In the accident repair industry, it’s not uncommon for repairers to be approved by insurance companies. For example, if you’re involved in an accident and phone your insurance company, they are likely to tell you to take your vehicle to one of their preferred repairers. There might be a preferred repairer in your local area. If not, you may have to travel to an alternative town or city to have your vehicle repaired, which will be an issue if your vehicle is not roadworthy, for example.

You do actually have the right to take your vehicle to any company of your choosing, such as a non-preferred repairer, regardless of what your insurer tells you. This could mean that you receive better customer service, work carried out to manufacturer standards and with new and genuine parts. Unfortunately, not many people know this.

CARS of Grimsby is not affiliated with any insurance companies. We are an independent repair centre, serving Grimsby and the surrounding area. Whilst we are not automatically passed work by insurance companies, we carry out large volumes of insurance work for our customers, including taking over all communication with their insurance companies to ensure a stress-free claim process.

So, why take your vehicle to an independent repair centre instead of your insurer’s preferred repairer?

• You will have access to a loan vehicle, should you require one, regardless of whether an accident was your fault or not.

• An independent repair centre that has no guaranteed stream of work usually attracts customers based on referrals and reviews. As a result, it is important for them to provide top-quality service at all times.

• Preferred repairers are often working on extremely tight profit margins and because of this, some are authorised to fit second-hand and/or non-genuine parts. In contrast, an independent repair centre has control over which parts they fit. For example, at CARS, we will only use new and genuine parts. This ensures each vehicle leaving us is safe, road-worthy and back in the state the manufacturer intended upon originally leaving the factory.

• Independent repair centres can still repair modern and technologically advanced vehicles. Here at CARS, we are consistently upgrading our equipment to keep up with any industry changes. Furthermore, we are also invested in the training of our technicians, to ensure they are always above industry standard. As a result, we can repair almost any vehicle that comes through our door.

We recommend always contacting CARS before your insurance company, to ensure you receive credible and non-biased advice, tailored to your individual circumstances.