lift but still hadn't put the pieces back together yet.

 

That is EXACTLY what you should have done! The insurance company should seriouslytake those numbers into account.
Let us know how it goes!

 

I got $1225 for diminished value from the other guy's insurance company. I wasn't going to argue to get a couple hundred more so I took it. I traded it in and I got a 2007 Pilot. Very different from the Accord but I love it so far.

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you! That sounds like a respectable amount for diminished value. The dealership will always give you a higher amount than is truly reasonable(they intend on you spending that money with them!)

 

They also know that the more money you get for the diminished value the more money you have as a down payment....