Your Car, Your Choice
Don’t be steered into another accident by your insurance company or the other parties’ insurance company. The reason insurance companies use these
different word tracks is that the state does not allow insurance companies to direct or “steer” customers to a particular shop (or they are not
supposed to), so they have come up with the following word tracks to intimidate the customer into thinking they have to do what the insurance company
says or they will not pay the claim. Some companies also have bonus programs for employees that steer claims to the networks, so don’t think that they
have your best interest in mind (they may be attempting to hit a bonus quota).
These are often heard phrases from Insurance Companies when you want to bring your vehicle to Cimorelli’s Collision or any shop that is not on their
“List”, and what our response is.
Don’t be manipulated by the word tracks.
1. “They are not one of our network shops and they are not on our list, we can’t guarantee the repairs”
We are not on everybody’s list, which is because we do not want to be. We identify the vehicle owner as our primary customer, not the insurance
company. As for guaranteeing our work, they do not need to, as we have our own lifetime guarantee. When have you ever seen an insurance company with a
car being repaired in their office? Truth is they will send you back to whomever you selected off their list.
2. “If you use them, we can’t get an adjuster out for several days, if you take it to our network shop we will have someone start on it right away”.
This is just another ploy to steer you, we have heard insurance companies tell our customers how busy they are and they can’t get someone out for 7 or
8 days, we know that is simply not true. Most companies are required to appraise a vehicle within 72 hrs.
3. “If you use that shop you will have to pay for your rental out of pocket”
This is not true, but some insurance companies will try to force you into a rental reimbursement, which means they will either try to get you to pay
with a credit card and then reimburse you, or offer to send check for X amount of rental days (which you should promptly refuse to do). Most companies
have direct bill agreements with rental companies, but they do not always disclose that.
4. “They charge more than the prevailing rate and you will have to pay the difference in repair cost ”
All Additional fees are clearly discussed with you and subject to your approval. And in most cases the customer or the shop collects the difference
from the insurance company after a few phone calls. We never charge our customer for any rate difference that the insurance company owes, the only
thing our customer is responsible for is their deductible if applies.