Choose Repairer.

You have the right to choose your repairer.

After an accident, your insurer will often suggest one of their preferred repairers. With most policies, that’s a suggestion, not a requirement. Your car, your choice. This page explains how it works and exactly what to say.

Call Taylors. first on (07) 4725 6100 and we’ll walk you through it. Or get a quote online.

How choice of repairer actually works

When you lodge a claim, most insurers will offer to send your car to one of their network repairers. There’s nothing sinister in that. Many insurers have commercial arrangements with their own repair network to help control costs, and for them it’s the simplest path.

But simplest for the insurer isn’t always best for you. Your car is one of the biggest assets you own, and who repairs it determines how well it drives, how it looks, and what it’s worth for years afterwards

Whether you can choose your own repairer depends on your policy. Some insurers include choice of repairer as a standard feature, some offer it as an optional extra you may have already paid for without realising, and some policies say the insurer picks the repairer.

You never have to guess where you stand. Under the industry Code of Conduct, insurers must set out their choice of repairer policy clearly in your Product Disclosure Statement, and it’s listed in the table of contents. Or skip the reading and call us, we’ll help you work out where you stand in a five minute conversation.

Here’s the part most people don’t know: even when your policy doesn’t include a formal choice of repairer, you can still tell your insurer where you want your car repaired.

Insurers deal with this every day, and many will authorise the repairer you nominate. We’ve been navigating those conversations for over 30 years, and there isn’t an insurer we can’t work with.

What to say to your insurer

Nominate Taylors as your chosen repairer the moment you lodge your claim. Don’t wait for your insurer to tell you where to go, because by then the booking is already in motion.

If you can lodge your claim by phone rather than online. Online claim forms don’t always make the repairer choice obvious,

And on the phone you can simply say:

“I’d like my car repaired at Taylors Smash Repairs in Townsville. They’re my choice of repairer.”

If they push back, the answer stays simple:

“It’s my car, it’s my choice. And i choose Taylors.”

Better yet, call us before you call them. We deal with these conversations every day, we’ll tell you exactly how your insurer usually handles it, and in most cases we can manage the claim from our end so you don’t have to referee anything.

Already lodged? Already been sent somewhere else?

It’s not too late.

If you’ve lodged your claim and your insurer has steered you toward their repairer, but your car hasn’t gone in for repairs yet, you can still contact your insurer and ask for the repair to be moved to Taylors. It happens more often than you’d think, and we can tell you exactly how your insurer usually handles the request.

And if your car is already with another repairer and the experience isn’t what it should be, long waits, no updates, no clear timeline, you still have options. What’s realistic depends on where the repair is up to, so the best first step is a quick call to us.

We’ll give you a straight answer about what can and can’t be done from here, even if the honest answer is “stay put and here’s what to ask them for.”

Whatever stage you’re at, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Call us and we’ll walk you through the lodgement, or come in and we’ll go through it together.

Why people say “Take me to Taylors.”

We’ve been repairing Townsville’s cars since 1986. Family owned, locally run, and still answering our own phones.

We repair your vehicle to a standard, not to a price. If there’s a smarter repair that saves replacing half the car, we’ll find it, and if something genuinely needs replacing, we won’t pretend otherwise.

We work with every insurer, every week. Whoever you’re insured with, we know their process and we’ll manage the claim from our end.

And we stand behind our work. Every repair leaves our workshop the way we’d want our own cars handed back.

Quick Answers (FAQ)

I've already lodged my claim. Is it too late to choose Taylors?

Usually not. If your car hasn’t gone in for repairs yet, you can ask your insurer to move the repair to Taylors. Call us and we’ll tell you how your insurer normally handles it.

Do I have to pay my excess if the accident wasn't my fault?

In many cases no, but it depends on your policy and whether the at-fault driver can be identified. Bring your claim details and we’ll help you work out where you stand.

Will choosing Taylors slow my claim down?

No. We quote promptly and we deal with every insurer every week. Insurer authorisation takes the time it takes, wherever your car goes. What changes with us is that you’ll always know where things are up to.

Do I need more than one quote?

Almost never these days. One quote from your chosen repairer is generally all your insurer needs.

Before you lodge the claim, before the insurer books you anywhere, one phone call. We’ll tell you exactly where you stand and what to say.

(07) 4725 6100

Get a quote online