Directed Repair or Directly Pocketed?

So your car gets smashed up a bit...At some point in the process the insurance company handling your claim is going to make a "recommendation" that you take your vehicle to a certain auto body shop for repairs. This practice of steering vehicle owners to certain body shops has a name, Directed Repair Program or DRP. Supposedly everyone benefits, you get repair done quickly and it will be guaranteed and the insurer reaps the benefit of pre-negotiated rates. But let's say you do not follow that recommendation, what happens then? Well, your repair will probably take longer because the insurance company will send out an adjuster to check the work being done, probably more than once, and the payments to the body shop will also be delayed.

So are DRP programs really all on the up and up? Not all of them. Recently the Automobile Club of Southern California fired a manager in its collision repair section. Rumors allege that Palmer took payoffs in the form of consulting agreements through a sideline business he created. The rumors also suggest he received gifts in the form of cash, paint jobs on hot rod cars, leather jackets, Rolex watches, lavish vacation accommodations, and much more.

Certainly there are many honest folks out there in the insurance and repair business. However, after reading more about the topic it would appear that it is in serious need of review.

Sources:

LA Times

Collision Industry News

Crash Network