Useful Information
What you need to know before you get your first estimate.
As an insured motorist you have the right to take your car to the body shop of your choice. While Insurance companies may offer you referrals to one of their preferred body shops, those are usually shops on what they call their Direct Repair Program (DRP). They cannot require you to have the work done though DRP. Do you really want the company that’s paying the bill to write that estimate?
Many insurance companies have their own best interest as a priority and often try to sway the customer into taking the car to one of their adjusters or one of their DRP shops. Herein lays a controversy that is affecting body shops across the country. If the insurance company writes that estimate first it could make it decidedly more difficult for you if you want to take your car to a body shop of your choice for a second quote. “This controversy of controlling the estimate first appears when an insurance company writes the estimate first or sends you to one of their DRP shops for that first estimate and that shop is limited in their contract for repairs meaning they have a limit on what they may charge per hour.”
