Managed care is not limited to the health care industry. Preferred shops can make your life much easier by removing the time-consuming ordeal of finding a reputable body shop. Your overall costs, say insurers, are kept to a minimum, thanks, in part, to preferred repair shops.
Insurers get discounts on parts and labor, thus keeping overall auto insurance costs low.
Regardless of which insurer the body shop deals with, the shop will have to show that its facility can handle the repair of any vehicle the insurance company sends its way. The repairer will also have to show that it has a solid reputation for quality repairs. If the body shop has complaints filed against it, the insurer is not likely to add it to the preferred list. Becoming a preferred repair shop State Farm is the largest auto insurer that uses a list of criteria with which it selects its preferred auto body shops. Included are pricing requirements, such as agreeing to provide the insurance company discounts on labor rates and new and recycled parts.