The city of Cincinnati has a population of around 333,000 people, and there are somewhere around 1.6 million inside the metropolitan area. Being a city of this size, it’s a given that you will have a great deal of vehicle traffic (especially during peak traffic hours) and so it’s not out of the ordinary for there to be car accidents in Cincinnati. At any time there’s no scarcity of vehicle owners wanting a good Cincinnati body shop. to make required vehicle repairs.
Now how do most local people decide on a Cincinnati body shop? Because being involved in an accident means turning in an insurance claim, most people don’t really go looking for a body shop, but go to the one advised by their insurance company representative.
insurance agents are quick to suggest a shop when a client is in need of automobile repairs resulting from an accident. But although going to a recommended shop may seem like a great convenience to the client, it isn’t really a good idea! Let me explain:
The auto body shop recommended by an agent is one within the company’s “direct repair program.” This is a contractual agreement between a auto insurance carrier and a repair shop. Under the agreement, the auto body shop must repair the cars of clients sent by the insurance carrier. The insurer’s part of the agreement is to direct their clients toward that auto body shop.
Furthermore, the repair shop will estimate the cost of repairs using aftermarket auto parts. And the shop may also be required to carry all legal responsibility for auto repairs and indemnify the insurance firm from any lawsuit the client may bring.
But you could be thinking “So why would I care if the repair shop repairs my automobile using aftermarket car parts?” “Why should I care?” Well, you are about to discover why, and it may well surprise you!
Parts are called OEM (Original equipment manufacturer’s) if created by the automobile maker or his vendor, and those that are not are known as aftermarket car parts. Aftermarket manufacturers are mostly located outside of North America, typically in Taiwan.
Since these car parts cost less than factory made car parts, they are less costly and make it less expensive to fix your car, which means that the insurance provider pays less when settling your claim. However, they are of lesser quality when compared to OEM auto parts, which is certainly not to your benefit. They are more prone to fail, resulting in further repair work being required, and at worst, can mean that the “fixed” auto is unsafe to operate!
Given that there are liability concerns involved if auto repairs are done in a substandard way, for what possible reason might a Cincinnati body shop voluntarily sign an agreement to be in the direct repair program? The answer is simple: they don’t want to be forced out of business! Because it’s a matter of the survival of their business. What happens if they won’t sign, is that the insurers will send their clients to other repair shops.
And let’s say you choose to disregard your insurance agent’s advice and go to a Cincinnati body shop outside the company’s “network”? Your insurer may decide to make your life more difficult in the way of convincing you that you made an error. One trick up their sleeve is to put off sending out their adjustor for up to a couple of weeks or longer.
So does this make your life tougher? Without a doubt. However the alternative is to go with their recommendation and end up getting a car that is simply going to fail sooner, or could even be a hazard to you and others on the highway.
So the important thing is, don’t just blindly take the (perhaps poor) advice of your insurance representative. If the auto body repair shop your insurance representative advocates is using aftermarket parts, find another shop. And if your insurance agent tells you something like “If you go to our shop we will pay them directly and it will be quicker, “We’ve had a hard time with that shop”, or “They are not on our preferred listing” understand the these are not truthful statements, and are intended to steer you to a shop that may do substandard repairs – just so your insurer can save money.