How Do Body Shops Work With Car Insurance?
Many auto body shops have contracts with certain insurance companies that allow the car insurance company to determine a set rate for particular car repairs. Insurance companies will offer a lot of business in exchange for a discount on the sales that they provide the auto body shop with.
Inspection
When you are involved in an accident that requires repairs to be done to your vehicle, your insurance company will let you know where they want you to bring your vehicle so that it can be inspected for the true extent of damage. They will be able to place a monetary value on the damage to see if it would be cheaper for the insurance company to pay to have the car fixed, or cash out the value of the car and cut you a check in that amount. You will need to comply with the requests of the insurance company in order to move forward with your insurance claim.
Choosing your Own Repair Shop
Some insurance companies will allow you to choose your own repair shop to have your vehicle repaired as long as the estimate is at or below the estimate that they feel they would receive from an auto body shop that they work with. In order to choose your own auto body repair shop you will need to get a written estimate from the auto repair shop that you would like to use, and then submit that written estimate to the insurance company to see if it will be approved. You will need to wait for approval from the insurance company before they can begin any repairs on your vehicle.
Payments
Payments for completed car repairs are usually paid directly to the shop where the work is repaired. This allows for a good relationship between the auto repair companies and insurance companies. If the check was made out to the claimant, they would run the risk of the auto body shop not being paid, as well as prevent claimants and auto body shops from working out deals under the table to profit from the insurance company. A check will be made out to the claimant in the event that the car is considered totaled.