You don’t even have to have the car repaired if you don’t want to.
You can go to any shop you like.

depends on how your insurance company wrote the check to you.

If they made the check payable to you and the repair shop (i.e. Pay to the Order of John Doe and Bill’s Auto Repair) then you have to get it fixed at Bill’s Auto repair.

If they made it payable just to you, then you can do anything you want. Get it fixed elsewhere, fix it yourself, don’t fix it at all.

You can use whomever you want once you received the check!

I once received a check from my insurance for my body repair. they did not give me nearly enough money to have it repaired. so I shopped around and I found a repair shop who did the work for less than the amount of my check. so, not only did i get my car repaired but I had enough money left over to buy an airconditioner for my bedroom.

I agree with one of the respondent. If you have car or motor insurance, the company takes care of it and you are guaranteed good service. I believe it is a must for every car owner to secure an insurance policy because it takes care of future incidental costs.

Hiya:

It’s your car. Do what you want with it. You don’t even have to get it repaired if you don’t want to.

The insurance company is not going to be checking up on you or whether or not you got your car repaired. They don’t owe to repair your car….they owe for the damage to your car so…you’re good if you want to go somewhere else for the repairs or even if you skip the repairs all together.

Goodluck!

~jifr!

You can use anyone you want to.

It depends. Look at the check, is it made out to you, or to you and the shop? If the shop is on the check then you need to go there at least for them to sign off, but it is unlikely that they will because if you later sue the insurance company over the accident or the repair, by signing they are saying that they did the repairs and that there were no additional hidden damages.

If you are the claimant, the other drivers insurance is paying, then you likely have a check with only your name. That company assumes that since you submitted that one estimate that you trust that shop and that they expect no additional damage.

Get it repaired where you like if the check is made out to you alone, but remember, you get what you pay for.

You certainly can use anyone you want, however, if the shop does a job that is poor, you will not have the insurer there to guarantee that repair. If the place that is cheaper is an “approved” auto body shop according to your insurer, than you will not only get a better deal and pocket the difference but will have recourse if their repair is not done properly. As others have said here, you dont even have to get it repaired at all and can still keep the money you were paid. The result wouild be that if you have a subsequent loss on your car, they will lower the value of your vehicle by the amount of unrepaired damage. You do have flexibility here but be very careful that the cheaper place has a good reputation and is a approved repair facility according to the insurer. Most insurers have a list they can send you which lists all shops in your area that they will stand behind. Good luck and I hope that you can keep some extra money for yourself!