Choosing a repair shop and parts

Your right to choose the shop

Insurers often keep a list of preferred or direct repair shops that have agreed to their pricing and procedures. Using one can be convenient, but it is a choice, not a condition of payment, in many states. The Texas Department of Insurance puts it plainly: some companies might give you a list of preferred repair shops, but they can't require you to use a shop on its list. Several states go further:

• Massachusetts: 212 CMR 2.04 bars an appraiser or insurer from referring you to or away from any repair shop, or requiring a specific shop, except under an approved direct payment plan.
• Rhode Island: if you take the car to a shop you choose, the insurer can't cut reasonable repair costs to what its own preferred shop would have charged.
• Minnesota: when you report a claim, the insurer must tell you that you have the legal right to choose a repair shop, and it can't make payment depend on using a particular shop or non-original parts, glass excepted.
• California: an insurer may not require a particular shop, may not suggest another once you have chosen one except as the Insurance Code allows, and may not make you travel more than 15 miles for an inspection or repair in a city of 100,000 or more, or 25 miles elsewhere.

The NAIC model rule sets the same idea in general terms: an insurer may not require you to travel an unreasonable distance to get an estimate or to have the car repaired at a specific shop.

The estimate and what happens when shops disagree

The insurer's adjuster or appraiser writes an estimate, and the insurer bases its payment on it. The NAIC model regulation sets what follows on a partial loss settled on that estimate:

• A copy for you. The insurer must give you a copy of the estimate the settlement is based on.
• A higher estimate from your shop. The insurer must either pay the difference or promptly name at least one shop that will do the repair for its estimate amount.
• Workmanlike repairs. If it names only one or two shops, it must make sure the repairs are done in a workmanlike manner.
• Its own shop. When the insurer chooses to repair and designates the shop, it must restore the car to its condition before the loss within a reasonable time, at no added cost to you beyond the policy terms.

Hidden damage is common once a shop takes the car apart. The shop sends a supplement, and the insurer reviews it; Texas tells consumers that you or the shop can talk to the adjuster about raising the estimate. Some states set a clock: Massachusetts gives the insurer 3 business days to inspect after the shop asks for a supplement. If you and the insurer still disagree on the amount, your policy's appraisal clause may settle it.

OEM, aftermarket and used parts

Parts come in three broad kinds: new parts from the car's maker (often called OEM), new parts from another maker (aftermarket or non-OEM), and used or recycled parts. The Texas Department of Insurance notes that an insurer is only required to pay for parts of like kind and quality to those that were damaged, not necessarily the maker's own.

• The NAIC standard. Non-original replacement crash parts, the sheet metal and plastic parts that make up the outside of the car, must carry permanent identification of their maker, and an insurer may not require them unless they are at least equal to the original in fit, quality and performance.
• Indiana's parts notice. Before an insurer directs a body shop to repair your car, it must give you a written notice that you may approve the type of parts: new from the maker, new from another maker, or used. It can't override your written choice. The rule applies for five years after the car's model year; see the Indiana page.
• Mississippi's labels. The state insurance department says non-original parts must carry the maker's logo, number or name, the estimate must identify each one, and you are not required to accept a non-original part.

If you want maker's parts where the estimate lists aftermarket ones, ask before the repair starts. Ask the insurer in writing whether your policy or your state's rule entitles you to them, and what you would owe if it doesn't. Get the answer before you authorize the work, not after the invoice arrives.

Before and after the repair

1. Get the insurer's estimate in writing and give it to the shop you choose.
2. Ask the shop whether it will work with your insurer, how it handles supplements, and what warranty it gives on the work.
3. Read the parts list. Each line should say whether the part is new from the maker, aftermarket or used.
4. Authorize repairs in writing only once the amount and parts are agreed, or you know what you will owe yourself.
5. Inspect the car on pickup in daylight: panel gaps, paint match, warning lights. Keep the final invoice.

Keep that invoice: it is the starting point for a diminished value claim if another driver caused the crash. If the repair is small, the claim or pay calculator shows whether a claim is worth it after your deductible.

Questions people ask