Can my insurer make me use their repair shop after a California car accident?

What this assumes

• The repair is to an automobile and the shop is an automotive repair dealer as defined in Business and Professions Code section 9880.1, which is the definition the statute uses [1].

• The claim is under a policy subject to California law.

• You are a claimant within the section's meaning, which reaches a first-party claimant or insured and also a third-party claimant asserting a right of recovery for automotive repairs under a policy [1].

What changes the answer

• Whether you asked for the referral. An express request from you removes the bar on the insurer recommending a shop [1], so how the conversation started matters.

• Whether the recommendation was oral or written. An oral recommendation you accepted triggers the five calendar day written notice in a separate freestanding document [1].

• Whether your policy itself points to a particular shop. An insurer whose contract suggests or recommends a particular automotive repair dealer must prominently disclose that provision in writing both when the insurance is applied for and when the claim is acknowledged [1].

• Whether you accepted the insurer's shop. Acceptance carries the pre-loss restoration obligation at no additional cost beyond the policy terms [1]; using your own shop instead carries the anti-discounting protection [1].

Where it varies by state, form, carrier, or fact

• Reasonable is doing work in subdivision (d)(2). The insurer may not benchmark to its own network's charges, but the costs still have to be reasonable, and a dispute about a particular estimate is a dispute about that word rather than about the right to choose [1].

• This is the California section. Other states handle steering, aftermarket parts and labour rate surveys differently, and some have no equivalent to the anti-discounting sentence.

• The section governs what the insurer may do. It does not regulate the shop, its estimate or its work, which sit under the automotive repair statutes rather than the Insurance Code.

• Enforcement runs through the commissioner. The commissioner's powers to enforce the section include those granted in the unfair practices article commencing at Insurance Code section 790 [1], which is a regulatory route rather than a private one.

Next actions

1. Tell the insurer in writing which shop you have selected. Once you have chosen, the statute bars further suggestion of a different shop outside the two narrow exceptions [1].

2. If a shop was recommended to you orally and you agreed, watch for the written notice within five calendar days and keep it [1].

3. If the payment is short of your shop's estimate, ask the insurer in writing to state the basis for each reduction, and check whether any of it is benchmarked to its own network's charges [1].

4. If your policy contains a provision pointing to a particular repair dealer, ask for the written disclosure the insurer was required to give you at application and at claim acknowledgement [1].

5. Unresolved disputes can be raised with the California Department of Insurance, which holds the enforcement powers for this section [1].

Source ledger

1 source. Every citation number above resolves to a record below. Nothing here sits behind an account.

1. [1]

   California Insurance Code Section 758.5 (choice of automotive repair dealer)(opens the original record on California Legislative Counsel (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov))

   California Legislative Counsel (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)Primary lawPrimaryJurisdiction CAEffective January 1, 2010Last checked September 2, 2026Updates: Amended only by legislation. Last amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 387, Sec. 1 (AB 1200), effective January 1, 2010.ID ca-ins-code-758-5

   What this source supports (11)

   • Section 758.5(a) provides that no insurer shall require that an automobile be repaired at a specific automotive repair dealer, as that term is defined in Business and Professions Code section 9880.1.
   • Section 758.5(b)(1) provides that no insurer shall suggest or recommend that an automobile be repaired at a specific automotive repair dealer unless a referral is expressly requested by the claimant, or the claimant has been informed in writing of the right to select the automotive repair dealer.
   • Section 758.5(b)(2) permits an insurer to provide the claimant with specific truthful and nondeceptive information regarding the services and benefits available during the claims process, which may include information about repair warranties offered, the type of replacement parts to be used, the anticipated time to repair the vehicle, and the quality of workmanship available.
   • Section 758.5(b)(3) provides that if an insurer's recommendation of an automotive repair dealer is accepted by the claimant, the insurer shall cause the damaged vehicle to be restored to its condition prior to the loss at no additional cost to the claimant other than as stated in the policy or as otherwise allowed by law.
   • Section 758.5(b)(3) requires that where the recommendation is made orally and accepted, the insurer mail or provide a written notice within five calendar days of the acceptance, in a separate and freestanding document, in no less than 10-point type, containing the statement the subdivision prescribes.
   • Section 758.5(b)(3) prescribes the text of that notice, which states that the insurer is prohibited by law from requiring that repairs be done at a specific automotive repair dealer and that the claimant is entitled to select the auto body repair shop to repair damage covered by the insurer.
   • Section 758.5(c) provides that, except for a referral the claimant expressly requested or information of the kind authorized by subdivision (b)(2), after the claimant has chosen an automotive repair dealer the insurer shall not suggest or recommend that the claimant select a different automotive repair dealer.
   • Section 758.5(d)(1) requires an insurer that by the insurance contract suggests or recommends repair at a particular automotive repair dealer to prominently disclose that contractual provision in writing to the insured both at the time the insurance is applied for and at the time the claim is acknowledged.
   • Section 758.5(d)(2) provides that if the claimant elects to have the vehicle repaired at the shop of the claimant's choice, the insurer shall not limit or discount the reasonable repair costs based on charges that would have been incurred had the vehicle been repaired by the insurer's chosen shop.
   • Section 758.5(e) defines claimant, for purposes of the section, as a first-party claimant or insured, or a third-party claimant who asserts a right of recovery for automotive repairs under an insurance policy.
   • Section 758.5(f) provides that the commissioner's powers to enforce the section include those granted in the unfair practices article commencing at Insurance Code section 790.

   Subdivision (d)(2) is the operative protection and the part most often left out of a summary: choosing your own shop does not license the insurer to pay only what its own network shop would have charged. The section reaches third-party claimants as well as insureds, by force of subdivision (e).

   Active

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