Auto repair mythbuster: You CAN take your car anywhere

When River City Auto Body welcomes a new customer, about half the time it involves an auto insurance claim. We make sure every customer knows – up front – that as the owner of a vehicle they can take the car to the repair shop of THEIR choice. Many people don’t realize that. But it is the LAW.

A mythology has evolved around car repairs and quotes and insurance coverage. We do our level best to help bust those myths, not just when it’s to our advantage to do so. This particular myth is one we find challenges customers too often because an insurance policy is a complicated contract. State law clarified one thing with certainty: Your insurer may suggest, but cannot require, you have your car repaired at a specific auto repair shop. If anyone tells you otherwise, you can call Wisconsin’s Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Protection to defend your rights at 800-422-7128. 

When insurers attempt to direct you to a specific shop, the practice is called STEERING in auto repair circles. You’ll see the topic quite a few times in upcoming River City Auto Body articles.

Repair ‘choice’ is a win for everyone involved. Repair shops gain an equal footing when there aren’t rules limiting competition. Insurance companies win because service can be fast, local and competitive. Most of all, YOU win because you have choice where to have work done… and since there is competition for your business, quality goes up and costs (including insurance premiums) are more manageable.

This isn’t like that “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” scheme we heard not too long ago. Here you have a situation where if you like your repair shop or what you’ve heard about a repair shop like ours, you can keep it. If you don’t like a repair shop’s reputation, you can go elsewhere. It really is that simple.

Repairing a vehicle after it’s been damaged requires precision to restore the vehicle to specs. River City Auto Body is so proficient at what we do that we’ve earned the trust of many insurance carriers as a Direct Repair Program (DRP) shop. However, not one of the insurers can tell you that you have to use us. Our track record and our ability to GUARANTEE our work as long as you own the vehicle will make you want to choose us for your damage repair. It IS your choice!

 

 

 Photo by Karammiri , used with permission.