Do I have to get multiple estimates for an insurance claim?

Where the three-estimate rule came from

Decades ago, before shared estimating databases, insurance companies used competing estimates to test whether a repair price was reasonable. Drivers were routinely sent around town to collect them.

That is no longer how claims are priced. Insurance companies and shops write from the same estimating systems, using the same labor times and part prices, so three estimates for the same repair plan land within a narrow range. What differs between them is the repair plan itself, not the arithmetic.

Some insurance companies still mention multiple estimates out of habit. It is not a legal requirement in Minnesota, and you can decline politely.

What your insurance company can legitimately ask for

An insurance company is entitled to inspect the damaged vehicle and to write its own estimate. That is a normal condition of your policy and it is not steering.

• A physical or photo inspection of the vehicle before repairs begin
• Its own written estimate, prepared by a staff or independent appraiser
• A re-inspection when a supplement is filed for hidden damage
• Documentation supporting operations or parts it questions
• Cooperation and access — but not your agreement to use a shop it selects

What it cannot do

Minnesota Statute § 72A.201, subdivision 6 lists steering as an unfair claims practice. An insurance company may not require repairs at a particular shop, and may not use intimidation, coercion, incentives, or inducements to push you toward one.

Insurance companies must also give you this advisory at claim time, word for word: "You have the legal right to choose a repair shop to fix your vehicle. Your policy will cover the reasonable costs of repairing your vehicle to its pre-accident condition no matter where you have repairs made."

So "we need three estimates before we can approve this" is worth a clarifying question. Naming your shop once, clearly, ends the conversation almost every time.

When a second estimate genuinely helps

There are real situations where another set of eyes is worth the trip. If the first estimate was written without any disassembly on a hit that clearly pushed into the structure, a second shop that tears down will find what the first one guessed at.

A second opinion also helps when a shop proposes repairing a part you expected to be replaced, when the estimate omits calibrations on a vehicle with driver-assist systems, or when the total is far enough below the others that something is missing from the plan.

Compare repair plans, not bottom lines. The cheaper estimate is usually cheaper because it is doing less, and the difference shows up months later at the gaps and the paint edges.

How to compare two estimates properly

Compare the repair plans line by line, not the totals. Two documents can differ by a thousand dollars and describe completely different work on the same car.

Start with the parts column. Are the parts original, aftermarket, or recycled, and are they the same parts on both estimates. A lower number that specifies an aftermarket fender and no blend time is not a better price for the same job — it is a price for a different job.

Then look at what each estimate says about disassembly. An estimate written without teardown on a hit that pushed into structure is an informed guess, and it will grow. That is not dishonest, it is incomplete, and you should expect the number to move.

If you do collect a second estimate, give both shops the same information: the same photographs, the same description of the crash, and the same access to the vehicle. An estimate written from three photos and one written after an hour on a lift are not comparable documents.

Finally, ask each shop the same two questions — what is your warranty, and what happens if the color does not match. Those answers separate shops faster than any number on the page.

Look at the labor rates too, but do not read much into small differences. Shops in a metro market are generally within a narrow band of one another, and a rate a few dollars apart is far less consequential than an estimate missing eight hours of operations.

The one comparison worth making carefully is paint. Refinish time, the number of panels being blended, and whether a three-stage or tri-coat finish is priced correctly account for a large share of the difference between two estimates on the same car.

The operations below are where the real differences hide:

• Blend time on the panels next to the repair
• Pre-repair and post-repair scans, and any required calibrations
• Corrosion protection, seam sealer, and cavity wax
• One-time-use fasteners the manufacturer requires replacing
• Frame bench set-up and measuring when structure is involved
• Alignment after suspension or structural work
• Refinish and blend time, and whether a tri-coat or three-stage finish is priced correctly
• Whether hidden damage is acknowledged in writing, or simply left out of the number

The easy way to get a second look

Send us three photos — the damaged corner with half the vehicle in frame, a close-up of the damage, and a wide shot of the whole car — and you will have a free written estimate within 24 hours. No driving from shop to shop, no appointment.

If you already have an insurance estimate, send that too. We will tell you plainly what is missing from it, what is fine, and whether it is worth a supplement request.

This page is general information from a body shop, not legal advice. Your policy language governs how your claim is handled.