Repair or cash settlement: what your Quebec insurer decides, and what you can challenge
Three possible outcomes after a crash: repairs, a cash payment, or both. Who chooses the garage, who pays for which parts, what must be put in writing, and what can be contested.
Three possible outcomes after a crash: repairs, a cash payment, or both. Who chooses the garage, who pays for which parts, what must be put in writing, and what can be contested.
You are indemnified, not reimbursed
The insurer must make your vehicle whole, or pay the amount needed to do so within the policy limits — it does not reimburse invoices after the fact. That is why direct billing between the garage and the insurer is the norm.
You choose the garage
No insurer can impose a network garage. What is supervised is the invoice: the insurer pays according to the accepted estimate and recognised labour rates and part prices. Have the estimate authorised before work starts; if the garage finds extra damage, a supplementary estimate must be authorised.
Parts
The policy and endorsement forms determine what is paid: new original parts, approved replacement parts, or used parts for an older vehicle. Read that clause before a crash, ask in writing which parts the estimate covers, and check the final invoice to see what was actually installed.
Timelines and signatures
Under the Direct Compensation Agreement the insurer must indemnify its own insured within the stated period, starting when it has the claim and supporting documents. Never sign a release you do not understand: a signed release generally closes the file.