Auto repairs are troublesome under the best circumstances. The experience can be made more complicated when repair of damage caused by an accident is to be paid by an insurance company—yours or the other driver’s.
If you discover when you pick up your car from the shop that repairs were not completed satisfactorily, you may be left to determine who is responsible—the insurance company or the repair facility. If confronted with this problem, discuss the matter immediately with the repair shop manager or owner.
If the shop is unwilling to make further repairs that you think are necessary, contact the responsible insurance company at once to see whether the problem can be resolved.
If the company refuses to authorize additional repairs, and if the repair shop claims that the repairs were satisfactory both in terms of the quality of the parts used and the workmanship, you have limited options.
Generally, faulty workmanship is the responsibility of the repair or body shop, as it would be if you were having repair work performed in the absence of insurance.
If satisfactory results cannot be worked out, you may need to take your car to another shop to correct the problems. This then would give rise to a claim against the original repair facility. However, this may require a lawsuit to resolve.
In most cases, an insurance company and repair shop, working together, will resolve these problems.
It is in the interest of both to do so.
Your best protection against encountering this problem, however, is to know your repair shop’s reputation before you make a commitment for repairs.