Smash repair and insurance, answered

Often yes — but it depends on your policy, not on the law. Your insurer has to tell you up front whether your policy lets you pick your own repairer or whether you have to use one from their preferred network. It's spelled out in your Product Disclosure Statement under 'choice of repairer'. Some policies include it as standard, some sell it as an optional extra, and some don't offer it at all. Check yours before you agree to anything, and if the wording isn't clear, ask your insurer to point you to the exact clause.

A repairer your insurer has a commercial arrangement with. It usually means faster approval, because the pricing is pre-agreed. It does not automatically mean a better repair — that arrangement is between the shop and the insurer, and you are not a party to it. You're entitled to ask any repairer how they'd approach your job before you commit to anything.

Yes. We work with all major insurers and can manage the claim process on your behalf — assessment, documentation and liaison — so you're not the one chasing it.

Usually not, if you can identify the other driver. Most policies waive or refund the excess once you give your insurer the at-fault driver's name, address and rego, because they recover the cost from that driver's insurer. If you can't identify them — a hit-and-run, or a car park ding with no note — you'll generally still pay the excess even though you did nothing wrong. Your policy wording is the authority here.

That gap is the thing to sort out before work starts, not after. It usually comes down to one of two things: the insurer has assessed the job lower than the repairer quoted, or you've asked for something beyond restoring the car to its pre-accident condition — which insurers call betterment and generally don't cover. We'll walk you through the quote line by line and tell you which is which. You should never find out about a shortfall at pickup.

Yes, and it's often the smarter order to do it in. If the damage is cosmetic, the repair can sometimes cost less than your excess — in which case claiming leaves you worse off and can still affect your premium. Get the number first, then decide. Our quotes are free.

For collision work, typically 3 to 10 business days depending on severity — and we'll give you a clear timeline up front rather than a vague 'we'll call you'. Parts availability is the usual variable, especially on European vehicles.

That's the whole job. Paint fades and shifts with sun and age, so the factory colour code on its own isn't enough — matching to the car as it is today is what separates a repair you can't see from one you can. We use computerised colour matching and blend into the surrounding panels rather than stopping hard at a panel edge, and the work is done in a climate-controlled spray booth, because dust and temperature are what ruin a finish.

A courtesy car is available. Ask us when you book so we can confirm one is free for your dates — availability depends on the job and what's on the floor at the time.

Repair, if the metal is sound and the damage hasn't stretched or torn it — a well-repaired original panel keeps the car's factory finish and alignment. Replace, when the panel is creased through, rusted, or has been repaired before. Anyone who answers this without looking at the car is guessing. We'll show you the damage and explain which way we'd go and why.

Paintless dent removal massages a dent out from behind the panel, so the original factory paint is never touched. It's faster and cheaper than a respray and it keeps the paint the car left the factory with. It works on shallow dents where the paint hasn't cracked and the panel is reachable from behind. It won't work on a sharp crease, on cracked or chipped paint, or on a panel with nothing behind it to push against — in those cases it becomes a repair and respray.

Yes. Our repairs are guaranteed to be quality, long-lasting work that meets industry standard. If you believe a repair we've done doesn't meet that standard, bring the car back and we'll evaluate it free of charge. If it isn't up to standard, we'll fix it free of charge. That's the deal — we'd rather you came back to us than lived with work you're not happy with.

Yes — BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche and the rest, though we service all makes and models. The same standard applies either way.

Not in-house, and we'd rather say so. Panel, paint, dent and cosmetic work is what our workshop is set up for. When a job needs chassis straightening or frame measurement, it goes through our specialist partner network end to end — because the right answer is the right tooling, not the closest shop.

Send photos through the quote form and we'll come back with a number and a plain-English explanation of what's driving it. If the job needs eyes on the car, we'll tell you that rather than quoting blind. Quotes are free and there's no obligation.

We're in Seven Hills, NSW, and we service Western Sydney and surrounds. We're open Monday to Friday 7:30am to 5:00pm, and Saturday 9:00am to 3:00pm.