It’s Your Car. It’s Your Choice.

No. Section 2610 of the New York Insurance Law says your insurer cannot require that repairs be made at a particular place or shop. It also cannot suggest or recommend one unless you ask it to first — the only exception being a claim that is just for window glass. Your insurer may still send someone to look at the car, but that is a separate thing from choosing who repairs it.

Insurers give them different names: service first, pro shop, blue ribbon. A direct repair shop has usually agreed to give the insurer discounts, to limit repairs as the insurer’s representative defines them, to use the parts the insurer specifies, and to back the insurer in a dispute. In return, the insurer directs work there. We are not on any of those programs.

It is illegal for an insurer to require a particular shop, but the persuasion is common. People hear it almost word for word: they’re not on our list, we’ve had a lot of problems with that shop, they charge too much and you may pay the difference, they may not warranty their work, it will take longer to get an appraiser out there. None of it changes the law.

No law in New York makes you drive around town collecting estimates from other shops. And if your insurer does ask you to get one, it has to pay the reasonable cost of it. Separately, your insurer owes you its own detailed written estimate within six business days of being told about the claim.

It depends on who was at fault and what your policy covers. If the other driver was at fault, their liability insurance normally pays. If you were at fault, or fault is disputed, your own collision coverage pays less your deductible, and your insurer may pursue the other side afterwards. We will tell you which route looks simplest before any work starts.

It depends. Your own policy only pays for a rental if you bought that coverage, and then only up to the limit written into it — so ask what yours is before you collect the car. If the other driver was at fault, their insurer owes you for the loss of use of your car and your other out-of-pocket costs, whether or not you actually rent something. One thing New York does guarantee either way: your insurer cannot make you use a particular rental company. That choice is yours.

That is normal — collision damage hides behind panels. When we find it we document it, photograph it, and file a supplement with your insurer for re-inspection before we carry on. You are not asked to cover the difference because something was invisible from the outside.

They are copies of the parts your car was built with, made by someone other than the manufacturer. New York does not ban them and there is no rule about how old a car has to be before they can be used. What the law does require is that they be named on the estimate and the invoice, that they match the original part in fit, form, finish, quality and performance, and that they carry a warranty at least as good as the original. If one fails, your insurer has to put the car back to the condition it was in before the accident at no extra cost to you.

Because they are built to the same standard as the parts they replace, so the panel fits, the paint matches and the structure behaves the way it was designed to if you are ever hit again. We ask for them every time. It is not always possible — an insurer may refuse to cover the difference, and on older vehicles the manufacturer may no longer make the part at all. When we cannot get one, we tell you what we are fitting and why, and we do not fit anything we would not accept on our own car.

If the insurer declares a total loss, it owes you what a substantially similar vehicle actually sells for — same make, model, year and condition, with similar mileage — plus sales tax. Ask how the number was reached. And here is the part almost nobody knows: if within 35 days of being paid you find you genuinely cannot buy a comparable car for that money, you can tell your insurer in writing and it has to reopen the claim.

Five things worth asking anyone. Do they guarantee their work in writing? Do they work for you, or for the insurer? Will they fit manufacturer parts? Are the technicians trained and certified? Do they have the right equipment for your vehicle? We can answer yes to all five — and you should expect the shop you pick to do the same.

We deal with the insurance company directly, from filing the claim to talking to the adjuster and agreeing the estimate. If more damage turns up once the vehicle is opened, we document it and have it re-inspected. We guarantee all work we perform. Your part is choosing the shop — the rest is ours.

Ask them for a back-up shop. If you request it, your insurer has to give you the name and address of a New York registered repair shop, reasonably convenient to you and properly equipped for your vehicle, that will do the whole repair for the price the insurer is quoting. If it cannot produce one, that tells you something about the number. And if the insurer does send you to a shop it recommends and the work falls short, the insurer — not you — has to put it right at no extra cost.

No. New York says payment of a damage claim cannot be made conditional on you actually repairing the car. If you have a loan or lease on the vehicle the lender may have its own requirements, and airbags are treated separately, but the insurer itself cannot hold the money back on that basis.

Insurance companies in New York are regulated by the state Department of Financial Services, and you can file a complaint with them if you believe yours has not handled your claim fairly. The New York State Attorney General’s office also takes consumer complaints. Tell us if you are going that route and we will put together the documentation of what the vehicle actually needed and what was authorized.