When getting in a car accident, it is valid to ask yourself where and how you will get your vehicle fixed. One of the first things insurance companies will try to do is getting your car into one of their insurance company-recommended body shops. While it might sound nice on paper, because of course, technically the insurance company is supposed to be there to help you… In reality, it’s a way to lower the value of both your personal injury claim and your property damage claims.
Making the mistake of letting your car be “repaired” at one of these preferred auto body repair shops by insurance companies will leave you dissatisfied with the results, as they most likely will only want or try to fix visible damage and not actually repair your vehicle. While there might be some benefits of going to a preferred auto repair shop instead of an independent one, at least from a business reputation standpoint, our team of car accident attorneys advises against it.
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Not only will it lower the value of your case, but it could also leave you with long-term financial losses from trying to figure out what is wrong with your car if it looks like everything is alright at the first glance. Which will lead you to get your car taken to another shop again and again without any clear results or benefits, just costing you not only money but your peace of mind as well.
But, when letting our California Car accident attorneys handle both your personal injury and property damage case will give you the tranquility you deserve, knowing that your vehicle will be in good hands to be repaired and leave the collision repair shop looking, feeling, and functioning as it if was just rolling on the street for the first time.
But, what is the difference between a preferred auto body shop and a direct one/shop you choose? That is a good question our team at Farahi Law Firm, APC is glad to answer so you know how to get your property damage repaired properly, saving you long-term consequences of botched car repair services.
What is a Preferred Body Shop?
A preferred repair shop, as the name implies is a vehicle repair facility that has entered into a contract with an insurance company. As we said before, you might think sending your vehicle to one of these places will net you better costs and thorough repairs, in reality, sending your vehicle to an auto collision repair shop recommended by the insurance companies does the total opposite.
But why? Well, it is a common misconception that insurance carriers are there to help you as their client when in reality they are in the business of making money. When insurance carriers use a preferred body shop, they are expecting quick and cheap repairs, not a real in-depth review of the problems with your vehicle after a car accident.
Body Shops and Insurance Companies
These shops normally enter into an agreement with the insurance companies for their collision repair services, with this arrangement, they will be getting a steady stream of clients, but no real damage will be fixed. Since they also have to churn out repairs as quickly as possible for the insurance company they partner with.
By partnering with insurance carriers, body-shops lose all ability to advocate for the client’s proper repairs. While they could get hundreds if not thousands of clients every year thanks to their contract with insurers, they would have to use cheap repair methods on their vehicles because of the insurance carrier’s custom to get everything as cheap as possible to pay less than what the client’s accident is worth.
And that is without mentioning the bad state your vehicle would be in due to undercarriage damages, this means that even if your car looks fine on the outside, if the frame was damaged, then it wouldn’t get fixed in a preferred body-shop just because the insurance carrier would deem it “too expensive” and in a way, it would help lower the compensation amount for your injuries.
It is said that if it’s easy to fix the car then it would be easy to fix the human, the reality is far from it, and quickly fixing just the visuals of the car is one of the tactics insurance companies use to take your money while not doing the job they are supposed to do when you got your insurance policy.
What is the alternative to a preferred body shop?
When looking to fix your car after an accident or collision with another vehicle, it is always in your best interest to just take the insurance offers at face value. They will try to persuade you to leave your vehicle in their care.
You should never do that, instead, you should take your car to an independent body shop that offers actual car repairs. An independent shop, contrary to a preferred one, has no obligation to follow what the insurance company mandates. In turn, your car will get a thorough review of the damages.
Sure, it will take more time for you to get your hands on your car again, as an independent body shop would look at every nook and cranny of the vehicle to make sure everything is functioning properly. This will save you not just money, but give you peace of mind as well.
Knowing that your car will be good as new after a vehicle collision, even when it could take months or weeks to properly restore it to its condition before the accident, knowing that you won’t have to take your car for repairs, again and again, spending more money in the process due to the insurance companies desire to make more money at your expenses is a soothing thought.
