Choose Your Own Collision Center Case Study

Why You Should Choose Your Own Collision Center

If you’ve been in an accident, you have the right by law to choose where to get your vehicle repaired. Car insurance companies typically refer their insured to a list of preferred collision centers with whom they have a working relationship. These preferred shops are selected based on a number of factors, not all of which may be in your best interest. To be certain that your vehicle is being cared for to your own satisfaction, you should choose your own collision center.

Are You Being Served?

An insurance company may recommend a repair shop because of its low prices. That shop may use cheaper replacement parts in place of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts in order to stay competitively priced. Likewise, a shop under contract with an insurer may be under pressure to make repairs with fast turnarounds to reduce costs and get more claims, which in turn could compromise the quality of the repair work.

While that may seem to be only a good thing for you, it could also prompt unethical shops to cut corners to stay within their insurer-prescribed budgets. Estimates should reflect accurate appraisals of the cost of doing quality repairs, and not based on pre-determined limits set by the insurer.

Insurance companies are businesses after all, and businesses need to make money to stay in business. When you agree to have your car repaired at a collision center of your insurance company’s choosing, you’re relinquishing control and trusting them to look out for