# How a Claim Actually Moves: What Actually Happens on a Hacienda Heights Claim A repair claim moves through six mechanical stages: first notice of loss, assignment, inspection at the facility, teardown and supplement, parts and repair, then reinspection and payment. OCRV Center writes and submits the documentation at each stage. The carrier decides coverage; the file decides scope. ## First notice of loss and what the file looks like on day one A claim begins when the loss is reported and a claim number is issued. That call creates a file with a date of loss, a described cause, a coverage type and an assigned handler. Everything downstream is measured against what was said on that call, which is why a vague description costs money later. Sudden and accidental water entry and a slow seal failure are two different files even when they are two inches apart on the same roof. The handler assigned may be a staff adjuster, a field appraiser, or an independent appraisal firm working the carrier's assignments. On a coach it is frequently the third, because the vehicle needs someone who can travel to it and inspect it in a bay. Knowing which of the three owns your file changes who you contact about scheduling, and it is worth asking on the first call. Day one also produces the tow or transport decision. Where the vehicle goes determines who writes the scope. A per diem storage yard starts a meter immediately, so the practical instruction is to name a repair facility on the first call and get the vehicle released to it rather than parked while the file gets organized. - Claim number, date of loss, and the coverage the claim was opened under - The handler's name, role and direct line, plus who schedules the inspection - A described cause of loss specific enough to separate sudden damage from wear - The destination facility, named on the first call rather than defaulted ## The inspection, and why it happens at the facility The inspection is where the carrier's representative and the shop look at the same vehicle and produce a scope. On a car this can take twenty minutes in a parking lot. On a 38 foot coach it does not, because reading the damage means getting on the roof, under the chassis, behind a fascia and inside a slide opening, with lighting and a lift. All of that happens at 23281 La Palma Ave in Yorba Linda. We do not offer inspections at a customer location, and that is a deliberate limit rather than a capacity problem. An assessment written in a driveway produces the thin documentation that generates every supplement fight described on /top-25-pitfalls. Bringing the vehicle 18.4 miles from Hacienda Heights, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, is what makes the first scope worth submitting. What the inspection 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. That hour is why our first estimate is closer to the final number than an estimate written from the outside can be. ## Teardown and the pause that follows it Teardown is disassembly to the extent needed to see the damage. On a laminated sidewall it means removing trim, moldings, interior panels and often a window so the bond line and the framing can be read. On a roof it means moisture mapping on a grid and lifting membrane at the boundary. Whatever is found here is nearly always more than the photographs showed, and that is the normal outcome rather than the exceptional one. What follows is the pause that owners find hardest. New damage means a supplement, a supplement means a review, and a review sometimes means a reinspection scheduled against an adjuster's calendar. The vehicle sits partially disassembled during that window. Nothing is wrong; the file is simply waiting on an authorization that the shop cannot issue on the carrier's behalf. Two things compress that pause. First, documentation captured during disassembly, in sequence, with parts staged rather than binned, so a reviewer can approve from the photographs without a site visit. Second, offering two specific reinspection dates instead of asking for availability. Both are described in detail on /supplements-and-denied-line-items. ## Parts procurement and the order the repair follows Once the revised scope is approved, parts are ordered and the calendar becomes a parts calendar. RV components move on lead times that have nothing in common with automotive parts distribution. A Lippert slide rail or a Dometic control board may ship in three to seven days. A molded rear cap for a discontinued floorplan can run four to eight weeks and occasionally is not available at all, which turns the job into a fabrication job. Special order parts carry a 100 percent deposit at order and that deposit is not refundable, which matters on a claim because it fixes the moment of no return. Parts $100 or less carry 100 percent markup and parts over $100 carry 35 percent, and sales tax runs 7.75 percent on parts and materials while labor is not taxed. Those figures are on the published rate card and they appear on the estimate, not as a surprise on the invoice. The repair itself runs in a fixed order because the trades depend on each other: structure, then body and panel, then bodywork sealing and corrosion protection, then paint, then reassembly, then systems and electrical, then calibration and final test. Skipping ahead in that order is how a shop ends up masking a finished panel to weld behind it. ## Reinspection, invoicing and how the money reaches the shop Many carriers require a post repair reinspection or a photograph set before final payment releases. Where a supplement was involved, that step is nearly universal. It is scheduled 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. Billing runs direct with every major carrier, which means the shop invoices the carrier and you are not fronting the repair. Insurance billed work may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates of $210 for body and paint, $260 for mechanical and electrical and $285 for diagnostics. Your deductible and any owner elected upgrades are what you pay, and both are stated in writing before the work starts. 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 to the calendar, so if there is a loan on the vehicle, start that endorsement while the repair is still in progress rather than at pickup. Balance is due at pickup and no vehicle leaves the property unpaid. ## Questions **Who actually writes the repair scope, the shop or the adjuster?** Both write one, and the two get reconciled. The shop writes a scope from the vehicle with it opened; the adjuster writes or reviews one against the carrier's estimating platform and coverage determination. Where they differ, the difference is resolved with documentation rather than by seniority. That is why photographs taken in sequence during teardown carry more weight in this process than any verbal description of what was found. **Why does the first estimate almost never match the final invoice?** Because the first estimate was written before anything was opened. On a bonded coach wall, an impact that leaves a visible scuff can release the laminate two feet in every direction, and no photograph shows that. The first number is an opening entry that lets the file move. The supplement is where the scope becomes accurate, and a supplement is a normal stage of a coach claim rather than a sign something went wrong. **Can I authorize the repair before the carrier approves the supplement?** You can authorize work at your own expense at any point, and some owners do that to keep a unit moving. It carries a real risk: work performed before a carrier has documented the damage removes the evidence the supplement depends on. The usual better sequence is to authorize teardown, capture everything, submit, and then authorize the repair against an approved scope you have in writing. **What happens if the adjuster and the shop cannot agree on a line item?** The line gets documented rather than argued. The shop submits the measurement, the photograph, the OEM procedure page or the parts quote that supports the operation, and the reviewer evaluates it. Most disagreements on coach work are resolved this way because they are factual questions: whether a diagonal is out of tolerance, whether a part is available, whether a bond line released. /supplements-and-denied-line-items covers what happens when one stays open. **Does the shop get paid before or after the repair is finished?** Generally after, and often after a post repair reinspection releases the final payment. Progress payments happen on large files, particularly where special order parts require a deposit at order. On the owner side, a deposit of 50 percent applies at authorization on any job over $2,000 and an additional 25 percent when parts arrive on a job over $10,000, with the balance due at pickup. **How is a commercial unit's claim different mechanically?** The stages are identical. What changes is who authorizes and what else is in the file. A fleet file usually needs a purchase order or a maintenance authorization number in addition to the claim number, an invoice coded to a department cost center, and a record of the dates the unit was out of service. Public entity work out of an unincorporated area routes against a county purchase order rather than a municipal one. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/how-claims-work 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.