The direct repair shops also has advantages to the customer. But why give the whole story, right ??

Convenience. Keeps the customer from taking the vehicle to a drive-in center to have the veh available for an insurance adjuster. If you go to a shop in the program, the shop does the estimate, they do the repair, the company pays them directly. Easy for the customer.

Money. Whatever estimate the shop gives the insurance company, we pay it. On the other hand, if you go to a shop outside the program, they may charge you more and it comes out of your pocket. All the shops in the program have to use the average labor rate in the area as prescribed by the company. Other shops... can charge you whatever they want.

Warranty. Repair work done at a shop in the program comes with a lifetime guarantee. If you have a problem, take the car back and the shop has to fix it for you as part of being in the program. Have a problem with a non-preferred shop and it's between you and them. Good luck with that.

Also... those shops in the program are visited frequently by insurance company reps and have to maintain strict quality control standards or they'll be removed from the insurance company's program. That a huge financial consequence for them.

And keep in mind, it's ALWAYS the customer's choice on where to take the vehicle. As an insurance claim rep, my job is to inform the customer of their options and allow them to make the choice. Directing them to a shop is against regulations and can lead to consequences for the insurance rep and the company.

Edit: And by the way... the only way these programs save us (insurance company) money is that we can reduce the number of Estimators on the staff since the shop does the estimate for us. They don't give us kickbacks, or anything like that, FYI.

 

You might want to ask the shopping center security if they video the parking lot. If so, have the police look at it to see if they can catch the scoundrel!

 

Tell me about it, I park at the far reaches of a parking lot, and I still managed to pick up several door dings since having the big one repaired in SF.

 

We've have had direct repair with All State, State Farm, American Family, Farmers and Hartford.
All require some type of discount if you want to be included in their program be it on labor or on parts. Some demand discounts on both.

 

It's not a discount. We just don't allow the shops in our program to charge higher than what we determine to be reasonable costs for parts, and they can't charge higher than the average labor rate in the area.

That's fair and it cuts costs. Lower cost of repairs equals lower premiums for EVERYONE.

 

I don't want to hijack this thread to debate with you. Maybe your company doesn't ask for a discount, but the ones I have listed do.

nenj, I hope your MINI is good as new ASAP.

 

I can't speak for other companies, of course.

But I do know this: It can't be bad for the shops because they practically BEG to be in our program.

 

Dude, I know how you feel man....the world is such a cruel place...I guess that is why there place called hell for those people.

It happened to me also in grocery store parking lot New Year's Eve. I did not find out until I got home and walked around to the passenger side from getting the groceries out of the boot. I got burned also as the person who did it did not leave a note. The worst part is that the other driver's car was still parked right next to me when I came out vividly remember seeing the license plate and color of the car...because the dent had its red paint scratched on it.

So at this point I am glad that there is such a thing as karma..."what goes around comes around"...and eventually those type of people will get what they deserve.

Now I am still searching around my area to find someone who would do a decent job and it will be out of pocket because it will cost me just as much as my deductable or just alittle more.

Hope it will all works out for you!!

Cheers

 

WoW so you remembered the plate numbers and car?I wish i had memory like that!

 

Well, not exactly the numbers....maybe if some hypnotized me I can see each letter by letter...but it was Texas license plate.....I filed a report, but the police told me that it will be cold file before it even get filed because there are bigger fishes to fry and the cost to investigate this would would out way the necessity. And get this, even if I see the car again and can recognize it (perhaps the store is their usual grocery store), confronting the owner would futile because he can tell me to go pound sand because I can't physically prove that it was his car and him that did it....

 

oh...that sucks !

 

I spend a lot of time in Europe (Germany and Italy) and I can attest to the fact that driving in Germany is MUCH more organized and people respect each other more in the roads. Even in Italy, as chaotic as it sometimes is, it's better than here.... Note sure what makes it the way it is here unless it's just a lack of concern for anyone other than themselves...

