A survey of senior Canadian collision industry figures has found that almost every insurer estimate requires adjustments, a reader survey has found.
According to the results of Collision Repair’s 2026 insurer relations survey, 96% of respondents say insurer estimates require changes. About 72% said estimates almost always need major revisions, while another 24% said supplements are often required. Only 3% said estimates come in close to accurate.
One respondent summed it up this way: “Photo-based estimates are almost always requiring adjustments.” Another added that the people reviewing files remotely “don’t see what we see — let us do our jobs.”
That problem does not stop at the first estimate. It carries through the entire repair.
More than half of shops (55%) said they add supplements on nearly every job, while another 31% said they do so often. Only 14% said supplements are occasional. In practice, that means most repairs are being reworked after the file is opened, not completed as originally written.
The same pattern shows up in how shops are responding to AI.
About 48% of respondents said AI-generated estimates are often inaccurate, while 44% said they are not usable at all. Just 8% said they are generally accurate. Respondents also said the tools are being introduced without enough clarity. One shop described AI estimates as “misleading, not accurate and confusing,” while another said insurers “should not be using AI without notifying shops how it is being applied.”
Shops also reported that AI is adding to the workload rather than reducing it, as inaccurate estimates lead to more supplements and more back-and-forth on files.
Disagreements over parts are just as common.
Only 3% of respondents said they rarely disagree with insurers on parts selection. That means nearly every shop is running into conflicts over what parts should be used. One respondent’s suggestion was direct: “Use OEM parts.”
Those disagreements carry into repair procedures as well.
Only about 10% of respondents said insurer policies often align with OEM repair requirements. Most said alignment happens only sometimes or rarely. Shops are often left balancing insurer direction against manufacturer standards, with no consistent overlap between the two.
Costs, meanwhile, are moving in the opposite direction.
Respondents described a business where expenses are rising across the board. Labour, staffing, training and equipment are all becoming more expensive, and shops also pointed to insurance-related admin and compliance as an added burden. The overall picture is one of increasing cost pressure on every part of the operation.
At the same time, most shops said their rates are not being adjusted to reflect those changes.
About 34% of respondents said they have never renegotiated their rates with insurers. Another 24% said they rarely do. About 28% said they revisit rates every two to three years, while only 14% said they renegotiate annually. One respondent wrote that “paint and materials rates should be at least double what they are today,” while another said “labour rates need to go up significantly to reflect real costs.”
Despite those pressures, shops remain heavily dependent on insurer work.
Nearly 80% of respondents said more than half (79%) of their repairs come through DRP programs, including 36% who said insurers account for more than 75% of their volume. That reliance shapes how shops approach the relationship, even when there is friction.
Respondents were clear about what they want to see change. Many pointed to better alignment with OEM procedures, higher labour rates, reduced administrative burden and clearer communication. Others focused on the tone of the relationship itself. One respondent called for “partnership instead of dictatorship,” while another said “transparency, truthfulness and trust would be a start.”
Some also raised concerns about uneven treatment across the market. One respondent said there are shops in the same area receiving different rates, while another pointed to insurers operating their own repair facilities.
The survey includes responses from 40 senior individuals at collision repair businesses across Canada, spanning independent shops, MSOs and dealer-affiliated operations. Most respondents operate mid- to high-volume businesses, handling between 500 and 2,500 repairs annually or more.
A full report including the he grades received by each insurer will be provided in the upcoming print version of Collision Repair magazine.
