It’s Your Car, It’s Your Choice

Don’t be steered into another accident by your insurance company or the other parties insurance company. Did you know some insurance companies have ownership in some shops? Makes you wonder who the customer really is. Our shop does not participate in many of the repair networks because of the concessions or stipulations in the contracts which generally leads to a lower cost/lower quality repair. We believe we have a responsibility to the vehicle owner who is ultimately our customer not the insurance company.

The reason insurance companies use carefully crafted work tracks is that the state does not allow insurance companies to “direct”, “steer” or “refer” customers to a particular shop (or they are not supposed to), so they have come up with the following word tracks to intimidate the customer into thinking they have to do what the insurance company says, or they will not pay the claim. Some companies also have bonus programs for employees that steer claims to the networks, so don’t think that they have your best interest in mind. Most of these claims people have never seen a particular shop, nor have any knowledge of any of the staff, they are just directing claims to whoever their company has a “deal” with so that they hit a bonus quota.

Whether you choose to use us or another repair shop don’t be manipulated by insurance companies word tracks.

The Un-Truths
These are often heard phrases from Insurance Companies when you want to bring your vehicle to our shop or any shop that is not on their “LIST”, and what our response is:

1. “They are not one of our network shops and they are not on our list, we can’t guarantee the repairs”
   We identify the vehicle owner as our primary customer, not the insurance company. As for guaranteeing our work, they do not need to, as we have our own nationwide lifetime guarantee. When have you ever seen an insurance company with a car being repaired in their office? Truth is they will send you back to whomever you selected off their list.
2. “If you use them, we can’t get an adjuster out for several days, if you take it to our network shop we will have someone start on it right away”
   This is just another ploy to steer you, we have heard insurance companies tell our customers how busy they are and they can’t get someone out for 7 or 8 days, when we know their staff appraisers have little to do. Most companies are required to appraise a vehicle within 72hrs.
3. “If you use that shop you will have to pay for your rental out of pocket”
   This is not true, but some insurance companies will try to force you into a rental reimbursement, which means they will either try to get you to pay with a credit card and then reimburse you, or offer to send a check for x amount of rental days (which you should promptly refuse to do). Most companies have direct bill agreements with rental companies, but they do not always disclose that. Always remember as a claimant against a company, that you also have specific rights that a policy holder may not have.