Can insurance company require aftermarket parts?

[tundraboy27909]

I have a question that I hope someone can answer.
Recently someone slammed into our (1999) 4Runner in a parking lot. The driver of the other vehicle did not have any insurance or license. Since the accident happened on "private property" our insurance is going to fix the 4Runner and sue the driver of the other car for payment.

The problem is that our insurance company (State Farm) refuses to replace the bumper with genuine Toyota parts. They say that they are going to use "OEM-quality" replacement parts. They said that we could pay the extra if we wanted the Toyota parts but they would not pay for them.

Can the insurance company do this? I thought insirance companies were required to use factory parts if you requested them. I want what came on my vehicle not some crap aftermarket parts. Anybody had any similiar experience.

[theyotaguy]

Yes,they can and they often do on anything older the 3 years old.I went through that once and I paid extra for a Toyota fender.A year later,my wife and a deer collided,and the body shop we went to would not use anything except OEM.Try a different body shop that is in your insurer's prefered B.S. network,and try to find one that uses only OEM.You might get lucky,but be warned that it is an uphill battle.

PS: If you read all the fine print in your policy,it IS in there.