[mikester]

What you are describing is exactly what the health insurance industry does to Doctors and is very commonplace.

The insurance companies negotiate rates with the autoshops based on volume - so what they pay can be significantly lower than what a private party pays. That being said, many Doctors do appreciate cash payments - my suggestion is to have the person who hit you do the legwork if she wants to avoid hitting her insurance. If not, let allstate pay for it - they have negotiated that price with the shop. If the shop isn't happy with it they don't have to do the work.

Have you ever been to the hospital? Check out the bills you get - $9000 for whatever, discounted 68% for the insurance company (made up those numbers but they aren't far from the truth).

It's socialism. The insurance companies are taking money from EVERYON to pay for the people who need service.

Another way to go is if you have uninsured motorist coverage a lot of times you can pass this off to your insurance company and they will bill the person at fault or their insurance company. I've done this twice, so I use my insurance company's shops - deal with my insurance company completely and it doesn't ding me at all (CA Law).

Also - I am not an attorney.