I’m not at fault, do I have to accept the insurer’s repairer in Victoria?

10 October 2026

I’m not at fault, do I have to accept the insurer’s repairer in Victoria?

After a crash, most people assume the hard part is over once an insurer steps in and books the repair. In practice, that is only one part of the process.

If you were not at fault in Melbourne or elsewhere in Victoria, the starting point is simpler than many drivers are first told. Victorian Legal Aid says, "If someone causes a crash, they are responsible for any damage they cause." It also says, "A claim for the cost of repairs to a damaged car can be made through an insurance company or through the courts, if necessary."

That matters because a not at fault claim is about who is responsible for the damage, not just about which workshop an insurer first names.

What we cannot honestly say from the evidence on this page is that every driver in Victoria has a fixed legal right to insist on any repairer they want, in every claim and under every policy. That depends on documents and facts outside the evidence provided here. If an insurer has nominated a repairer and you are unsure whether you must accept that nomination, the safest next step is to ask for the decision in writing and check exactly how the claim is being handled.

What "manufacturer approved repairer" can mean, and what it does not automatically mean

This is one area where drivers can assume more than the label really proves.

From the sources provided, we can only verify one brand specific example. Volkswagen says of its approved panel repairers, "Our repairers are regularly assessed to ensure Volkswagen ’s high standards for workmanship, integrity and service are always maintained." You can read that on Volkswagen’s approved repairers page.

That gives you one checkable point. For Volkswagen, the approval statement is tied to regular assessment against Volkswagen standards. It is not just a casual description.

What we cannot do from the evidence here is generalise beyond that and claim that one national body grants all manufacturer approvals in Australia, or that every brand uses the same process, equipment rules, training rules or parts rules. The evidence does not support that. So if your car is not a Volkswagen, or if somebody has used the phrase "manufacturer approved" loosely, it is worth asking which manufacturer, which approval, and where that approval is published.

What this means for a not at fault driver deciding whether to question the nominated repairer

The practical issue is not branding for its own sake. It is whether you are satisfied that the repair path matches the car, the damage and your own priorities before work starts.

If you are being directed to a repairer, ask for clear written answers to basic points such as:

• who is paying for the repair
• whether the claim is being handled through an insurer
• whether the repairer choice is your decision, the insurer’s decision, or a recommendation only
• what standards the repairer is being measured against
• whether any manufacturer specific approval is being relied on, and if so, whose approval it is

Those are sensible questions because the responsible party is the one who caused the damage. Again, Victorian Legal Aid states, "If someone causes a crash, they are responsible for any damage they cause."

What we can and cannot say about parts choice, warranty and later problems

The brief asked for a page about repairer choice, part choice and problems that can show up later. Those are real concerns for drivers. But the evidence supplied for this page does not include any manufacturer warranty terms, any Australian Consumer Law material about genuine versus aftermarket parts, or any technical source explaining why a part or workmanship issue may appear weeks or months later.

Because of that, we are not going to fill the gap with guesses.

What we can say is narrower and still useful. If you are about to hand over your vehicle, do not assume that an insurer arranging the repair answers every question that matters to you later. If the standard of repair, the basis for the repairer choice, or the source of parts matters to you, raise those points before the work begins and ask for the answers in writing.

What we can and cannot say about disclosure rules in Victoria

The brief also asked what an insurer must disclose under Victorian law and the General Insurance Code of Practice about repairer and parts choice.

There is no quoted evidence here from the Code or from Victorian legislation dealing with those disclosure obligations. So we cannot state a rule, a list of mandatory disclosures, or a fixed right based on that material.

If you are being asked to accept a nominated repairer now, the safe position is to ask the insurer to spell out the arrangement in writing, including who selected the repairer and what options, if any, are available to you.

A Melbourne driver’s next step before agreeing

If your vehicle is in Melbourne and you were not at fault, keep the immediate point in view. Responsibility for the damage sits with the person who caused the crash. Victorian Legal Aid puts it plainly, "If someone causes a crash, they are responsible for any damage they cause."

And if the repair cost has to be pursued, the same source says, "A claim for the cost of repairs to a damaged car can be made through an insurance company or through the courts, if necessary."

That does not answer every repair quality question, but it does help you frame the conversation. You are not just deciding where a car gets dropped off. You are deciding whether to accept a repair arrangement someone else has proposed for damage another driver caused.

Questions worth asking before you agree to the repairer

Use this as a plain checklist.

• Has the insurer nominated this repairer, or am I free to propose another one?
• Is the arrangement being made through an insurance company?
• If the person who caused the crash is responsible for the damage, how will that responsibility be reflected in the repair process?
• If the repairer is described as manufacturer approved, which manufacturer is that, and where is that approval published?
• If the car is a Volkswagen, is the repairer one that Volkswagen says is "regularly assessed" against its standards?
• Can I have the repair arrangement confirmed in writing before work starts?

Where we fit in

We repair damaged vehicles in Melbourne and across Victoria for drivers who were not at fault, uninsured drivers, business owners and fleet operators. We can handle smash repair, panel beating, paint and refinishing, and we can help recover repair costs from the at fault driver’s insurer while arranging a replacement vehicle during repairs.

What we will not do is pretend this page proves rights or warranty outcomes that are not supported by the evidence. If you want to question a nominated repairer before your car goes in, that is a sensible step. The key is to get the basis for the decision, and any claimed approval, clear before the work starts.