Is insurance company’s preferred auto shop biased?

Question

I was rear-ended. There's a crack on the upper part of my bumper and the plastic part of the trunk locking mechanism is broken (though the trunk still closes).

The insurance company was pretty insistent that I use one of their recommended auto shops. I asked for a list of auto shops so I could make a choice but they made me pick one over the phone. They wanted to make an appointment for me but I said I wanted to handle it myself, so they sent me the address and phone number.

I've been getting lots of calls from the auto shop because the insurance company gave them my information, and let them know I'd be contacting them which is not something that they told me they'd do beforehand.

My questions are:

1. Does a crack on the bumper require replacement of the bumper? If so, how much does it cost?

2. Is it risky to use the insurance company's favorite shop? (I'm asking for a quote to get money from the insurance company, instead of getting it repaired.)

3. Why did they not respect my privacy? (Insurance knows I want the check)

Answer 1

The answer is YES. The responses saying no are so wrong it isn't even funny. How do I know - I used to do tech work for a repair shop and saw all of the inner-goings.

1. A shop is a preferred shop because they will repair the car basically as cheaply as possible. They have to abide by certain things or they will lose their "certified repair shop" status. It is rigged.

2. You have a right to have parts that are OEM - original manufacturer parts. Anything else is an unknown even if supposed to be exactly the same.

3. You have a right to not have any part welded that or self repaired. Obviously this is inferior.

What should you do?

An example of an accident I was in is the easiest way.

I was involved in an accident where a young teenage girl was on her cell phone, going down a street, and decided to do a U-turn... well I was driving on the other side and she hit the front corner then proceeded to scrape (deeply) the whole side of the car.

So I took my car to one of their "preferred" shops. I got a quote of $3500. They were going to self-repair some thing, order knock off parts, and only paint the effected areas (hint - color fades, you can't just paint part of a car the original color).

Then I had to find a neutral shop - this is much harder than you think because 80% have tie-ins with insurance companies. It is a consumer scam. After I found one (small local shop) I told them - I want you to repair this like it is a show car. Boom quote was $6700 - almost double.

Insurance company told me to basically F off. Their repair shop said I was being unreasonable. I filed a small claims suit that day for $9500.

I received many calls from the insurance company. I would not budge so we went to court.

• Judge very quickly agreed that I had a right to have my car made new not look new. OEM parts, big paint job, the works. The insurance lawyer objected and judge asks - "Do you believe in the basic principles of supply and demand?" He says - "Yes" Judge says - "Well the OEM door is $1400 and your knock-off is $800. If they were the same the would be about the same price."
• I found statistics that reflected the additional repairs a car needed for being in a partial front-end and it was about 25% more than normal. I gave a low ball estimate for repairs for 5 years and came up with $800. Judge loved this but just gave me $400 - said she had no proof I would own the car over the life.
• The other $2000. Loss of value. The accident is put on your car's vehicle report and no matter how good of a job a shop does, it isn't how it came off the assembly line. This one was easy for me because I just went down to a local car dealer and said I was trading it in. Asked them how much less they were giving me because it was in an accident - they said $2000. I got this statement notarized and boom. (loss of value claims are now part of normal insurance dealings in many states but the insurance companies won't tell you).

I for some reason happen to be an accident magnet and honestly tired of the time it wastes of mine and then realizing how much money you spend because someone else hits you. The advice I would give anyone if they don't want to push insurance companies is that if you go to their preferred shop then go in and say "Since you are not using OEM parts and not repairing as new, I would like a lifetime warranty on everything involved because I plan on driving this car another 10 years." They won't give you the warranty and will often offer to just fix the car "right". I have been at shops and they were like "let me call the insurance company and see if we can get OEM parts for this" (scummy scam seriously).

Your case. You can't fix a cracked bumper. Get a new OEM bumper. Simply google OEM bumper for MAKE and MODEL and you will get the price easily. Also you have a right to just take their check and not fix it - just like the person who hit you had the right to not hit you. That is your money fix it if you want and has nothing to do with the insurance company. As I have mentioned in comments, you could just sue the person and the judge will give you a judgement of money and that said judge could care less if you bought cases of whiskey with the money or repair your car - DO NOT EVER LET THE INSURANCE COMPANY SEND YOUR CHECK TO A SHOP.

