Massachusetts · The Independent Collision Alliance

Your car. Your shop. Your call.

The insurer's "preferred network" is a funnel, and it was built for the insurer. SteerFair is a network of independent body shops that work for you: the owner, the driver, the one who paid for the car.

Find an independent shop See the insurer's playbook
Steered into the insurer's network
Why this exists

The repair shop is the one decision
they'd rather make for you.

After a crash, the call center offers a "fast, easy" shop from its list. It's convenient. It's also a shop whose work comes from the insurer, whose estimates are written in the insurer's software, and whose biggest customer isn't you.

$0

What a single "normal wear" click can take off a settlement on a $22,400 car, before anyone checks it.

0

Referral deals, volume deals or kickbacks our shops take from insurers. None.

0%

Of the choice about who repairs your car that belongs to you, not the call center.

The playbook

Drag the line.
See the difference.

Same crash, same car, same owner. Two very different roads after the tow truck leaves.

The SteerFair way

You pick the shop.
The shop works for you.

  • ✓Your car's condition is photographed and measured the moment it arrives
  • ✓Estimates written to repair the car right, not to a target
  • ✓If it's a total loss, you get the evidence to challenge the number
  • ✓OEM repair procedures, posted rates, no secret deals
  • ✓Your lender and your shop on the same side: yours
Steered

They pick the shop.
The shop works for them.

  • !"Use our preferred shop, it's faster." (It's faster for them.)
  • !Estimates written in the insurer's software, to the insurer's targets
  • !Condition rated "normal" by default, often without a real inspection
  • !Comparable cars you can't verify and dealers who've never heard of them
  • !You find out what it cost you after you've signed
⇆
One checkbox

Watch a settlement shrink
without anyone touching the car.

Valuation software assumes the dealer cars it compares yours to are "dealer ready," and knocks them down to "normal." Your car only gets that money back if someone documents its real condition. Nobody looks? Everything's "normal." Try it.

Settlement offer
$0
 
Comparable dealer cars (avg.)$22,400
"Dealer ready" → "normal" deduction−$1,680
Your car's documented condition$0
How it works: every dealer comparable takes the same condition cut, here 7.5% of a $22,400 average, or $1,680. Your car only earns it back, about $240 per component, when someone documents its real condition. Illustrative example; your numbers will differ.
The Condition Passport

Proof beats "normal."

Every SteerFair shop documents your car's real condition the moment it rolls in, before anyone can argue about it. Tap the hotspots.

Find a shop

Independent shops,
right around the corner.

Enter a Massachusetts ZIP code. Every shop in the alliance has signed the SteerFair Pledge, documents condition at intake, and takes no referral money from insurers.

Concept preview: shop names and distances are samples.

Know your rights

Four sentences that
change the conversation.

Hover or tap each card. Say these to the adjuster, word for word.

01

You choose the shop.

An insurer can suggest a shop. Choosing one is up to you, and you don't have to explain why.

"Thanks, I'll be using my own shop."
02

Ask how they rated your car.

Condition ratings move real dollars. Ask for each component's rating, who rated it, and what they actually inspected.

"Please send me the condition rating for each component."
03

Check every comparable.

Every comparable car should be real, nearby, and actually for sale. Call the dealers. Some have never heard of the valuation company.

"Please send the VIN and source for each comparable."
04

Don't sign away your rights.

Read anything you're asked to sign. A release can end your ability to dispute the number. Ask a professional first.

"I'll review this before I sign anything."
Financed your car?

Your lender wants it fixed right, too.

A repair that's done right, or a total loss that's paid in full, protects you and the people who financed your car. SteerFair shops work alongside lenders who stand behind their borrowers, so the whole team is on your side of the table.

The SteerFair Pledge

Every member shop
signs this. In ink.

STEER
FAIR
MEMBER

We work for the owner.

  1. We take no referral payment from any insurer.
  2. We document every car's condition when it arrives.
  3. We repair to the manufacturer's procedures, not to a target.
  4. We post our own rates and explain every line.
  5. We tell owners their rights, before they sign anything.
Member shop · Massachusetts

The Pledge is the whole idea in five lines. It's what makes a SteerFair shop different from a shop on someone else's list, and it's what owners can hold us to.

No insurer moneyCondition PassportOEM proceduresPosted ratesRights first
For independent shops

Stop waiting to be
chosen. Be chosen.

Joint marketing, a shared brand owners trust, and the Condition Passport tools, for shops that would rather earn customers than be assigned them.

You're on the list. Welcome to the alliance.