Collision Repair

No, you as the owner of the vehicle have the right to choose which shop works on your car. It is actually illegal under Illinois law for an insurer to steer a customer to any shop. Under most insurance “Preferred Shop” or “Direct Repair” programs, insurance companies refer customers to shops in exchange for lower labor rates, discounts on parts and materials and/or predetermined caps on what they are willing to pay for. In essence, the shop is working for the insurance company… NOT the vehicle owner. At Wilmette Auto Body, we choose not to participate in any insurance programs that require anything more than us providing our mutual customers with the best repair experience possible.

Most of the time, that is NOT true. Wilmette Auto Body works with most major insurance companies on your behalf to make sure they pay what is owed to repair your car properly. The only out of pocket costs you will incur is your deductible (if you have one) and any additional work you’ve authorized us to do. In most cases, we’ll be able to handle all negotiations on your behalf with no involvement from you.

With certain insurance companies, there is a potential that you will have out of pocket costs. We are usually able to get insurance companies to cover the necessary repair and replacement processes, but they may not always pay the standard labor rates in our area or cover procedures that are needed to do a proper and quality repair. In those instances, we will work with your insurance company with the goal of getting 100% of your repairs covered. If we are unable to secure an agreement with your insurance company for full payment, you will be responsible for the difference (much like a health insurance claim with your doctor’s office). Throughout the repair and negotiations, you will be kept informed so there will be no surprises. You will ALWAYS be informed before the start of repairs if there is a potential for out of pocket costs.

Wilmette Auto Body provides a Limited Lifetime Warranty that covers our workmanship and materials for as long as you own your vehicle. We don’t have shops all over the country, but we still back up our work. If you move out of the area and run into a problem that you think may be associated with the repairs, just give us a call. We’ll pay the shop of your choice, wherever you are, to fix any issues that are found to be covered under the warranty.

No, you are not required to shop for estimates if you know which body shop you are choosing to repair your car. If the insurance company does not agree with the estimate you’ve provided from your shop of choice it is their responsibility to send an appraiser of their choosing to inspect your car and provide an estimate. In that case, if you provide a copy of that estimate to Wilmette Auto Body prior to your repairs, we can work with the insurance company to get what is owed for the proper repair of your car.

Many insurance companies are giving customers the option of downloading an app on their smart phone and uploading photos of the vehicle damage for estimating purposes. This is a great way to get the claim started quickly so you can get your car in to the shop. Since it is difficult to assess the severity of damages from a photo, these photo estimates are almost always significantly less than what the final repair costs will be. Not to worry! That first estimate is just a starting point and once the car is dropped off for repairs, Wilmette Auto Body will work with the insurance company to make sure all necessary items are added to the estimate and paid for. One thing to keep in mind… while the photo estimate option gets the claim started faster, there may still be a delay once the vehicle is in the shop as we may need to wait for insurance company approval on additional damages.

In most cases, the local rental car companies will bring your rental car here to Wilmette Auto Body when you’re dropping off your car. After you schedule your appointment with us, make a reservation with the rental car company for the same time. The good news is if you are a claimant against another party’s insurance company, your rental is automatically covered for the entire length of your repair. If you are an insured and don’t have rental coverage on your policy the rental car company offers discounted rates for those paying out of pocket. But call your insurance agent! Add rental coverage to your policy for future claims. The annual premium usually costs less than 2 days worth of car rental.

The types of parts used to repair your car (Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Remanufactured, Recycled, or Aftermarket) are ultimately your decision. However, MOST insurance policies include a section stating that you agree to the use of “Like, Kind and Quality” parts which means the insurance company only has to pay for the Remanufactured, Recycled, or Aftermarket parts if they are available. In that case, the insurance company assumes the warranty for those parts so if you’re unhappy with the fit, finish or function of the non-OEM parts we can help you pursue a claim with the insurance company for redoing the work with new OEM parts. You can always choose to pay the difference for new OEM parts as well.