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A comment on Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as crash rate falls. Parent comment

Re:Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as cr... by triceratops on Monday April 06, 2020 @11:48PM (#22800211)
TIL. But there's a vibrant and competitive market for auto repairs in general. In-network shops can't be more expensive than out-of-network shops. There's no "certificate of need" system that can block the starting of new auto shops.[1]

Auto repair costs are capped at the value of the vehicle. There isn't a stream of indigent customers coming in for emergency repair that have to be subsidized by everyone else. There's far more visibility into risks - insurers have access to your driving history and can refuse to offer coverage based on it. You can volunteer even more information to lower your rates - from credit history, marital status, educational level, all the way up to installing a device on your car's OBD port to monitor your driving habits.

In short, auto insurance and repair really isn't anything like healthcare.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certificate_of_need

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Re:Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as cr... by jlebar on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @02:19AM (#22800780)
> In-network shops can't be more expensive than out-of-network shops.

"My insurance told me to go to X shop, which was 3x as expensive as this other shop and was going to take two weeks to repair my window." -my roommate

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as cr... by stonogo on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @02:50AM (#22800907)
It is illegal in the United States for the insurance agency to dictate which shop does the repairs.
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Re:Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as cr... by cwyers on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:46AM (#22801168)
Sure, but they can say, this is the shop we will pay ourselves, or you can go somewhere else and we'll cut you a check. If you need the repairs done faster than they cut checks and don't have cash on hand, it's a strong incentive.
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Re:Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as cr... by tristor on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @10:35AM (#22803560)
Which is why people should have savings and learn some life skills like basic auto repair. Body work and paint I can't do myself, but that's mostly cosmetic (look at the number of beat shitboxes rolling around in the US). But you should be able to get a car into running order or acquire a rental vehicle while you wait for the check. Rental vehicles are usually at preferred rates when associated to an insurer and depending on the policy are covered.
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Re:Some auto insurers are sending refunds to customers as cr... by WrtCdEvrydy on Tuesday April 07, 2020 @03:21AM (#22801042)
Yep, the only item they can dictate is where the estimate is done.
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