 

Germany ? Absolutely.

Italy ? I swear the only rule about driving in Italy is, "You have to pass the car ahead of you". On the left, right, shoulder, through a pasture.. whatever it takes.

 

It really depends on what part of Italy you are in. In the northern quarter it's not terribly bad but then as you go south past Tuscany and on in to Rome... look out. Most of my time in Italy has been in Sicily and there, anything goes. Driving in Catania is like a huge game of bumper cars. Traffic laws or more like suggestions... I always have a learning curve once I come back to the states...

 

My stepson was stationed in Gaeta (near Naples) for 2 years and he was afraid for his life driving in Italy.

 

That was horrible

What a nice way to start the new year, isn't?

 

another reason is isnt as easy to get a license over there ,like how it is over here.

 

Damn yeah I just had a hit-n-run this past holiday season. in the end I had to get a new door and pretty much a whole new paint job. if you are willing to travel to the south bay (morgan hill) I got my work done at Houge Brothers in Gilroy Ca. hope this helps.

 

I concur with that statement...I did three years in Germany, unfortunately I had no idea how driving a Mini would be then, but a Z4 made up for it...anyways back to the topic. Driving in Europe was the best...didn't deal with any of the stuff that we deal with here in the states..to add, they all felt that driving was a privilege than a right...I think that makes all the difference....unless we get people here to understand that then we will have to deal with the bone headed drivers for the rest of our driving lives....thank goodness I drive a Mini!

 

i work at a dealership (GM not mini) and cars are constantly being crashed NEW CARS and we send them to a body shop and they sell those as "brand new" but it is a good idea to DOCUMENT everything... from prep, primer, paint, and delivery and make sure the pictures are dated, my mom crashed her HHR california package and 50% of the front end got replaced/fixed and well the other day for ***** n giggles i had carmax quote me for a trade in and the offer was very high and the paint issue wasnt even brought up because it was taken to a quality body shop

 

Someone hit your car hard enough to do that, let alone knock the mirror off, and DIDN'T leave a note!?!?!?

Wowww, I'd probably be hunting people down if that happened to me... after a solid hour or two of crying of course.

 

People are idiots. A few weeks ago, I was stopped behind a car on a one lane road who was waiting for oncoming traffic to pass so that he could turn. A few seconds after I was hit from behind by a lady on her cellphone. She kept pleading for me not to call the police but I did anyway since I wanted to go by the book with regard to an insurance claim. The damage luckily was superficial (the rear bumper black grill was bent) but I wanted to make sure that the lady paid for every cent of the damage. the damage was under $500 but I hope Carfax will not note the incident. The fact that the police were called doesn't help. What irritates me is that Carfax itself is extremely flawed and prone to serious inaccuracies. I hope you can get the damage fixed soon and enjoy driving your car again

 

Yep just a month after getting my Sparkling Silver 08 last April, in the VERY VERY back of the Sam's Club parking lot a cart blew into the rear of the car. Putting a huge dent in the tailgate, a small dent in the corner of the fender below the tailight and putting three "wire dents" into the bumper skin. Body shops estimated around $1300 damage with repainting. So instead I found a paintless dent repair place called Finishing Touch Car Care in Saint Paul, MN to repair the tailgate. $300. They did a very good job, and it is BARELY noticeable if I really look hard at the reflection in the paint. Walmart denied the claim based on the fact they were collecting carts. And I had a witness to it! (Of course, then a rock hit the windshield and broke it, and two days later, before the replacement windshield arrived, another rock broke it in a different place!)

 

I feel you pain !
Just got my Mini Hit by a Golf ball on front bonnet . Dude was teeing off at 1st hole and sliced the ball and put a huge dent in my bonnet and runied the racing stripe . My car only has a couple of thousand miles on it and got it fixed with a dentless guy who worked magic ! Gave the check back to insurance company today and agent was confused . my Mini Cooper Elvis looks new again !