Have you recently been in a minor accident? Did you and your family escape unhurt but your vehicle wound up as a casualty? Cosmetic damage to your vehicle can be frustrating to deal with. Your vehicle may not be functionally impaired, but you still want to have it fixed up as quickly as possible. But before you take your vehicle in to be repaired, you probably have a few questions about the process. The answers to a few of the questions that you might have are as follows:

Won't insurance cover the damage? If you opted for the cheaper liability-only insurance policy from the insurance company, no. Your insurance protects you from being sued by another driver if you're in an accident, but it doesn't cover your own vehicle if you are rammed by a shopping cart or scrape against a tree while backing out. Even if you have more comprehensive coverage, insurance may pay for your auto body repair, but you're still responsible for paying the deductible. Depending on your policy, this may range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. To find out what your policy will and won't cover, it's best to contact your insurance company directly.

Insurance doesn't cover the damage. Is there any way to make the repair cost less? This depends on the exact nature of the damage and what needs to be fixed or replaced. For a simple dent, your auto body repair shop may be able to do a paintless dent repair. This is a procedure where the dent is carefully popped back into place, saving you the cost of having the panel repainted. For more extensive damage where the panel has to be replaced, your repair shop may allow you to purchase a used panel from an auto salvage yard instead of paying for a brand new one from your local dealership. A used panel is functionally the same as a new one but can cost substantially less. 

Is there anything else of importance to consider? Before you drop your vehicle off at an auto body repair shop, make sure that they offer a warranty or guarantee on the repairs that they perform. If someone should make a mistake, such as not properly reattaching a door panel, you don't want to have to be the one to pay to fix the fresh damage. Such mistakes are rare, but can happen. You should also make sure that the shop in question is fully insured so that you're covered in the unlikely event that there is a fire or somebody breaks into the shop and damages your vehicle.

If you have more questions about auto body repair, talk to a specialist at Ron's Auto Refinishers.

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