Should I use my insurer's approved repairer or my own garage?

Insurers negotiate rates with a network of repairers and route work to them, which is why the approved option is quicker and comes with more attached. That is not a conspiracy; it is the arrangement that makes the guarantee and the courtesy car possible. The question worth asking is not whether the network is any good — most are competent and audited — but whether your particular car and your particular situation are better served by it.

Safety

Step by step

1. Establish whether you actually have a choice.Most policies permit you to use your own repairer, sometimes with a higher excess or without a courtesy car. A few restrict it more tightly. Read the policy or ask, and get the answer in writing, because it determines everything else.
2. Ask what the approved route includes.Typically: direct authorisation without a separate estimate process, a guarantee on the repair backed by the insurer for a stated period or for as long as you own the vehicle, collection and delivery in some cases, and the courtesy car. Ask for the guarantee period specifically — it varies.
3. Ask what changes if you use your own garage.Commonly: your garage submits an estimate which the insurer's engineer reviews, which adds time; the insurer may only pay up to what it would have cost in the network; the guarantee is your garage's rather than the insurer's; and the courtesy car may not be available. None of these is unreasonable, but they should be stated up front.
4. Think about the vehicle rather than the principle.A three-year-old mainstream car repaired to a manufacturer method statement is a good fit for a network repairer. A classic, a specialist model, a heavily modified car, or one where a marque specialist holds the history is a different case, and so is a car where you already trust a particular bodyshop's paint work.
5. Ask about parts.Ask whether the repair will use manufacturer parts, matching-quality equivalents, or recycled parts, and in what circumstances. Policies increasingly permit non-manufacturer parts of matching quality. It is a fair question on any car and an important one on a newer or leased vehicle where the finance agreement may have its own requirements.
6. Ask about driver assistance recalibration explicitly.Cameras behind the windscreen and radar behind the grille need recalibrating after certain repairs. Ask whoever is repairing the car whether they carry out the manufacturer's calibration procedure and whether it appears on the invoice. This is a real capability difference between workshops.
7. Compare on outcome, not on loyalty.The questions that matter are: how long will the car be off the road, who guarantees the work and for how long, what happens if the repair is defective, and do I get a replacement vehicle. Put both routes against those four questions and the answer usually becomes obvious.
8. Keep everything the repairer gives you.The job sheet, the parts list, the calibration certificate if there is one, and the guarantee document. A repaired car is worth less at resale and a documented, guaranteed repair by a competent workshop is what limits that.

Tips

• If you use the approved repairer and are unhappy with the result, the insurer's guarantee is the lever. Report defects promptly and in writing while the guarantee is live — paint and alignment problems often appear weeks later.
• A structural repair on a modern car is not general bodywork. Ask whether the repairer follows the manufacturer's method statement, whatever route you take.
• If your own garage is only slightly more expensive than the network rate, ask whether you can pay the difference and use them. Some insurers will agree to that and it is rarely offered unprompted.

Common mistakes

• Getting repairs started before authorisation — Most policies require it, and unauthorised work can reduce or invalidate the claim as well as removing the evidence of the damage.
• Choosing your own garage without checking the courtesy car condition — The replacement vehicle is often tied to the approved network. Discovering that after the car is on a ramp is an expensive surprise.
• Assuming any bodyshop can recalibrate driver assistance systems — It needs specific equipment and manufacturer procedures. A car returned with an uncalibrated forward camera can behave worse than one with the system switched off.

Questions people ask