In any major city, auto traffic can be horrendous, and this is particularly true during peak hours of the day. A car accident in Cincinnati, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, or any major city could happen during peak hours, or for that matter, any time of day.
As everyone knows, a car accident can range from trivial to very serious, even leading to deaths. Luckily, in quite a few accidents the damage is mostly to the autos involved, and injury is marginal.
Now if you’re involved in a vehicle accident you’ll in due course (and most likely sooner) be making a telephone call to your insurance representative. However it may well come as a shock to you to find out that the instruction you receive from your insurance agent might not be trustworthy, and we will examine the reason.
Firstly, let’s define “Direct Repair Program.” A direct repair program is a written agreement between a car insurance company and an auto body shop. In our example the body shop has agreed to provide fixes for the insurance company’s clients. The insurance company is in return, required to suggest that shop to their customers in need of auto repairs.
The auto shop is required to base all repair estimations on the use of parts built by a company other than the original vehicle manufacturer (that is, aftermarket auto parts). And the shop may additionally be required to bear all obligation for repairs and indemnify the insurance company from any lawsuit the customer might bring.
The problem with this arrangement is the fact that aftermarket auto parts – also called replacement crash, salvage, or rebuilt parts – are in many cases substandard to those produced by the manufacturer of the vehicle (or his chosen supplier).. Utilizing aftermarket parts is rather likely to lead to a “fixed” vehicle that is more prone to malfunction, might even be unsafe to drive, and in a worst case scenario may be the indirect (or direct) cause of an accident, perhaps even a deadly one
But why will your insurance representative wish to send you to a repair service that uses aftermarket parts? The answer is, because of “The Almighty Buck” – the repairs cost the insurance company less the if OEM parts had been used, and the vehicle fixed. So even though your auto could be unsafe to drive following the repairs, your insurer is contented, since they have managed to increase their earnings.
Therefore the chance exists that, because inferior car parts were used, the vehicle “restored” by an auto body shop might be involved in another car accident a direct result of substandard repairs done for the purpose of bolstering insurance company profits!
So don’t forget — if you are involved in a accident and your insurance agent tries to dissuade you from using the repair shop of your choosing, listen for something similar to:
“If you go to the collision shop of your choosing, it’ll cost you far more ” – “We won’t warranty the vehicle repairs in the event you go there” – “If you go there we’re not able to give you a rental” – “If you go there, they are going to disagree with our appraiser ” – “We’ve had difficulty with that repair shop” – “We keep a listing of preferred shops and that shop isn’t on it” – “If you go to a non-preferred shop your repair will be delayed waiting for our adjuster to inspect the vehicle” – “If you go to our shop we’ll pay them directly and it will be faster”
Every one of these statements are deceitful. Don’t be misled by them!
If you do, the result may be a solution that triggers a car accident to bring about a far more severe, even deadly accident someday. You have the right, if not the obligation, to take your vehicle to a repair center that places safety above insurer profits!