Consumer tells CIC how repair shop transprancy provided relief following a crash

Roxanne Raffaelli watched the exchange of emails between her repair shop and her insurance company following hitting a deer with her vehicle earlier this year. 

Body Builders Automotive, located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, copied Raffaelli on all of their communications regarding the insurance claim. 

“I was so impressed with Body Builders Automotive and their team and not my insurance company,” Raffaelli said about her consumer experience while speaking as part of an Estimating and Repair Planning Committee panel discussion during a Collision Industry Conference meeting in Chicago July 22. 

Raffaelli said the day she hit a deer was an upsetting day. She was looking for relief. 

“I immediately felt relief when I reached out to Body Builders,” Raffaelli said. 

It had been 18 years since Raffaelli had filed her last vehicle insurance claim. She was unaware of the changes that have happened in the industry since then. 

“I have a master’s degree and did not understand OEM parts versus aftermarket parts,” Raffaelli said. “I didn’t know that was something that was going to be a part of my life when I bought this vehicle.” 

Body Builders Automotive was transparent about what the claims process would look like from the first meeting, Raffaelli said. 

“I don’t think he (Body Builders co-owner) could have explained it any better,” Raffaelli said. 

The owner uses words like “my team,” which made Raffaelli feel that relief she was looking for. 

“Everything he promised was delivered,” Raffaelli said. “The women who work in the front, they were wonderful and really fought for me.” 

Maria Quintero, co-owner of Body Builders, said every customer starts with a virtual consultation where they learn about the repair and claims process. She said they don’t leave with an estimate but resources to help guide them. 

“We walk through the process of what it is going to look like from the customer side,” she said. “What happens when denials happen and if a short payment exists. Before we even touch the car, that conversation has already started so it is not a surprise when we have to contact the consumer to say this is where we are at.” 

Andrew Plischke, Gold Coast Auto Body director of client insurance reconciliation, said the process is similar at his shop. 

“The best way to describe what we’re doing is simply advocating, educating and empowering the consumer,” Plischke said. “This is not our claim. It is their claim. We are in a position to properly repair the vehicle and they are trusting us to do so.” 

Plischke and Quintero said the next step is documentation. 

“We need to prepare them [consumers] with the documentation they need to have that educational conversation with their insurance,” Quintero said. 

The documentation supports a repair plan based on what the OEM says is required, she said. 

Supplemental documentation can be given once the shop knows what the insurance company is denying, she said. 

If a consumer doesn’t want the proper repair, they are provided resources for finding another shop, Quintero said. 

“At the end of the day my focus for our shop is to fix the car right,” Quintero said.

She added that someone’s family is going to ride that vehicle and the repair needs to be done right. 

Quintero said her shop fixes the vehicle properly and gives the consumer the resources they need to navigate the claim. 

“If they want to be hands off that is fine but if there’s a moment they want to be hands on they have the packet of resources,” she said. 

Plischke said it is all about choices. 

“A determining factor is the money,” Plischke said. “If you want to know the most powerful piece of equipment or tool that you have inside your shop, it is the customer. Once they understand that the money is their money, it’s not the shop’s money, that choice changes. They need to be hands-on because it is their money. 

A majority of consumers that leave his shop with a first-party claim are now invoking their right to an appraisal, he said. 

Raffaelli said she filed her claim with the Department of Insurance and it was eventually denied because she didn’t have an OEM rider on her car insurance. 

“I wish my insurance carrier would have said, ‘Hey, for a few dollars more you have this rider,’” Raffaelli said. “I don’t even think they should have it as an option. It should be standard. But if they would have offered it, I would have bought it.” 

In the end, Raffaelli paid her $500 deductible and $3,000 out of pocket for her claim. 

“That is not reasonable for someone who has been a faithful insurance customer,” she said. 

She added that there is a difference between being honest and transparent. She found Body Builders to be transparent. 

“I did expect more from my insurance carrier,” Raffaelli said. “I got more than I expected from Body Builders. They were the ones really fighting and advocating for me. I was very surprised at the level of denial of part of my claim and how it was handled.”

Body Builders communicated with her every other day, she said. 

Raffaelli said the most important thing for the industry to know is that consumers filing claims do not do this every day. 

“I would hope your takeaway would be that you are dealing with a person who has had a really bad day, and you could be instrumental in providing that relief for them,” she said. “I’m not here to criticize and say they [insurance] did it wrong, I’m here to say they could have done it better and realized they were dealing with a real person behind that claim.” 

Raffaelli said she is taking the steps to find a new insurance carrier. She said her vehicle saved her life but she won’t buy the brand again. 

During an open mic question session, Stacy Bartnik, Intertek, industry relations manager, said there was a lot of conversation about choice Wednesday.

“I’ve heard you up there saying a few times OE or aftermarket,” Bartnik said to the panel. “Everybody has the right to a choice. Keep in mind that when it comes to OE, there are a number of choices, used or new. When it comes to aftermarket, there are several choices there too. You can’t just lump everything like that without talking about all the choices.”

Bartnik asked if consumers’ doctors, pharmacists, or health insurance provides the difference between brand or generic drugs.

Michael Bradshaw, Collision Partners executive vice president of collision operations, responded that choices are a positive thing.

“But I think the important thing here in this room is it should be the customer’s choice on what parts go on their car and it should not be forced by outside entities that have ulterior motives and interests,” Bradshaw said.

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Maria Quintero, co-owner of Body Builders and Roxanne Raffaelli, Body Builders customer speak during CIC July 22, 2026.