well your first problem is taking the money yourself. have the ins co work with the bodyshop not you. you should have NO out of pocket expense. tell the ins what shop you want to use and tell them to fix everything and work with the bs to get that done. as long as you trust the bs to do good work there shouldn't be a problem. $40/hr does seem low, I think we pay 42 or 44. And I highly doubt you will get paid for your time, unless you present an inj claim. then you can consider that pain and suffering. I have never heard of that company but it seems they do thing out of the norm. and unless you seriously inj getting an atty is wasting a 1/3 of your payout. it does sounds like they are trying to jerk you around, speak with a supervisor and simply tell them to repair your veh to its preloss condition.