Your insurer suggests its own garage: do you have to accept?
By AZ Carrosserie · Published on · Updated on
Your insurer suggests its own garage after an accident: the answer lies in your terms, not in habit. Some policies set a different excess depending on whether the repair is done within the insurer’s partner network or outside it. Reread your policy before you decide, then talk to AZ Carrosserie, an official AXA partner in Geneva.
My insurer suggests its own garage. Can I still come to you?
Talk to us about it. Many insurers work with partner garages and suggest them straight away. Before you decide, reread your insurance terms: your policy will give either partial casco (part-comprehensive cover) or full casco (fully comprehensive cover). Some policies set a different excess depending on whether the repair is carried out within the insurer’s partner network or outside it. If you choose to entrust the car to us, we get in touch with your insurer and keep track of the claim.
Does the excess change depending on the garage you choose?
The excess can vary depending on whether the repair is carried out within the insurer’s partner network or outside it: some policies provide for this, others do not. It is written in your terms. Source: Zurich, “Qu’est-ce que le Zurich Repair Network?” (in French), accessed on 01.10.2026.
Insured with AXA? You are already in the network: AZ Carrosserie is an official AXA partner. If you are with another insurer, that tells you nothing either way. The answer remains in your terms, and only you can read them.
How a claim runs, from reporting it to your insurer to the inspection of the car, is set out on the Accidents and insurance page.
This page does not say what your contract covers: it says where to read it. “Partial casco” and “full casco” are the terms of your policy; their exact scope is the one your insurer gives them in its general terms and conditions, and nowhere else.
Which insurance pays for what after a collision?
When the other driver is responsible, their third-party liability insurance covers the damage caused to your car. In Switzerland, drivers are required by law to take out this insurance; damage to your own vehicle falls under partial or full casco. Source: Swiss Insurance Association, “Assurance automobile : tendances et tarifs” (in French), accessed on 01.10.2026.
Not-at-fault accident: you choose your body shop, because the other driver’s insurer cannot impose a garage on you. The details and the source are on the page Accident that was not your fault?
Partial casco covers external events, such as hail, storms, broken glass or theft. Full casco extends to collision damage, whether or not you are responsible for it. Source: La Mobilière, “Casco complète ou casco partielle” (in French), accessed on 01.10.2026.
For a chipped windscreen, the cases where the glass is replaced are set out in Chipped windscreen in Geneva: repair or replace?
What only you can check
Your insurance terms. Before you decide, reread your policy: partial or full casco depending on your cover.
If anything is unclear, call us: we will go through it with you before anything is committed.
Can I have the car repaired before the insurer’s inspection?
Have nothing repaired before the car has been seen: work done too early can complicate the claim. Call us first. We arrange the inspection of the car and follow it through.
What to do at the scene, before that inspection, is in A minor collision in a parking space: what to do in the first hour.
Which insurers do you handle claims with?
The claim goes to the insurer that covers your car, whichever it is. Give the name of yours in the quote form: it saves you one more explanation over the phone.
How do you request your quote after an accident?
You mark the affected area on a diagram of the car: it has 17 of them, from the bonnet to the two door mirrors. You choose what it is: scratch, dent, deep dent, broken part, broken glass. You attach a photo. A field for insurance claims takes the name of your insurer.
You do not need to know any workshop jargon, and the quote is free. The workshop is at this address: Avenue Pictet-de-Rochemont 33ter, 1207 Genève, in Eaux-Vives. 34 Google reviews, 5.0 out of 5 as of 19.10.2026 on the workshop’s Google listing.
Once you have handed over the car
You take photos, mark the affected area on a diagram of the car and name your insurer in the form. After an accident, the claim is reported to your insurer and the inspection of the car is followed up for you.
Nothing is repaired without your consent. The problem is not the metal. It is everything around it.
See also: Accidents and insurance, how a claim is handled by the workshop.