You Ask. We Answer.

Here's the answers to your common collision center questions.

1. What do I need to come in to get an estimate?

You’ve just been in an accident – a fender bender, a parking lot hit and run, a deer hit, backed into a pole. You’re looking for where to get your vehicle fixed and you find Lighthouse Collision Center. Great news – getting an estimate is easy and it’s free!

You don’t have to schedule an appointment for an estimate and are able to walk in anytime Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.

If you have already started a claim with your insurance company, you can bring the claim number to us. If you haven’t, no worries! We will just need to know your insurance provider, your name, phone number, email, and your vehicle. This will give us all that we need to get your estimate put together! We strive to make it an easy process in the middle of a possibly chaotic situation. We’re here to serve!

2. Do I have to go to my insurance company’s “preferred” or in-network shop for repairs?

No! You are not obligated or required to go to a shop that is in-network or “preferred”. A “preferred” shop means that the shop has entered into a contract with the insurance company to have the insurance company send them work in lieu of agreed upon rates and charges for that shop. If your insurance company tells you to go to a collision center or auto body shop that is in-network, they’re doing what is called “steering”. Steering a customer to go to an in-network or “preferred” shop and not allowing them to go to other shops is illegal.

If you are having issues with your insurance company telling you that you can’t come to the Lighthouse Collision Center, we are happy to answer questions for you about this and walk through the process with your insurance company to get approvals here at the Lighthouse Collision Center. Again, we strive to serve you well and do our best!

3. Can I have a loaner?

We don’t offer loaners here, as is common practice with collision centers, but we do work directly with the local branch of Enterprise. They will pick you up here at our collision center in Morton, IL and you can drop your rental off here when the repair is completed without ever having to go to the Enterprise branch. Call (309) 263-6600 to set up a rental on the day you drop off.

Most insurance companies offer rental coverage on your vehicle, for instances just like this! If you aren’t sure, contact your insurance company and they’ll be able to tell you if you have this coverage or not. If you don’t, we highly recommend this coverage and see that most of the time, it can be as low as $8/month extra to your current bill!

4. Will I have to pay more than my deductible if the insurance comes back lower than your estimate?

No, we work with your insurance company and come to an agreement on the price of the job. This doesn’t affect what you will owe or change your deductible, as this is only between Lighthouse and the insurance company. So the great news is… we do all the work with the insurance provider for them to cover your repairs and your deductible always stays the same!

5. How long will repairs take?

Just like any type of vehicle maintenance and repair, the timeline of your repair depends on how much damage there is, where the damage incurred, and if the parts are backordered or available. A standard timeline for the average job is about a week, but this is subject to change as the damage varies. A major collision can take longer as there are more parts to consider and more to put back together in the end. A minor collision is normally less than that, but sometimes a perfect storm builds where a tiny part is necessary but backordered. Rest assured that our team is always looking for the best route to be efficient while also getting your vehicle repaired back to safety standards and high-quality repairs. Our goal is to have your vehicle is ready to weather the life ahead with you!

6. How do I know the status of my repairs?

During the duration of your vehicle’s repair, our team communicates with you via text/phone call to make sure you know what’s going on! As your vehicle moves through our repair planning process, we reach out via phone calls with updates on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. We also make sure to reach out when key milestones in the repair process are met, like estimate increases, supplements submitted, insurance approvals, all parts arrived in, vehicle finished, etc. It’s our goal to communicate well and set your expectations for your vehicle repair.

7. What is a supplement and what does it mean?

In the Auto Insurance world, a supplement is a request to the insurance company covering damage that was originally missed in the original estimate. It is very common to have to submit supplements, especially on larger repairs, as there can easily be hidden damage that isn’t visible until the vehicle goes through the initial disassembly process.

8. How does the supplement process work?

There is a simple process that is standard across the industry for how supplements work. This is how the Lighthouse Collision Center will serve you in the midst of submitting a supplement for your vehicle -

Lighthouse Collision Center submits the supplement and stops vehicle repair. We will also notify you that we had to submit a supplement and answer any questions at this time!
Insurance reviews the supplement request. This could take anywhere from a couple days to over a week to get approval. Our team will be in contact with the insurance company in hopes to speed up the process, if possible.
Insurance may come back out to our Morton location and re-inspect the vehicle. Depending on the amount of the supplement, your insurance company may want to send out their adjuster to confirm the supplemental damages.
Insurance approves the supplement and notifies our collision center team. As soon as our team receives the approved supplement, we will continue the repairs and order all additional parts needed. You will be notified as soon as we hear an approval from your insurance!

9. How long does it take to hear back from insurance if you need to submit a supplement?

Each insurance company has their own nuances and processes, so the timeline to hear back from insurance companies on supplements can vary. On average, we see that insurance companies normally get back to us between 3-5 days with approval on supplements. This does add to the time that your vehicle will be in the shop for repairs, so we want to assure you that we will do as much as we can upfront to try and account for any hidden damage we suspect. This helps minimize how often we have to submit supplements to get your vehicle through the repair process faster! We’re always here to do our best to serve you well.

10. What should I do with my checks I receive from insurance for my repairs?

If you get a check from your insurance towards your repair at the Lighthouse Collision Center, you have a couple options and can do whatever is easiest for you –

Cash the check and at time of payment, you’d pay us for that and your deductible
Bring the check into us and we will cash it towards your repair. The best and easiest way is to bring the check into us here.

If you’re wondering who insurance will send the check to, this is dependent upon insurance company and there isn’t necessarily a pattern that we find them doing. Sometimes the check will come to us and sometimes the check will come to you. Rest assured that our team at the collision center here in Morton will work with all insurance companies and you to go as seamlessly as possible! We’re here to serve you

11. How will I know when my vehicle is completed?

When the repair on your vehicle is finished, there will be a couple of different ways you’ll be notified. First, we’ll make sure to give you a call and let you know. At this time, we also remind you of any deductibles you may owe and ask that you bring any insurance checks you received towards this claim (if your repair is being covered by insurance). Second, you’ll receive a text letting you know that your repair is done. You’ll receive a link in this text to make your payment online. If you prefer to pay when you get here to the Collision Center in Morton, IL, that works just as well! We want to make sure you have plenty of options.