The initial inspection is one of the most important steps in your car insurance claim process. It happens when an appraiser at the certified repair shop inspects your vehicle when it first arrives there. They do this before any repairs are started so they can better understand what happened to your car. They’ll also take photos of the damage. The process usually takes about 15 minutes, but could take longer if the damage was serious or the accident was complicated. They could also ask you or the repair person questions to get more info in order to collect as many details as possible.