Your insurer named a shop. It could not require one.
You have just had a collision, and somebody on a telephone has told you where the car is going. In Wisconsin that was never their decision to make, and it is not our opinion — it is one sentence of state law, printed here exactly as it is written, with the section number to check it against.
Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–5:30 PM CT · 1420 Hollandale Road, Janesville, WI 53548 · Training and certification records on request
For purposes of this section, a consumer has the right to select the motor vehicle repair facility of his or her choice.
The insurer may not make your coverage conditional on using a particular contractor or repair facility. The shop is your decision.
No. 1 The section, in full
Three subsections, and what each one answers
Most of what worries people in the first two days is answered inside a single section of the Wisconsin Statutes. It is short. It is public. Here it is, arranged the way it is arranged in the book.
- (1)
- Applicability. If the car is registered or normally kept in Wisconsin, this section covers the policy — including when you are claiming against the other driver’s insurer rather than your own. Read it.
- (2)(a)
- “They said I have to use their shop.” No insurer may make your coverage conditional on a particular contractor or repair facility. The consumer has the right to select the facility of their choice. Read it.
- (2)(b)
- “It will take longer if I don’t.” An insurer may not fail to investigate your claim with due dispatch on the basis of which shop is doing the work. Choosing us is not a reason for your claim to slow down. Read it.
- (3)
- Glass. Windscreens and windows are governed by § 632.37 instead, which is genuinely a different answer and not a dodge. Read it.
Statutory passages on this page are quoted from the Wisconsin Statutes and were last checked in October 2026 against docs.legis.wisconsin.gov. Statutes are amended. This is general information about a public law, not legal advice, and it is not a statement about your particular claim. Read the section yourself, or ask a lawyer.
No. 2 The document
The first estimate is written from the outside of a car.
Nobody knows what is broken until the panels come off. That is not a failing of the estimate; it is what an estimate is. The number you are given on day one is a proposal based on what is visible, and a revision after teardown — a supplement — is the normal shape of a real repair.
The estimate that never changes is the one worth asking about. It usually means nobody looked.
What the lines actually say
- O
- OEM. The part the manufacturer makes for this car.
- A
- Aftermarket. Made by somebody else to fit.
- LKQ
- Recycled. A used original, from another vehicle.
- RC
- Reconditioned. Repaired and refinished.
Wisconsin has a statute specifically about parts that did not come from the vehicle manufacturer, § 632.38, and a companion notice section, § 100.44. You are allowed to ask which letter is on which line, and what the difference costs.
No. 3 The work
What this shop does
NAICS 811121 is automotive body, paint and interior repair and maintenance. These five sections are this document’s own numbering and have nothing to do with statute numbers.
| No. | Section | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | Collision repair | The ordinary case: something hit the car, or the car hit something, and panels, lights and the structure behind them have to come back to specification. |
| 102 | Structural & frame | When the hit reached past the panels. Straight is a measurement against the manufacturer's specification, in millimetres, not a judgement made by eye. |
| 103 | Paint & refinish | Colour match, blend, clear and cure. Paint has a minimum time that cannot be compressed, which is the single most common reason a delivery date moves. |
| 104 | Sensors & calibration | The cameras and radar that run automatic braking and lane keeping sit behind the panels that get hit. A panel replaced without recalibration leaves a system aimed somewhere it is not. |
| 105 | Dents, trim & interior | The smaller end of 811121: paintless dent repair where the paint survived, bumper and trim work, and interior repair after a break-in or a deployment. |
No. 4 The order it happens in
Eight stages, and the one that moves your date
Almost every argument about a collision repair is really an argument about which stage something belongs to. Here they are in order.
- The call. A shop is named to you. This is the moment the decision is actually made, and usually it is made by default.
- The estimate. Written from the outside. A proposal, not a measurement.
- Teardown. Panels off. The first time anybody knows what is broken.
- The supplement. The revised estimate, agreed with the insurer. Normal.
- Parts. Ordered against the supplement. Lead time, not price, is what usually moves a delivery date.
- Structure. Measured against the manufacturer’s specification, in millimetres. Straight is a number, not an opinion.
- Refinish. Colour, blend, clear, cure. Paint has a minimum time that cannot be compressed.
- Reassembly and calibration. The cameras and radar behind the panels have to be told where they are pointing again.
No. 5 Where
Rock County, and the towns around it
Janesville · Beloit · Milton · Edgerton · Evansville · Clinton — and the rest of the area. A collision is a local problem: the further the car travels to be repaired, the more of your rental allowance is spent on the journey rather than the work.
What this site does not claim
No photographs of work, no customer names, no star ratings, no awards, no counts of cars repaired. None of those were supplied, and none of them are things you could verify anyway.
What you can verify: a telephone number answered by somebody who can explain your estimate, and a statute you can read for yourself. The full list is on the about page.
Read us the estimate before you sign anything
If you already hold one, telephone and read it to us. We will tell you which lines are part-type codes, which are labour, and what looks absent — whether or not the car ever comes here.
Mon–Fri 7:30 AM–5:30 PM CT