Repair in kind and approved repairer networks
A settlement method in which the insurer has the property repaired by a professional from its network instead of paying cash; it controls costs but must respect the insured's free choice of repairer.
A loss can be settled in two ways: the insurer pays a sum and the insured has repairs done as it sees fit, or the insurer itself arranges the repair through a professional it has selected. The second method, repair in kind, has become widespread in motor, glass and increasingly household property claims. The insurer negotiates rates, deadlines and quality standards with a network of body shops, plumbers and building firms; in return, it brings them a volume of work. For the insured, the advantage is practical: no upfront payment, no search for a contractor, often a guarantee on the work and a courtesy car. For the insurer, it controls the average cost, reduces fraud on quotes and shortens delays. The mechanism has legal limits. In France, the Insurance Code guarantees motor insureds the free choice of repairer and requires the insurer to inform them of it; the insurer cannot reduce the indemnity because the insured chose an out-of-network professional, except within the limits set in the contract. Craft unions regularly denounce the price pressure these networks exert, echoing debates over preferred provider networks in health.
Textbook case: after water damage, the insurer offers to send a plumber and a painter from its network, with no upfront payment, within ten days. The insured prefers her usual contractor: she is entitled to, and the insurer pays on the basis of the quote, up to the cost the work would have represented in its network, as her contract provides.
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