How to Verify an Auto Body Shop's License in Connecticut
Short answer: Connecticut licenses vehicle repair shops through the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles under CGS 14-51. The licence is not body-specific: a repairer licence covers the full range of repair work, so it confirms the business may lawfully repair vehicles, not that it specializes in collision. And contrary to what you may read elsewhere, including an earlier version of this page, Connecticut does not offer a one-shop search box. It publishes a list you download.
Who licenses body shops in Connecticut
The CT DMV licenses regulated automotive businesses including repair shops. Licence numbers appear in an R-prefixed form (for example R0955).
Connecticut issues two repairer classes, and the difference matters for collision work:
| Class | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Repairer | The full range of repair services. This is the class a collision shop holds. |
| Limited repairer | Minor repairs only: cooling, electrical, fuel and exhaust systems; brake adjustment, relining and repair; wheel alignment and balancing; shock absorber work. |
The statutory definition of a limited repairer does not extend to body or structural repair. Our Connecticut roster therefore carries full repairers only. A limited repairer is not missing from this directory by accident; it is excluded because the class it holds does not authorise the work this directory is about.
Because the repairer licence is general rather than body-specific, the question "is this shop licensed?" and the question "does this shop do quality collision work?" are answered by two different kinds of evidence in Connecticut. The licence answers the first only.
Where the official record lives
Connecticut publishes its licensed-business list as a downloadable file, not a search box. The DMV posts the current dealer and repairer list here:
CT DMV business licence search
That page offers the list as a spreadsheet and as a PDF. There is no form on it where you type a shop name and get an answer, you download the whole list and search inside it. In a spreadsheet you may have to save the file locally before find-and-replace will work.
The PDF at that page is the source of record behind every Connecticut shop in this directory. Connecticut is therefore one of the harder states to check by hand, not one of the easier ones: expect to open a long document rather than run a query.
The register's status word
| Register's word | What it actually means |
|---|---|
| Licensed | The DMV repair licence is current and the business may lawfully perform repairs. |
Our Connecticut roster carries current licensees, with the licence expiry date where the source provides one. Connecticut does not publish a lapsed-licence roster the way New York and Ohio do, so we do not report a Connecticut expired count, an absence of data, not a finding of zero.
What we hold for Connecticut
As of our 2026-08-01 pull, the directory carries 1,083 Connecticut licensed repairers, of which 120 classify as collision or body shops by name and mapping signals. The remainder are general repair.
That 120 is small because Connecticut's licence does not label body work; we are classifying, not reading a state category. Treat it as a floor on collision-capable licensed shops in the state, not a census.
Absence is not proof. The DMV list is a point-in-time publication. A newly licensed shop may not appear in the cut we last parsed, and a limited repairer will not appear at all. Not finding a shop here is a reason to ask it for its R-number, not a finding that it is unlicensed.
Connecticut contributes no lapsed-credential block to the State of Collision Repair 2026-Q3 report for the same reason.
How to check a Connecticut shop
- Download the DMV list linked above, the spreadsheet is easier to search than the PDF, and find the shop by business name or licence number.
- Ask the shop for its R-number if you cannot find it, the legal entity name often differs from the sign, and searching the sign name will miss it.
- Check the expiry date, not just the presence of a record.
- For collision specifically, look past the licence. Manufacturer certifications and years at the address tell you more about body-work capability than a general repair licence can.
Verify a specific Connecticut shop
Every Connecticut shop page in this directory shows its DMV licence number, status, expiry where the source carries one, and the date we last checked.
- Auto body shops in Connecticut
- Search the map by ZIP
- How our data is verified
- Nationwide licensing statistics
General consumer information: not legal, insurance, or financial advice. Requirements, coverage, and practices vary by state, policy, and manufacturer.