What is a Direct Repair?
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Categories: DRP, car insurance, massey
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What is a Direct Repair or DRP? You may have never heard the term or if you have been in a Collision Repair shop you have have overheard it mentioned. In the Collision Industry most bodyshop’s have agreements with Insurance companies. There are shops that work entirely independent of Insurance companies but these are few and a bit harder to find as they often do not advertise either because depend on word of mouth and customer loyalty for their business. By law you have the right to take your car to any shop (or even friend) to have your car repaired. The insurance company can not tell you were to have your car repaired. If an insurance company directs you to a shop without giving you a choice that is called steering. Steering is illegal in every state.
If the insurance company cannot steer or direct you to a shop then how do they get work to their DRP? Most customers after getting involved in an accident call the insurance company to report the accident. They have no idea what shops are around and/or have no preference as to were they take their car. There are a lot of people who go years between times they need to visit a Collision Repair facility (and there are those who are frequent visitors.) So basically the customer is given a list of shops in the area that are affiliated with that insurance company i.e. DRP. Some insurance companies will explain the advantages of taking their car to the DRP. Thus a large portion of those involved in an accident just follow what the Insurance company says and leave it at that. There is nothing wrong with that for sure as often it is much easier to just let the insurance company take care of all the paperwork. But buyer beware just because they are recommended by the Insurance company does not mean they are the best, that varies from insurance company to insurance company.
Various insurance companies have different names for their DRP’s here is a short list of a few:
Allstate Allstate PRO (Preferred Repair Outlet)
American Family American Family CRP (Customer Repair Program)
Erie Insurance Erie Insurance DRP
Esurance EStar Direct Repair Program
Farmers Insurance Farmers Insurance COD (Circle of Dependability)
GEICO Auto Repair Xpress Locations
GMAC Gold Medal Repair Program
Hartford CRSP (Customer Repair Service Program)
Liberty Mutual TLC (Total Liberty Care Program)
Metropolitan MetLife GRP (Guaranteed Repair Program)
Nationwide Blue Ribbon Shop program
Progressive Concierge Level of Claims Service and/or Network Shops
State Farm Select Service Repair
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