Note: I want to add a specific side note for the bumper. My friend got hit three times in their bumper - all slow rear ends kid you not. The first time they did not get it fixed and accepted about $400 from insurance company. The second time was less of a hit but a truck so it really scraped it due to height differences. The field service guy the insurance sent out saw the damage and then said let me check the padding under the bumper.

It was damaged/cracked which negates much of the damage control from the bumper unit. BUT this was probably done on the first accident. That insurance and their shop only was going to pay for the bumper cover not replacing the whole bumper unit. This was $400 compared to $1100 (including paint/install). The second guy was honest the first wasn't and neither was the shop.

So he got $1500 and still didn't fix it. Got hit again boom another $800 (they wouldn't pay out because the truck damage was noticeable. He finally got it fixed before selling it. Note this was before CARFAX stuff so not sure how that would be handled - would potential buyer in future see 3 accidents and 1 repair?

Answer 2

1) The insurance company is normally obligated to return your car to the condition it was before the accident. It is between the insurance company and the repair company to decide which is cheapest.

They are very good at "welding" plastic nowadays (edit: don't trust me, see other people's comments about welding), my bumper repair looks as good as new. Make sure that you point out the crack to the repair company.

2) It is more risky not to use the company's recommended shop. If the actual repair cost exceeds the estimate, things will go more smoothly if you are using a recommended shop.

3) Let the check go to the repair shop.

Edit: Before you downvote, please read my first sentence again. Blankip has convinced people that my answer is wimpy, that I said that you should cave to the insurance company.

The vast majority of people (millions per year), receive good repairs without creating a hassle. For the better insurance companies, your car will go through the same process whether you are at fault or not. So, for customer satisfaction, they are motivated to do good repairs.

People are enamored by the rebel answer, but how many people who voted for blankip will actually follow his advice when they have an accident?

The OP got the answer that they wanted, but I doubt that we will ever know if the hassle was worth it for the OP.

Answer 3

For 2) and 3), other reasons is that insurance companies to not want to send you a check and you either keep it without making the repairs or finding a cheap repair shop and pocketing the difference. The purpose of their service is to protect you from large unexpected expenses, not for you to profit from them.

So they partner with local repair shops to ensure that the work that they pay for is completed to their standards.

Answer 4

Without knowing the specifics of your car...

My car has what's called a bumper cover - a plastic fascia panel; there is a bumper structure behind it, so the plastic part is more about cosmetics than structure. Last year I had a parking lot hit-and-run leaving my front bumper cracked and dented. Although repair is possible, the end result may not be satisfactory. In my case, the (insurance company preferred) shop replaced the part. It was to my advantage because the shop only needed my car for one day - when I took it in for an estimate, they determined the exact paint match, and then ordered the part. After they received and painted the part, they called me to schedule installation. I dropped the car off in the morning and picked it up that evening.

Some 20 years ago, I had a "fender bender" in which the front plastic bumper was badly damaged. To this day I am convinced the part was repaired even though it was quoted as a replacement part. In that case, the car was undriveable after the collision because of the nature of the damage, so it was towed from the collision scene to the shop and remained there until all work was completed. I believe the part was repaired because the paint began to peel in exactly the places where the worst of the damage occurred. This experience makes me doubtful of the long-term quality of a plastic part repair.

Answer 5

In California the insurer is required to allow you to use any shop you want and to notify you of that fact. As others have said, you don't have to get it fixed, though if you have a loan the check may name your lender as well because your lender will want to make sure they have enough security for the loan.

It is reasonable to be concerned that the recommended body shop will have the insurer as its primary customer-if they lose that designation it is a disaster. That said, it is difficult for the consumer to evaluate the job a body shop does. I have had a few repairs done by shops my insurer recommends and have had no trouble. You need to investigate them just like you would any other one you would choose. The insurer makes it easy to deal with the recommended shop by accepting their bill, paying them directly, and giving a warranty on the work. I would expect the recommended shop gives the insurer a quantity discount, but that is not your problem.

Answer 6

If you don't fix the bumper, the next accident may cause even more damage because the bumper couldn't adequately protect the rest of the car.

Or, you don't fix it now, another accident occurs, and you get the same thing repaired...or not after dinging the insurance company for more money.

Answer 7

If take the money and don't fix the car the insurance company will drop the physical damage coverage on that car until it's fixed. If there is no loan on the car you don't have to fix it but ins co won't continue comp and coll till it's fixed. Otherwise next accident they have to pay for it again