Handling a Disputed Repair Estimate
Help a policyholder raise a supplement question with the adjuster without evaluating the estimate or directing repair choices.
A policyholder calls you convinced their repair shop's estimate is too low, and they want to know if they should trust it before they let anyone touch their car. They are really asking you to judge a number you have no authority to judge. As the claims liaison, what you say in the next few minutes decides whether this stays a normal part of the claim process or turns into a standoff that drags on for weeks.
Why This Conversation Goes Wrong
Most claims liaisons want to help, and a worried policyholder pulls hard on that instinct. When someone says an estimate feels too low, it is tempting to glance at the numbers and offer a reaction, or to hint that one shop tends to get better outcomes than another. That instinct feels helpful in the moment, but it puts you in a position you do not have the authority or the information to hold. You have not inspected the vehicle. You do not see the file the way the adjuster sees it. If you offer even a soft opinion and the adjuster's review later disagrees with you, the policyholder now believes you misled them, and the claim turns into a complaint about you instead of a routine review of a repair estimate.
There is a second reason this goes wrong. Policyholders often frame the question as a demand for a verdict, asking flat out whether the number is fair. If you answer that framing directly, you accept a role that belongs to the adjuster. The better move is to answer the real need underneath the demand, which is usually a working repair and a clear next step, not a verdict from you.
How to Prepare
Before you pick up the phone or open the ticket, get your facts straight. Pull the claim file and check whether a supplement estimate already exists from the shop, or whether this call is about the shop's first estimate. Confirm which adjuster is assigned and whether they have already reviewed the number the policyholder is calling about. Write down the shop's contact information if it is not already in the file, since you will likely need to pass it along.
Decide ahead of time what you can offer with confidence and what you cannot. You can confirm that the adjuster reviews estimates and supplements as a normal part of the process. You can confirm how a supplement gets submitted and roughly what the review step looks like. You cannot confirm a dollar amount, a repair method, or a shop choice. Knowing that line before the call starts keeps you from improvising it under pressure, which is exactly when liaisons slip into giving opinions they should not give.
What to Say
Here is how a call like this can go. The policyholder opens with the complaint. "My shop says the insurance estimate does not cover the parts the car actually needs. I do not want to sign off on repairs until someone tells me if this number is right. Can you just tell me if it is fair?"
You acknowledge the frustration without taking a position on the number. "I understand why you do not want to authorize work while a number feels unsettled. I am not able to evaluate the estimate or say which repair approach applies here, that decision sits with the adjuster. If your shop has written up a supplement estimate, I can make sure the adjuster receives it and walk you through what happens after that."
The policyholder pushes on a related question. "Fine, but do I have to use this shop, or should I go somewhere the insurance company trusts more?"
You hold the same line, and give them something concrete instead. "I cannot recommend a shop or tell you one is better than another, that choice belongs to you. What I can do is record your shop's information, confirm whether a supplement has already been sent, and get this in front of the adjuster today so the review starts moving."
The policyholder settles. "Okay, that is fair. Just let them know we are waiting on this."
You close the loop with a specific commitment. "I will log the supplement request and the shop's contact information now, and follow up with you once the adjuster has it in queue."
Notice what happened. You never touched the dollar amount, never named a shop, and still gave the policyholder something more useful than an opinion, a clear description of what happens next and who is doing it.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Do not react to the dollar figure itself, even to say it sounds low or high. Once you comment on the number, you have taken a position the adjuster now has to either defend or contradict.
- Do not name a preferred shop or hint that one shop is more reliable than another. That steers the policyholder's choice and puts you on the hook for a decision you are not positioned to make.
- Do not promise a specific timeline for the adjuster's review unless you actually know it. A vague promise turns into a broken promise you have to answer for later.
- Do not write opinion language into your notes. Phrases like "unreasonable estimate" or "shop is overcharging" turn a factual record into an opinion the file never asked for. Stick to what happened, what was sent, and what is pending.
- Do not let the policyholder hang up unsure of what happens next. Confirm the three concrete facts before you end the call, the original estimate question, where the supplement came from, and who now has the request.
How to Practice and Score It
If you manage a team of claims liaisons, build a practice scenario around a shop that just sent over a new supplement and a policyholder who wants a straight answer before they will sign anything. Ask the trainee to run the call and land on three things by the end, the original question about the estimate, where the supplement came from, and the specific person or queue now reviewing it. Record the call and listen back for hidden opinions. A liaison can avoid saying "I think this is low" and still signal it through tone, or through a phrase like "that does seem light for this kind of repair." Score for those subtler slips, not just the obvious ones.
DealSpeak's Insurance practice conversations let you run this scenario repeatedly against an AI counterpart that plays the frustrated policyholder a little differently each time, so a trainee cannot just memorize one script and pass. The same discipline shows up in other insurance handoffs. Giving a Useful Endorsement Request Update covers a related problem, where the temptation is to guess at a status instead of confirming it. If your liaisons also field pushback on numbers directly, Responding to a Finance Leader's Cost Objection shows how to hold a position on cost without getting defensive or over explaining.
Close
The goal of this call is not to settle the dispute, it is to move it to the person who can actually settle it. A policyholder who hangs up knowing their supplement is logged and the adjuster has it trusts the process even before that process resolves. That trust holds up far better than a guess you cannot back up later.
Practice these next
A claims liaison can manage a duplicate claim documents concern with empathy, privacy, and an accurate handoff.
A claims liaison can route a representative inquiry through authorization and claims procedures without giving legal advice.
A claims liaison can hear an insured business owner’s anger about a denial letter and explain the authorized review path without debating the coverage decision.
A claims liaison can document a service concern and request review without promising a staffing change or claim result.
A claims liaison can support an adult child who wants a parent’s claim update while protecting the insured’s authorization and privacy.
A claims liaison can help a policyholder after a storm find the right status path, explain how temporary living expenses are reviewed, and leave approval and payment questions with the assigned claims team.