Today I heard about a situation with a MAJOR insurance company (that I had previously respected) and wanted to make sure you knew some helpful things. Thankfully, our customer knew we were the best, and didn’t want to compromise their repairs OR safety by going with an insurance recommended shop. This poor customer had to hear their own insurance company try to steer them EIGHT different times, before they realized the customer knew what they were doing, and finally gave up.
Please know that “steering” (when an insurance company pushes you to do what you they want) is AGAINST the law. Yet COUNTLESS companies still do it. With phrases like, “if you choose Elite Collision, you MIGHT have out of pocket expenses.” Or “they aren’t an approved shop in our Network, so we won’t be able to warranty the work” or some narrative similar. They do their best to drive work to their approved shop.
WHY? It’s actually pretty simple. They SAVE MONEY at the consumers expense.
The contracts that are signed between a body shop and the insurance company DO affect your repairs. In order for those body shops to keep their preferred status with those insurance companies, they have to meet standards set by the insurance company. Those standards include overall repair costs, repairing parts vs. replacing them, how many aftermarket parts are used, NOT doing costly pre/post repair scans to name a few. Which means that more aftermarket parts will be used as they are cheaper, instead of replacing parts, they will repair the damaged parts which is again cheaper, possibly no pre/post repair scans will be done. If you do not know how important pre/post repairs scans are when repairing vehicles, please read here.
Do you REALLY think that the insurance company had our customers best interest in mind???
Two questions to ask an insurance company if they try to steer you:
- Do I have the right to take my car to a shop of MY CHOICE?
- Is steering me to your recommended shop against the law?
Please folks, see the insurance company for what it is. It is a for profit company. You have insurance to pay for the damage on your vehicle. The less they have to pay, the better for them.
Don’t let them sway you. Your safety matters!!!
We are a consumer advocate body shop. Your safety is our #1 priority! Give us a call, stop by and see it for yourself.
