You pick the shop. Your insurer can suggest one only if you ask, or after telling you in writing that the choice is yours, and it can’t make you use it. At the shop you choose, it owes the reasonable cost of repairs done to accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike work. If your shop’s estimate is higher than the insurer’s, the insurer has to pay the difference, name a shop that will do the job for its number if you ask, or adjust your shop’s estimate line by line. Damage found once the car is apart goes back to the insurer for approval. If the claim stalls, the Department of Insurance takes complaints about claim handling, and the Bureau of Automotive Repair takes complaints about the repair itself.
What California law says
Insurance Code section 758.5 says no insurer may require that a car be repaired at a specific automotive repair dealer. It protects policyholders and third-party claimants alike. The Department of Insurance’s consumer bill of rights adds that you can get your own estimate from a registered auto body shop while the claim is open.
The insurer may suggest a shop only if you ask for a referral or it has told you in writing that you have the right to choose. If you accept its recommendation, it has to restore the car to its pre-loss condition at no added cost to you other than what the policy states. If you accept a recommendation made orally, the insurer has to follow up with the required written notice within five calendar days. After you’ve chosen a shop, it can’t suggest a different one unless you ask for a referral. And if your policy itself recommends a particular shop, the insurer can’t limit or discount reasonable repair costs at the shop you pick based on what its shop would have charged.
When the insurer’s estimate is lower than your shop’s
Under 10 CCR 2695.8, if a partial loss is settled on the insurer’s written estimate, you get a copy, and it has to allow for repairs to accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike work. If your shop’s written estimate is higher, the insurer has three choices:
- Pay the difference between its estimate and your shop’s.
- Name a shop, if you ask, that will make the repairs for the insurer’s amount. The insurer then has to see the car restored to pre-loss condition at no added cost beyond what the policy states.
- Adjust your shop’s estimate and send you and your shop an edited copy or supplemental estimate showing each change and its cost.
If the insurer chooses to inspect the car on your own policy, it generally has six business days after notice of the claim, and six business days after a supplemental-estimate request if it re-inspects. On your claim or the other driver’s, it can’t make you travel more than 15 miles from the car in a city or urban area with a population of 100,000 or more, or 25 miles elsewhere, to have it inspected, get an estimate or have it repaired. Once you’ve chosen a shop, it can’t require the inspection at one of its direct repair shops. If it specifies non-OEM (aftermarket) crash parts, they have to be at least equal to the originals in kind, quality, safety, fit and performance, the insurer pays for any modifications, and its estimate has to state that it warrants this.
On labor rates, if an insurer uses a labor rate survey, the Commissioner recommends the standardized survey in 10 CCR 2695.81, operative since January 1, 2017.
What the shop owes you
The shop answers to the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Under Business and Professions Code section 9884.9, it has to give you a written estimate before work starts and record your authorization, whether written, oral or electronic. Added work needs a revised work order and your authorization again. Collision estimates must be itemized. Every part is treated as new unless marked used, rebuilt or reconditioned, and a new crash part is treated as OEM unless marked non-OEM aftermarket. The final invoice itemizes parts and labor the same way.
Getting the claim paid, step by step
- Report the claim under your auto policy right away. Once the insurer has proof of claim, the Fair Claims regulations give it no more than 40 calendar days to accept or deny, and no more than 30 calendar days after accepting to pay.
- Pick your shop and get its written estimate.
- Let the insurer inspect, get a copy of its estimate, and if your shop is higher, ask which of the three options it is using.
- Supplements. If more damage turns up during the repair, the shop contacts the insurer for approval of the added cost, and the insurer may re-inspect.
- Check the payees. The Department of Insurance notes the check can be issued to you and any lienholder, such as a bank or finance company, and for a repairable car the insurer may also list the repair shop.
When to contact the Department of Insurance
Contact the Department of Insurance if the insurer insists on its shop, keeps pushing you to switch after you’ve chosen, won’t itemize how it cut your shop’s estimate, or misses claim deadlines. Its hotline is 800-927-4357, and it takes complaints online. It also runs an automobile claims mediation program for people having trouble resolving a physical damage claim with their own insurer. Problems with the repair itself go to the Bureau of Automotive Repair at 866-799-3811.
For shop owners: DRPs and customer cars
A direct repair program, or DRP, is any program where an insurer refers or recommends a shop to its customers and has a formal agreement, written or not, for that shop to do the work (10 CCR 2698.90). Being on a DRP or not doesn’t change the customer’s right to choose you. While a customer’s car is in your care, garagekeepers coverage is designed for damage to it; for repair shops and other auto businesses that aren’t dealers, it’s added to the business auto policy by the Garagekeepers Coverage endorsement (ISO CA 99 37), which applies on a legal liability basis unless one of its direct coverage options is chosen. More in what garagekeepers insurance is, what an auto repair shop needs, and the auto repair shop and auto body shop pages.
Common questions
Can my insurer make me use its preferred shop?
No. Insurance Code 758.5 bars insurers from requiring a specific shop. It can recommend one only if you ask or after telling you in writing that you can choose, and once you’ve picked a shop it can’t push a different one unless you ask.
What if my shop’s estimate is higher than the insurer’s?
The insurer must pay the difference, name a shop that will do the work for its estimate if you ask, or adjust your shop’s estimate and identify each change and its cost.
Can the insurer require aftermarket parts?
If the insurer specifies non-OEM crash parts, they have to be at least equal to the originals in kind, quality, safety, fit and performance. The insurer pays for any modifications and has to state that warranty in its estimate.
Who is the claim check made out to?
The Department of Insurance says it can be issued to you and any lienholder, such as your bank or finance company. For a repairable car the insurer may also name the repair shop.
Does this apply when the other driver’s insurer is paying?
Yes. Section 758.5 covers third-party claimants who seek repair costs under an insurance policy, not just the policyholder.
Sources
- California Insurance Code section 758.5 (California Legislative Information)
- 10 CCR 2695.8: additional standards applicable to automobile insurance (Cornell LII)
- 10 CCR 2695.7: standards for prompt, fair and equitable settlements (Cornell LII)
- 10 CCR 2695.81: standardized auto body repair labor rate survey (Cornell LII)
- 10 CCR 2698.90: direct repair programs (Cornell LII)
- California Department of Insurance: Auto Body Repair Consumer Bill of Rights (PDF)
- California Department of Insurance: So You’ve Had an Accident, What’s Next? (Form 130, October 2015)
- California Department of Insurance: Automobile Claims Mediation
- Bureau of Automotive Repair: Write It Right (B&P Code 9884.9 estimates, authorizations and invoices)
- IRMI glossary: garagekeepers coverage
- ISO CA 99 37 10 01 Garagekeepers Coverage endorsement (specimen, Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America)
General information about choosing a repair shop on a California auto claim as of October 2026, not legal advice; the Insurance Code, the Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations, Bureau of Automotive Repair rules and your policy control. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.