Some insurance companies will try and tell you that you have to use their partner body shop in order to get your car fixed. This is not the case and you should know that you have the right to pick any auto body shop that you want to use so long as their estimate is consistent with other body shops.

Insurance companies want you to use their partner shops because they may have incentives in place with those body shops. These partnerships often times will save the insurance companies money on repairs to damaged vehicles. This might mean you get after market parts or repaired parts because they are cheaper than OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts. This saves the insurance company money and can have an effect on your claim. If the damage to your vehicle with brand new OEM parts costs $1200 but the cost to use repaired parts only cost $800, the insurance company may argue that your impact was so small that you should not be injured.

In the personal injury claims business, their is a huge difference in the value to claims between accidents with property damage to the vehicle totaling over a $1000 versus claims with damage less than $1000. So when you need to get your car fixed, don’t let the insurance company try to bully you into using their partnership auto body shops. Get a few estimates on your own and take it to a body shop that you want to use.