What a deductible actually is, briefly. A deductible is the portion of a covered loss you pay out-of-pocket before your insurance pays the rest. On Arizona auto policies the most common collision deductibles are $500, $1,000, and $1,500 — sometimes higher on luxury vehicles or after a recent claim. A higher deductible lowers your premium; a lower one means you pay less when something happens. The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI) minimum-coverage guide covers the basics; for the full mechanics see our how deductibles work answer. Critically, deductibles only apply to first-party coverages (your own collision or comprehensive). If the other driver was at fault and you go through their carrier's liability coverage, there's no deductible — that's the cleanest path to $0 out-of-pocket.
| Path | When it applies | Out-of-pocket | Timeline | OAB role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Not-at-fault → at-fault carrier liability | You weren't at fault and the other driver has insurance. | $0 — at-fault driver's liability pays in full. | 3-6 weeks; depends on liability acceptance from at-fault carrier. | We bill the at-fault carrier directly. You bring the claim number. |
| 2. Your collision + subrogation refund | You weren't at fault but want repair started fast (don't want to wait on liability acceptance). | Deductible upfront, refunded later. | Repair: standard cycle. Refund: 2-6 months after carrier subrogates. | We start work immediately. Your carrier handles subrogation behind the scenes. |
| 3. Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) | Other driver was uninsured (about 1 in 10 Arizona drivers per III/IRC 2023) and you carry UMPD. | $0 — UMPD typically has no deductible. | Standard collision repair cycle. | We bill UMPD directly. Bring the police report if filed. |
| 4. OAB Deductible-Assistance Program | You're going through your own collision (first-party) and you don't have a not-at-fault path. Repair must qualify (size and scope thresholds). | Reduced — see /deductible-assistance for current program terms. | Same as standard repair cycle. | We apply the program at intake. No separate application required. |
Path 1 — not-at-fault → at-fault carrier liability — the cleanest path. If the other driver was at fault and they have insurance, file a claim with their liability carrier instead of your own collision. Their property-damage liability pays for your repair, your rental, your medical bills (if any), and any towing. There's no deductible on the at-fault carrier's liability — you'd be paying yourself otherwise, which makes no sense, so the law and the policy both eliminate it. The trade-off is timing: the at-fault carrier won't pay until they accept liability, which can take a week or two if there's any factual dispute. If you'd rather get your car repaired immediately, use Path 2 instead.
Path 2 — your collision + subrogation refund. Going through your own collision coverage means you pay your deductible at pickup, your carrier pays the rest, repair starts immediately. Behind the scenes, your carrier opens a subrogation file against the at-fault carrier to recover the full claim cost — including your deductible. When subrogation closes, your carrier issues you a refund check for the deductible (or a pro-rata portion if liability is split). Refunds typically arrive 2-6 months after the repair completes. Keep your shop intake paperwork — if your carrier delays the refund beyond 6 months, you have grounds to escalate. Subrogation is statutorily protected; your carrier can't keep your deductible if they recover the full claim.
Path 3 — UMPD when the other driver is uninsured. If you carry uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD), it pays for repair when an uninsured driver hits you — typically with no deductible. About 1 in 10 Arizona drivers is uninsured per III statistics citing the 2023 IRC report. UMPD is one of the cheapest add-ons on most Arizona auto policies and is the cleanest backstop for hit-and-run and uninsured-driver scenarios. If you don't carry UMPD, your collision coverage applies (Path 2) with deductible upfront, and you can pursue the uninsured driver in small-claims court for the deductible amount — but recovery is unreliable.
Path 4 — OAB's Deductible-Assistance Program. When none of paths 1-3 apply (you were at fault, you don't carry UMPD, the claim is straightforward first-party collision), Orlando Auto Body offers a deductible-assistance program on qualifying repairs at our Mesa, Gilbert, and Scottsdale locations. The program has thresholds tied to the repair amount and scope — see our deductible-assistance page for current terms. We apply the assistance at intake; there's no separate application form to fill out and no impact on the timeline. The program is funded by OAB, not the carrier — which means it's compatible with any insurance carrier and doesn't require carrier sign-off. It's not a workaround for fraud (we don't "absorb the deductible" by inflating the estimate — that's illegal under ARS §20-461 and bad for the customer in the long run). It's a real shop-side credit on qualifying jobs.
How and when you actually pay. Deductibles are owed at vehicle pickup, not at drop-off. We accept cash, cashier's check, money order, business check, and credit/debit card (a 4% surcharge applies on credit cards — debit and cashier's check have no surcharge). If you're using OAB's deductible-assistance program, the assistance is applied to the invoice before pickup so the amount you owe at pickup is already net of the assistance. For self-pay repairs (no insurance involvement at all), see our self-pay answer. For the full mechanics of how deductibles work in collision claims (including comprehensive vs collision deductible questions), see how a deductible works.