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I just had an auto accident. What do I do?

After a vehicle accident consumers can be in an extremely vulnerable and emotional state, sometimes even hospitalized with life threatening injuries. Where do I bring my vehicle? How much are they going to charge me? Are they going to rip me off? Will my insurance go up? Is my car going to be repaired correctly? Will my vehicle ever be the same again? Can I trust these guys? Can I trust my insurance company?

Maybe a nice shinny tow truck mysteriously shows up at the scene of the accident saying they just were passing by. The tow truck driver starts smooth talking or pressuring you to bring the vehicle to his shop.  Maybe saying he can save your insurance deductible and that he has a state of the art facility. Is he telling you the truth?  Will he do what he said? Will the color match? Does his collision repair shop really have the equipment necessary to repair your vehicle correctly? Or will they destroy the looks and the structural integrity of your vehicle? Ruining its value on car fax costing you thousands.

Sometimes people will call their insurance company first. Now you get on the phone and the insurance representative, acting nice calm and so reassuring. Like he or she knows you for years, starts pressuring you to use one of the insurance company’s direct repair facilities. Promising you things will go so much smoother with them. What motives does this insurance company have in you bringing your vehicle to their shop? Are they just trying to cut costs at your expense? Does this insurance representative get a commission for sending you to this auto body repair shop? Does this collision repair shop even care about you or repairing your vehicle correctly? Or do they just care about saving the insurance company money at your expense? Will the collision repair shop repair your vehicle correctly so that all the Air bag Sensors (SRS), Blind Spot Warning Sensors (BSW), Automatic Emergency Braking or ABS sensors and the 1000 other sensors in your vehicle still function properly? Or will they just do the bare minimum to shut the dash board warning lights off. Then put nice shinny parts onto a still broken vehicle?

Whether a person is repairing a vehicle at our collision repair facility or somewhere else, what we have found always works best is to wait at least a day maybe two to calm down first. If your insurance requires you file a claim within 30 days then how does it benefit you to file a claim before you have had an expert look at all the damage on your vehicle? Its like walking into court without a lawyer. You should always call your lawyer first. In the case of vehicle collision repairs. Personally, I would always find whatever auto body shop I feel 100% comfortable with first. That has the necessary equipment to give me a proper repair. And only after I have gone over the entire vehicle with them thoroughly. Would I call the insurance. Heck, you may not even have to involve your insurance at all. Sometimes small damage looks major but its not. Sometimes what a customer thinks needs to be painted can just be buffed out or compounded. Realize the insurance company can use that first report against you later on so it is best to go over everything with an expert first.

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