# Claim Timeline Week by Week: What Actually Happens in Hacienda Heights A typical RV or commercial vehicle claim runs three to eight weeks from first notice to release, and longer where structure or a discontinued part is involved. Most of that calendar is approval and parts rather than labor. OCRV Center publishes the week by week sequence so the waiting has a shape. ## The first seventy two hours Hour one is documentation. Wide shots of the scene before anything moves, then the vehicle, then close ups, then the interior. Hour two is the report, which produces a claim number, a described cause of loss and an assigned handler. The same day, decide where the vehicle is going, because that decision determines who writes the scope and whether a storage meter starts running. Within seventy two hours the file should have a handler's name and direct line, a scheduled inspection date, and the vehicle at the facility rather than at a per diem yard. Getting the inspection date on the first call instead of waiting for a callback is the single highest leverage thing an owner does in this window, and it is routinely skipped. For a Hacienda Heights owner the drive is 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd. Morning drop off between 8:00 and 10:00 is the fastest window and the easiest to write up. If the vehicle is not roadworthy, say so at intake rather than attempting the drive, because a coach damaged in transit to a body shop is a second claim nobody wants. ## Week one: inspection, scope and the first estimate The inspection happens at the facility with the vehicle accessible, on a lift where the chassis matters and with roof access where the roof matters. What it produces is a written estimate with operation codes, hours, parts sourcing and a photograph set. Ours is built from a priced teardown, 1 hour at $210 on collision work or $150 on an RV systems complaint, credited against an authorized repair. Inspection scheduling is the first place a calendar slips. A specialty appraiser covering coach files may serve a large territory, and a week to ten days for a first inspection is common rather than exceptional. Offering two specific dates rather than asking for availability consistently produces a sooner date, which is a small administrative habit with a real payoff. By the end of week one you should be holding a written estimate and know which operations are approved. Read it against the line by line method on /top-25-pitfalls before authorizing anything, particularly the deduction lines and any refinish allowance on a panel larger than a car door. ## Weeks two and three: teardown, supplement and reinspection Teardown is disassembly to the extent needed to see the damage: trim, moldings, interior panels, sometimes a window, sometimes a slide room out. What is found is nearly always more than the photographs showed, which is normal on bonded construction rather than exceptional. Everything gets photographed in sequence with the interfaces still in place, because that is what makes a supplement short. The supplement goes in and the file pauses. A well documented supplement that needs no reinspection commonly moves in two to five business days. One that needs a reinspection runs on the adjuster's calendar and typically adds one to two weeks. The vehicle sits partially disassembled during that window, and nothing is wrong; the shop cannot issue an authorization on the carrier's behalf. This pause is the largest single variable in a coach claim and the one owners find hardest, because visible progress stops while the calendar keeps moving. It is also the stage where documentation quality pays for itself most directly, which is the whole argument for a priced teardown hour rather than a walk around. ## Weeks three through eight: parts, sequence and paint Once the revised scope is approved the calendar becomes a parts calendar. Common RV components move in three to seven business days. A Lippert slide rail, a Dometic control board or a Carefree awning assembly usually lands inside two weeks. A molded cap for a discontinued floorplan can run four to eight weeks, and occasionally it is not available at all, which converts the job into a fabrication job with its own hours. The repair runs in a fixed order because the trades depend on each other: structure, then panel and body, then sealing and corrosion protection, then paint, then reassembly, then systems and electrical, then calibration and final test. Published turnaround tiers put light cosmetic at two to five business days, moderate body at one to three weeks, systems at three business days to two weeks, structural at three to eight weeks and full refinish at four to ten. Paint is the stage that cannot be compressed, because cure windows are chemistry rather than scheduling. On a coach with twelve year old gelcoat there is also sprayout and tinting work before any color goes on the vehicle, since no factory code describes what is actually on the wall today. That work is real hours and it belongs on the estimate. ## Delivery week: reinspection, invoicing and release Many carriers require a post repair reinspection or a photograph set before final payment releases, and where a supplement was involved that step is close to universal. It