What is a Direct Repair Program (DRP) Auto Body Shop
Choosing an auto body shop after an accident is a binary choice. Go with a shop of your choosing or go with the shop the insurance company suggests. So why not just go with the insurance company? Auto insurance can be a great thing to have, especially if things go wrong. When something happens to your car after an accident, the insurance company will cover most, or all, of the repairs to get your car back into great shape again. But there is more to the story. Understanding what a direct repair program is and how it impacts you as the customer can be beneficial to you when you are deciding on where fix your car.
What is a Direct Repair Program (DRP) Auto Body Shop?
The first thing to address is understanding what a Direct Repair Program (DRP) is. This is an agreement that is formed between an insurance company and an auto body shop. What this means for you is that when you are in an accident, the insurance company will suggest a few different shops for you to look at. However, the options that are offered by the insurance company may not actually be the best options. In the state of California and in many other states, you have the right to choose the body shop of your choice and you are not required to go with the insurance company’s recommendation.
Insurance Preferred Options vs. Independent Auto Body Shops
Auto body shops like being an insurance preferred option because this is essentially guaranteed income. Many people will just trust their insurance company and go with whatever they pick. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that this is the best approach for you. First of all, there’s the potential of you getting lower quality work as the insurance company wants to keep their costs down. In many DRP situations they charge a lower labor cost and use cheaper parts than they would normally use for regular customers. To save money, the auto body shop will often use OEM (aftermarket) parts which may not be the best quality. The fact is that insurance companies like to have control over these repairs so that they have less paperwork to deal with and get a more cost-effective approach to keep more of their money.
It’s important that you do your own research to decide on which auto body shop you want to go with. Ask your friends for recommendations and closely read reviews to see which auto body shop you should go with. If you are in the Long Beach area, that recommendation is Quality Assured Collision Center. We are a local favorite and will get your vehicle restored to pre-accident condition with the best parts and service.
Your insurance company may try to convince you to go elsewhere, but they aren’t legally able to stop you from making your own choice on an auto body repair shop.
Which is the Best Option?
What you may not realize is that you have the right to choose where you want to bring your car for auto body work, regardless of what the insurance company pushes. You don’t have to listen to them and you can choose the option that you think is the best. Whether you are going with an auto body shop that you have trusted for years or you are choosing one for the first time, you aren’t stuck with the option that the insurance company sets up for you.
Letting an expert take care of it will ensure the integrity of both. So stop driving around with that bumper that is dented, scratched, or hanging off the body. Quality Assured Collision Center is one of Yelp’s highest rated auto body shops in the Long Beach area. To-date we have over 200 honest reviews from real customers. Many of our reviews offer real pictures from real customers. These people were not just satisfied, they were so happy they wanted others to see for themselves. You can check out our reviews for yourself here.