Answers
Auto body repair questions, answered
What insurance can and cannot make you do, what a deductible and a supplement actually are, and what happens to your car once it is in the shop.
The short version
You choose the shop. California Insurance Code §758.5 says your insurer can recommend one, but cannot require it, and must pay the reasonable cost of repair at the shop you pick.
Choosing your own shop does not raise your deductible and does not reduce your coverage. That is the same law, not a courtesy.
You also do not need three estimates. One written estimate from the shop you choose is enough to open the conversation with your adjuster, and it costs you nothing to get one.
Everything below expands on those points. If your question is not here, call 310-406-6008 and ask, or read what to bring when insurance is involved.
Choosing a shop
Choosing where your car goes
Do I have to use the shop my insurance company recommends?
No. California Insurance Code §758.5 makes that choice yours: an insurer may recommend a shop, but it cannot require you to use one, and it must pay the reasonable cost of repair at the shop you choose.
You also receive a document called the Auto Body Repair Consumer Bill of Rights, and the right to pick your own shop is the first item on it. If an insurer pushes back, the California Department of Insurance consumer line is 800-927-4357.
Do I need three estimates?
No. No California law requires you to collect three estimates before your car is repaired. Your insurer may write its own appraisal or send someone to inspect the car, which is a separate step and a normal one.
One written estimate from the shop you choose is enough to start the conversation with your adjuster.
What should I look for in a body shop?
Ask three things: who does the work, how those people are trained, and whether the repair follows the vehicle manufacturer's published procedures. Training and procedure are what separate a repair that holds from one that only looks right on the day you pick it up.
Ask the shop to show current credentials rather than relying on an unsupported badge or marketing claim. F1's credentials page explains what is still awaiting documentation, and the work gallery shows repair examples.
Insurance and money
Deductibles, supplements, and who pays
Will choosing my own shop cost me more?
No. Your insurer pays the reasonable cost of repair at the shop you choose, and under §758.5 it cannot raise your deductible or cut your coverage because of that choice. What you pay is what your policy already said you would pay.
What is a deductible and when do I pay it?
A deductible is the portion of a covered repair your policy leaves to you. The amount is set by your policy, not by the shop, and it does not change based on where you take the car.
If your claim carries a deductible, it is paid when you pick the car up.
What is a supplement?
A supplement is additional damage found after the car comes apart. The first estimate is written from the outside, and hidden damage — a bent bracket behind a bumper cover, a cracked absorber, a mount that only reveals itself at teardown — does not show up until then.
That damage is photographed, documented, and submitted to the insurer for approval. Supplements are routine on collision claims, not a sign that something went wrong.
Who pays if the other driver was at fault?
Usually their insurer, through what is called a third-party claim, and in that case you normally have no deductible.
You can also file through your own collision coverage instead, which some drivers prefer when the other carrier is slow to accept liability. On that route you pay your deductible up front and your insurer pursues reimbursement from the other carrier; if it recovers, your deductible typically comes back to you.
What if the insurance company's estimate is lower than the shop's?
That gap is common, and it gets resolved between the shop and the adjuster rather than by you. The insurer's estimate is often written from photos or a quick walk-around; the shop's is written from the car itself.
Ask the shop and insurer who will document supplements, communicate changes, and obtain authorization. Review what to bring when insurance is involved.
The repair
What actually happens to your car
What is the difference between structural and cosmetic damage?
Cosmetic damage stops at the surface: dents, scuffs, scraped or cracked bumper covers, damaged paint. It changes how the car looks and what it is worth, not how it behaves. Small dents with the paint intact can often be corrected with paintless dent repair.
Structural damage reaches the parts engineered to absorb a crash — rails, pillars, floor, and the mounting points around them. Those have to be returned to factory specifications, because they decide how the car protects you in the next collision, which is the whole point of frame and structural repair.
Will the paint match?
Paint is mixed to your vehicle's factory paint code, then blended into the panels next to the repair so the eye reads one continuous surface instead of an edge.
Blending matters because sun, age, and any earlier repair move a color away from its original code. The match is worked against the car in front of us, not against the code alone — more on that on our auto body and paint page.
What happens to my car during the repair?
A collision repair can include intake, inspection, disassembly, supplements, parts, repair, refinishing, reassembly, required scans or calibration, and final checks. The repair process page walks through each stage.
Exact stages and timing depend on the damage, authorization, parts, and the shop's confirmed capabilities.
Getting started
Coverage, vehicles, and finding us
How do I confirm rental-car coverage?
Ask the insurer to confirm authorization, daily and total limits, and the approved provider. F1 has not published a confirmed rental partner or program.
Do you work on my make?
Send the year, make, model, and photos so the shop can confirm whether it can estimate the requested repair.
How do I request a written estimate?
Send photos of the damage to request a preliminary written estimate, or bring the car in for an inspection. Confirm any fee and scope before authorizing work.
Do you speak Spanish?
The website and estimate form are available in Spanish. Confirm telephone language availability with the shop.
Where are you located?
The shop is at 14332 Oxnard Street in the Van Nuys area. The address, hours, and phone number are in the header and footer of every page on this site, and on the contact page.
Call before you drive over if you are not sure the car is safe to move.
Still have a question
Call 310-406-6008 and ask. If it is easier, send photos through the estimate form to request a written estimate and what we think the car needs.
If the collision just happened, start with what to do after an accident in California. If you already know the car needs work, the pages on collision repair in Van Nuys and bumper repair and replacement go into detail.
The shop is at 14332 Oxnard Street, Van Nuys, CA 91401, open Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm.
Damaged car? Start with a photo.
Upload photos of the damage and request a preliminary estimate and next steps. Prefer to talk? Call the shop during business hours.