Take Care When Picking a Cincinnati Body Shop

There are approximately 1.6 million people inside the Greater Cincinnati area, and approximately a third of a million within the city alone. Given a city the size of Cincinnati, there comes the inevitable high traffic volume, and with it the resultant car accidents in Cincinnati. At any time there’s no shortage of car owners needing a Cincinnati body shop. to make required auto repairs.

Now how do the majority of local people decide on a Cincinnati body shop? When a vehicle accident occurs, those involved will be calling their insurance company representative, and usually the insurance agent will direct his client to an auto body repair shop which he advises.

When you submit a claim, your insurance representative will suggest a body shop where you can take your automobile for car repairs. However, it could turn out very badly for the client if he takes his vehicle to the body shop his insurance company representative has advised. Let me explain:

The shop advised by an insurance company representative is one within the company’s “direct repair program.” The company teams up with a auto body repair shop and has a contractual agreement with that auto body shop. The body shop is under agreement to make auto repairs to clients sent them by the company. In return, the insurer will “steer” their clients toward the repair shop.

However the body shop is under contract to present their repair estimates based on the use of “aftermarket” auto parts. And the auto body repair shop can also be required to carry all legal responsibility for vehicle repairs and indemnify the insurer from any lawsuit the customer might bring.

You may well be thinking why it would matter to you if the auto body repair shop makes use of aftermarket parts to repair your vehicle. “Why should I care?” Well, you are about to learn why, and it might surprise you!

Aftermarket auto parts, also known as replacement crash, salvage, or rebuilt parts, are auto car parts that are produced by a company other than the original maker or vendor. Aftermarket manufacturers are typically located outside of North America, frequently in Taiwan.

Luckily for your insurer, these kind of car parts are less costly than OEM (original equipment manufacturer) auto parts, hence saving the insurance company money the result being increased profits. However, they are of lesser quality ın comparison to OEM auto parts, which is definitely not to your advantage. They may result in car repairs the are hazardous or, at the very least, are likely to fail, causing more vehicle repairs to become required.

Now you might be wondering why, if saving the insurance firm money means lesser car repairs (for which there might be a liability issue) exactly why would a Cincinnati body shop willingly sign a contract to be in the direct repair program? The answer is simple: they don’t want to be forced out of business! Because it’s a matter of the survival of their business. What happens if they refuse to sign, is that the insurance companies will steer their clients to other repair shops.

Suppose you require vehicle repairs and choose to patronize a Cincinnati body shop outside the company’s “network”? Your insurance company might decide to make your life more difficult by convincing you that you made a mistake. One strategy up their sleeve is to postpone sending out their adjustor for up to a couple of weeks or longer.

An inconvenience? Sure. But compare that to having your car restored in a manner that’s substandard, or possibly dangerous!

In summary, when you are searching for a auto body shop, know your rights! Don’t follow your agent’s recommendation if the shop he advocates will use aftermarket auto parts. And when you hear you agent making statements like “If you use our shop we will pay them directly and it will be faster, “We have had trouble with that shop”, or “They are not on our preferred listing” understand the these are not truthful statements, and are intended to steer you to a shop that may do substandard repairs – just so your insurer can save money.