Nobody plans their day around a collision. One moment you are driving to work, the next you are standing on the shoulder of Santa Fe with a bumper on the ground, a phone in your hand, and no idea what happens next. At United Airbag we meet people at exactly this point almost every day. Therefore, here is what we tell them, in the order it usually matters.
The first ten minutes
Check that everybody is alright. Get the vehicles out of traffic if they can be moved safely, and call the police. A police report costs you nothing and settles arguments later that would otherwise become your word against theirs.
Then take photographs, and take more than you think you need: the damage on both cars, the position of the vehicles before anything is moved, the plates, the other driver’s insurance card, the street and the intersection. Pictures taken in the first ten minutes are worth more than anything you can reconstruct a week later.
Once you have spoken to your insurance company
Report the claim promptly and give the facts plainly. You will be assigned a claim number and, usually within a day or two, an adjuster. What happens next is where most people give away a decision without realising it.
Most insurance companies allow you to choose your own body shop. They will recommend one, sometimes firmly, and the shops on those lists are not bad shops. They have simply agreed terms with that insurer, and those terms were not written with your car in mind. A recommendation is a recommendation, not an instruction. Moreover, if you already know a shop that does good work, you are allowed to use it. If anybody tells you otherwise and you are unsure, the Colorado Division of Insurance is the right place to ask.
This is where we come in. United Airbag works with every insurance company, and we deal with the adjuster, the estimate and the paperwork directly, so the claim does not turn into your second job. Our page on handling your insurance claim explains how that runs.
One shop for the whole repair
A collision is rarely just bodywork. There is structure, there is paint, there is often wiring, and there is almost always something in the restraint system. Most cars end up travelling between two or three businesses to get all of that done, and every handover is a chance for something to be missed.
We do the whole job under one roof. Panel and structural work, dents, fenders, bumpers and hoods, colour matching and paint, electrical repairs, airbag and seat belt repair, control module programming, and the diagnostics that confirm the car is genuinely right before it goes back to you. One shop, one conversation, one set of keys, and your car back on the road.
The system most shops forget
In a collision the restraint system does its work in about two seconds. Airbags may deploy. Seat belt pretensioners often fire even when the airbags do not. The airbag control module records the crash and stores it permanently.
A body shop can hand your car back looking factory-new with that system still disabled. The dent is gone, the paint matches, and the airbag light is either on or has been cleared with a scan tool so it stays off for a week and then returns. Neither means the system works. If a light is on after a repair, our guide to why an airbag light comes on explains what is happening underneath. Ask any shop directly whether the belts and the module were checked. If the answer is vague, that is your answer.
Airbags and seat belts are not a side service for United Airbag. They are the reason the business exists, and that specialization is why we have become one of the top addresses in the state for airbag issues. Well-known dealerships bring us cars they cannot finish, and other repair shops call us for advice.
From a Lamborghini to a Subaru Outback
We have been doing this for a long time, and in that time some genuinely expensive machinery has come through the shop. Porsches. A Lamborghini. Plenty of other cars where the owner could have taken them anywhere and chose to bring them to us instead.
That is not really the point, though. The car we see most is not a supercar. It is the daily driver: the Subaru Outback with the whole family’s life in the back, the truck that gets somebody to a job site every morning, the sedan that has to last another three years. Last but not least, those cars get exactly the same work and exactly the same attention. The equipment we bought to do a Porsche properly is the equipment your Outback gets too.
About the money
The first estimate is written from what can be seen with the panels still on the car. Once the damaged parts come off, more is usually found underneath, and the shop files a supplement with the insurer to cover it. That is normal, not a bait and switch. A shop quoting a suspiciously low number up front is often a shop that has not looked very hard yet.
Your deductible is set by your policy and it is yours to pay. What we will do is tell you exactly what your share is before any work starts, so there are no surprises at collection. And if there is no claim at all and you are paying for the repair yourself, talk to us. We will look at where the money is best spent, what can wait, and which parts make sense for the age of the car. Our customers come first, and we will always try to make it work.
A short checklist to keep
- Everybody safe, vehicles out of traffic, police called.
- Photographs of everything, before the cars are moved.
- Names, plates, insurance details, and the report number.
- Report the claim, but do not agree to a repair shop on the spot.
- Ask any shop directly: airbags, seat belts, control module — checked or not?
- Get the estimate in writing, and expect a supplement.
Cities and districts we cover
Collision, paint and restraint work for the whole south metro and well beyond it. Distances are approximate and measured from our shop on S Broadway in Englewood.
| City or district | Direction | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Englewood | — | Our shop, 4769 S Broadway |
| Sheridan | West | approx. 3 miles |
| Littleton | South-west | approx. 5 miles |
| Centennial | South-east | approx. 6 miles |
| Glendale | North-east | approx. 6 miles |
| Columbine | South-west | approx. 8 miles |
| Denver (downtown) | North | approx. 8 miles |
| Lakewood | North-west | approx. 9 miles |
| Aurora | East | approx. 12 miles |
| Arvada | North-west | approx. 15 miles |
| Golden | North-west | approx. 16 miles |
| Parker | South-east | approx. 17 miles |
| Broomfield | North-west | approx. 22 miles |
| Castle Rock | South | approx. 22 miles |
| Brighton | North-east | approx. 28 miles |
Bring it to us
United Airbag Inc. is at 4769 S Broadway, Englewood, CO 80113. Call 720.885.5653 or email service@united-airbag.com and tell us what happened. Drive it in or have it towed to us, and we will tell you honestly what it needs. You can also read about airbag repair across Englewood, Denver and the foothills, or see our full service auto body repair. No matter how the accident turned out, United Airbag has you covered.