Just because an Ins Co recommends a shop does not mean it is a good one. Trust me on that!
Insurance companies offer shops for customers for multiple reasons
1) Shop is contracted with ins. company to promise to not let the car sit out in the parking lot not getting worked on
2) Ins. Company wants to make sure that unskilled / untrained 17 year olds are not working on vehicles they insure, rather, the ins. company wants ASE and I-CAR certified technicians.
3) Make sure the shop does not take "shortcuts" on the car. I.E. replacing structural parts which have damage to crush zones, and not just slapping some filler into the crush zone; making sure some "kid" does not try to repair an airbag wiring harness / pigtail; making sure the shop does in fact replace that panel and not cake it full of body filler; make sure that safety items are replaced with safety items which match factory certification, etc.
4) Make sure that if a customer only has 30 days of rental coverage, that customer does not have to come out of pocket for rental, for a repair that goes way too long, much longer than it should.
5) Ins. Company wants the vehicle back to pre-loss condition in the quickest, safest, cost-effective manner possible.
Do some of these shops drop the ball sometimes? YES. Because they are run by people. People make mistakes.
Some shops try to get people on their side to "hate" the ins. company because:
-shop wants to get paid directly, without the customers name on the check (in case customer is not happy with repair)
-the technician may make alot of money repairing a repairable panel, but the greedy shop owner wants to replace it because he gets paid list price for the part, makes hand over fist just on the part profit alone, and also does not have to stand behind a repair.
-structural pull vs. a frame pull: radiator support does not require a frame rack pull, and just a floor pull, but if a frame rack is all the shop has, shop wants paid at frame time and not body time. Well, if you can't afford all the body shop equipment you should have, how is that the fault of the ins. company?
-aftermarket parts: not nearly as much profit on list price as an oem part. But of course this is not the reason they give to the customer. (if you are the customer, just pay the difference to put an oem part on and get over yourself)
-the shop can't afford an alignment machine, so they send it out to a tire shop, and want to get paid 25% markup on the cost of the alignment so they make a profit. Well, again, if you can't afford the equipment, why are you in business?
This is a tiny list compared with what is out there.
Yes insurance companies have stupid positions some times, because they are run by corporate America, just like every other large company, but seriously, if a given state tells insurance companies they are allowed to use an aftermarket part or used part if warranted, then you just have to pony up the cash. Get over it!
