CONTROLLING THE REPAIR PROCESS PROFITS INSURANCE COMPANIES
May 3, 2018
It is an individual’s right to select a shop for repair following an accident. One should not be pressured into allowing an insurance company to dictate where a vehicle is repaired. Direct repair program contracted shops are to be avoided. One should not trust an insurance adjuster when recommending a shop. Do not let the insurance company profit at the risk of not having your vehicle repaired properly and safely.
Insurance companies dictate and control the claims process. It starts with the repair of vehicles. Most people insist that the adverse driver’s insurance company pay for the repair cost, not realizing this is the wrong thing to do. This allows for steering or pressures the shop selected to cut corners or utilize aftermarket parts. Here’s a typical conversation occurring between an insurance adjuster and vehicle owner.
Adjuster: “You have chosen to have your vehicle repaired at ABC Auto Body?”
Owner: “Yes, they were highly recommended. I hear they do really go work. My friend had his vehicle repaired there last year.”
Adjuster: “We’ve had problems with them of late.”
Owner: “How so?”
Adjuster: “They seem to be overcharging. We only have to pay what is reasonable. I am afraid that you will get stuck with some of the bill because of how much they charge.”
Owner: “That’s not fair. I didn’t cause the accident. It was your driver’s fault.”
Adjuster: “We will take care of this for you. We have a shop we work with not far from there. We can take care of everything. We will make sure you have a rental. We will make sure the vehicle gets taken there without charge to you. We will make sure all the cost of repairs is covered. We will make sure they guarantee the work.”
Owner: “Are you sure about ABC? I really would like to get it done there?”
Adjuster: “Absolutely.”
And just like that the vehicle is picked up by the insurance company’s contracted shop only to likely not be repaired properly and slapped on with potentially warranty, nullifying parts. Though the insurance adjuster offered to guarantee the work he artfully said nothing about the same. He didn’t say the insurance company would guarantee the work, but only that the shop would. Every shop guarantees their work. Nothing additional was provided.
The insurance company did not want the individual getting his vehicle repaired at ABC shop because the adjuster knew they were independent, going to be looking out for the individual’s best interest and not the insurance company’s. The insurance company didn’t have a contract to control the cost of repair with ABC Shop and this meant they would have to pay the real cost of repairing the vehicle.
Direct repair programs have emerged in the body shop business similar to HMO’s with the medical profession. Insurance companies hope to save several hundred dollars on the cost of repair. They pressure the contracted shop to do as they say and this does not bode well for the consumer or the integrity of the vehicles repaired. Though several hundred dollars may not seem like much, multiplied out by thousands if not millions of vehicles this saves the insurance companies a fortune.
It is an individual’s right to select a shop for repair following an accident. One should not be pressured into allowing an insurance company to dictate where a vehicle is repaired. Direct repair program contracted shops are to be avoided. One should not trust an insurance adjuster when recommending a shop. Do not let the insurance company profit at the risk of not having your vehicle repaired properly and safely.
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