1. You, the vehicle owner have the right to choose where your vehicle is repaired, not the Insurance Company: WAC 284.30.3903 says;
"The insurer must make a good faith effort to honor your request for repairs to be made in a specific repair shop and cannot arbitrarily deny your request" An insurance company can not require you to go to their drive in claims center or to their "approved" shop for an estimate or repairs.

2. Conduct all communication with the insurance company in writing and insist that they respond IN WRITING ONLY.
This eliminates the "I thought they said….." syndrome and gives you documentation of all statements and claims made by the insurer.
Insurers often make misleading (or in some cases blatantly false) statements in person or over the telephone, however, they will not put these in writing. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Email is a great way to handle this. Let the insurer know that you are unable to receive phone calls during work hours and insist that they send you an email instead.

3. Do not take financial advice from any party that has an interest in how much money you receive.
Insurance companies are for profit businesses, and nobody would object to any business earning a legitimate profit, however, these profits should not be borne on the backs of consumers through underpayment of claims.
DO NOT rely on the insurance company for sound advice; their objective is to minimize their losses.

4. If you disagree with your Insurance Company about the cost of the loss, use the Appraisal Clause in your policy.

Almost all Insurance Policies have an "Appraisal Clause." Some insurers will pay for the costs of the "Appraisal" process, review your policy. Most "Appraisal" clauses read similar to this:
If you and we do not agree as to the amount of the loss, either may make a written demand for an "Appraisal" of the loss.

• We and you may agree to a single appraiser. A decision by the appraiser will be binding.
  
• If we and you cannot agree on a single appraiser, each will select an independent representative, who will then select a single appraiser. We and you may then proceed with the single appraiser by agreement. A decision by the appraiser will be binding.
  
• If the representatives cannot agree on a single appraiser within 30 days, or we or you do not agree on the appraiser selected, each party will select an appraiser. The two appraisers will select an "Umpire." If they cannot agree within 30 days, either side may request selection of an "Umpire" be made by a court having jurisdiction (Small Claims or "Justice" courts are acceptable). A decision agreed to by any two of the three participants will be binding on the insurer (not necessarily on the policyholder).

5. A Third Party insurance company does Not have the authority to artificially limit or control your claim - the liability for your damage actually rests with the at-fault party.

In a third party claim (where the other party was at fault) their insurance company is technically not the party that owes for your damages. Your damages are owed by the negligent (at-fault) party. Their insurance company is interceding in an effort to limit what their policyholder (and they) can get away with paying. Generally, their insurer does not care about you. If you are not satisfied with the other person's insurance company's handling of your claim, you have other avenues you can pursue. These avenues include pursuing your claim through your own carrier and/or litigation (small claims court is a simple and inexpensive way to handle this - kind of a "Judge Judy" type of environment) … BTW: If pursuing your vehicle damage claim through your own insurer results in future premium increases on your own policy, such premium increases are a legitimate form of damage for which the at-fault party would be liable … just like Diminished Value and Rent-A-Car charges.