After you have been in an accident or there has been damage to your car, you’ll go through a process of getting your car repaired. But, even though you pay for insurance, this does not mean that you’ll suddenly have a fixed car in your driveway the next day. You have to take the car to a mechanic
and get it repaired, even though the insurance will be paying. As part of this process, you’ll get a list of recommended mechanics from the car insurance company. You might ask yourself if you should use the mechanic your insurance company suggests. The following will give you guidelines to answering that question.
Why you should use a suggested mechanic
There are some distinct advantages to choosing the mechanic that your insurance company recommends. They may give you a list of local mechanics
to choose from with the final decision up to you. Step 1: Consider the security of using a national brand. One major reason why you should choose the recommended mechanic is because the mechanic may be part of a national company.
Usually, you’ll get a warranty or guarantee of some sort on the work you have done by a mechanic through an insurance company. And what’s more, insurance companies generally tend to be associated with national brands.
This means that if you have work done and you’re out of town, then if it turns out that some part goes bad or you run into trouble associated with the repairs you had performed, you can usually stop and have a mechanic associated with the same company perform the repairs on your car.
Step 2: Realize how easy it is to deal with the suggested mechanic. If your insurance company is recommending a mechanic, they have a relationship with them.
This means that you won’t have to act as the go-between every step of the way. All the financial and logistical matters will already be settled, and it will simply be a question of bringing your car to the shop and completing the bare minimum in terms of paperwork. There will be far less hassle, in other words, when everything else is taken care of.
Why you should not use a suggested mechanic
While there are significant upsides to using a suggested mechanic, there are also reasons why you may not want to do this.
Step 1: Be on the lookout for poor quality. The biggest reason why you should think outside the suggestions has to do with the quality of service you’ll receive.
As you are probably well aware, the insurance company’s biggest concern is money. That means that they would rather spend as little as possible on your repair as they can. Spending lower amounts on a repair translates into lower quality, whether because of less durable materials or cutting the amount of time needed to complete a job.
You could end up being less pleased with the final product for these reasons, and you might even end up back in the shop. Essentially, you are going to care more about the overall quality of the service you receive and not simply getting it done.
Step 2: Decide if you want to be more involved with the repairs. When you choose a non-suggested shop, you become a bigger part of the process.
If the insurance company is paying the bill, the mechanic is still beholden to them, but you will be a larger part of the process. You’ll be negotiating and on the inside of every detail, which means you could end up having more say than in another situation where you might get cut out altogether. Of course, this means more work for you, but it could really be worth it to have your voice influencing the process.
Knowing whether you should use the mechanic your insurance company suggests is not an easy question, and there are reasons why you might make a decision either way. With all the facts, you can intelligently determine which option is best for you and your car repairs depending on your specific situation.
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