happens at the facility with the vehicle assembled and the systems operable, so a slide cycles, an awning extends, the LP system has been pressure tested and the scan report shows no stored faults. Payment frequently arrives as a two party draft naming the owner and the shop, or the owner and a lienholder if the coach is financed. A lienholder endorsement adds days, so start it while the repair is still in progress rather than at pickup. Your deductible and any owner elected work are due at pickup, and a 3.5 percent surcharge applies to credit card payments over $1,000. Before you sign the final release, confirm with the shop that every stage passed and nothing is outstanding. A completion signature can close a file, and reopening a closed file for a late discovery is materially harder than adding to an open one, especially on a vehicle that is now reassembled and painted. ## Where the calendar actually goes wrong Four places, in order of frequency. First, inspection scheduling, where a week becomes three because nobody asked for a date. Second, the supplement pause, where thin teardown documentation triggers a reinspection that would not have been needed. Third, parts, where a discontinued component was specified without a lead time attached. Fourth, the lienholder endorsement, discovered at pickup. Three of those four are prevented by the owner rather than by the shop. Ask for dates instead of availability. Insist on sequenced teardown photography. Ask for supplier and lead time in writing before authorizing a parts decision. Start the lienholder endorsement in week three. None of that is difficult and all of it is usually skipped. The fifth factor is regional, and it is outside anyone's control. After a storm, membrane and vent components go on allocation, adjuster caseloads spike, and every facility that can take a coach indoors fills at once. Filing in the first days after a regional event rather than the second week is worth more than any other scheduling decision available. - Inspection scheduling: offer two specific dates rather than asking for availability - Supplement pause: sequenced teardown photography that can be approved without a visit - Parts: supplier, grade and lead time in writing before the sourcing decision - Lienholder endorsement: start it in week three, not at pickup - Regional storm surge: file in the first days, not the second week ## Questions **How long will my RV be in the shop?** Shop time follows the published turnaround tiers: two to five business days for light cosmetic, one to three weeks for moderate body, three business days to two weeks for systems and electrical, three to eight weeks for structural, and four to ten weeks for a full refinish. Interior remodel work runs three to twelve weeks. The claim calendar around that shop time is usually longer than the shop time itself. **Why is the vehicle sitting apart with nothing happening?** Because a supplement is under review and the shop cannot authorize the additional work on the carrier's behalf. A well documented supplement moves in two to five business days. One that needs a reinspection runs on the adjuster's calendar and typically adds one to two weeks. Asking for a reinspection date, with two specific dates offered, is the fastest thing available during that pause. **What is the single fastest thing I can do to shorten my claim?** Get the inspection date on the first call rather than waiting for a callback, and offer two specific dates. Inspection scheduling is where most of the lost calendar actually lives, ahead of parts and well ahead of labor. The second fastest is getting the vehicle out of a per diem storage yard immediately, because those days cost money as well as time. **Can you expedite a commercial unit that is losing revenue every day?** Sequence and prioritization are available, and on fleet work they are usually the point. What that means practically is ordering long lead parts before short lead ones, running the body and paint stages against a booked booth slot rather than a queue position, and documenting out of service dates so the downtime is in the file. What cannot be compressed is paint cure and carrier approval. **Do parts really take four to eight weeks on an RV?** Common components do not. Membrane, vents, sealant, Lippert slide hardware, Dometic and Suburban appliance parts and Carefree awning assemblies generally move in three business days to two weeks. Molded caps, discontinued floorplan components and obsolete assemblies are where four to eight weeks appears, and occasionally the honest answer is that the part is gone and the work becomes fabrication. **When should I plan travel around getting the coach back?** Not until the supplement is approved and parts have confirmed dock dates. Owners book a trip against the first estimate's timeline and then absorb the cost of changing it, because the first estimate was written before teardown and the parts calendar had not started. Once the revised scope is approved and parts are confirmed, a delivery window is usually reliable inside a few days. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/claim-timeline OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave. In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.