Insurance   FYI / Process

1. CALL THE POLICE
When you get in an accident assess damage and call the police if you feel the damage is over $500.00
The police will assure you that there won't be problems with Insurance coverage etc when it comes time to repair your car. 
2. CALL YOUR (or the other party's)  INSURANCE COMPANY. 
Get a claim number ASAP! Regardless of fault it does not matter if you open a claim with your insurance company even if you're not at fault they can subrogate the other parties insurance. YES you can open a claim with the other party's insurance company. 
3. INSURANCE (VERY IMPORTANT) 
In most states you have the right to bring your car wherever you desire for repairs. HOWEVER the insurance company may tell you different and that you HAVE to use one of their shops. This is called "STEERING" and is against the law in Minnesota if not all states, If your pressured just mention the work STEERING and you will see how fast they change their tune. It's not uncommon for them to even say we won't warranty the repairs if don't go to their shops. We can tell you in 28 years we have never seen an insurance company warranty a repair. It falls upon the body shop to offer any type of warranty and most cover their work (with the exception of that four letter R word) for as long as you own your car. 
You see the insurance companies want to get your car repaired as cost effectively as possible and they make special contracts with shops to repair the cars at lower rates, use recycled parts,
or repair a fender that it would cost $10.00 more to replace.  We should know we played this DRP game for 16 years until it just became too much and was mandating that we not do the right thing for our customers. 
If you have the time check out www.stopdrp.com 

We look forward to helping you through this process and getting you back on the road just as soon as possible..