Rule one: the shop is your choice
In Ontario you choose the repair shop. An insurance company can recommend a preferred shop, but it cannot require one. It can suggest a preferred shop, and the suggestion often arrives in the same breath as the claim number, but it is a suggestion. If you would rather have the owner who wrote your estimate also be the person accountable for the finished car, say so and give the adjuster our address.
Rule two: not at fault means your own insurance company pays
Ontario uses Direct Compensation – Property Damage. When you are not at fault, in whole or in part, your own insurance company covers the damage to your car and recovers it from the other driver’s side without you in the middle. Fault is assigned under the province’s Fault Determination Rules in steps of 25 percent. Since January 2024 a driver can remove DCPD from a policy with the OPCF 49 endorsement to lower the premium, and a driver who did that has no coverage for not-at-fault damage — worth checking before you assume.
What we do once the claim is open
- Photograph the damage after the covers come off, so the estimate reflects what is actually there.
- Send the estimate and photos to the adjuster, and meet the adjuster here if an in-person inspection is wanted.
- File a supplement when teardown finds damage the first estimate did not include.
- Ask for OEM parts where safety is involved and explain the difference when the insurance company writes for aftermarket.
- Time the rental to your drop-off and the return to the day the car passes inspection.
- Help arrange the tow if the car cannot be driven, to the shop of your choosing.
Deadlines and thresholds that matter
Report to police or a Collision Reporting Centre when anyone is hurt or the combined damage looks like it could exceed $5,000. Notify your insurance company promptly; the standard Ontario policy expects notice within seven days. Keep your claim number, the other driver’s licence plate and insurance details, and photos from the scene. A lawsuit over property damage has a two-year limitation period, which rarely matters when a claim is running normally but is worth knowing.
Insurance companies we work with
We work with every insurance company that writes auto policies in Ontario, including Intact, Aviva, TD Insurance, Desjardins, The Co-operators, Allstate, Belairdirect, Economical / Definity, Sonnet, Wawanesa, CAA Insurance, RBC Insurance, Travelers and Gore Mutual. We are an independent shop and are not a preferred vendor for, affiliated with, or endorsed by any of them. That independence is the point: the estimate is written for the car, not for a volume agreement.
Questions people ask
Do I have to use the shop my insurance company recommends?
No. In Ontario the choice of repair shop is yours. A preferred or DRP shop is a business arrangement between that shop and the insurance company, not a requirement and not a quality rating. Tell the adjuster you have chosen Crash Consultant and the claim proceeds the same way.
Who pays when the other driver was at fault?
Under Direct Compensation – Property Damage, your own insurance company pays for the vehicle damage in proportion to how much you were not at fault, then settles with the other driver’s insurance company behind the scenes. You deal with one company, not two.
What if teardown finds more damage than the estimate?
We document it with photos and file a supplement with the adjuster. That is normal on most collision files, because covers and liners hide absorbers, brackets and rails. You are not billed for covered damage that the first estimate missed.
Will you talk to the adjuster for me?
Yes. Once the claim is open, the adjuster works with us directly: estimates, photos, supplements and approvals go through our office. You get updates in English or Mandarin, whichever you prefer.