Car accident/body shop fraud?

Hi everybody,

I was wondering if anyone can offer some legal advice on the below situation. Thanks so much in advance!

My sister got into an accident on Sunday, March 16, only injuring her car. When the towing company arrived, the driver named Tom said he knew someone at an auto body shop who can help fix this car. He said that you can store the car there temporarily and decide if you want to repair your car at that body shop after you have filed for your insurance claim. So my sister agreed.

The following day, Monday, March 17, my sister filed a claim against the insurance. On Thursday, March 20, the insurance estimator went to the body shop and gave an estimate. The estimate turned out to be a large amount. Today, the body shop called her and said it was necessary to use the total amount of what the insurance estimated to fix the car. So my sister insisted she will repair her car elsewhere but the body shop told her that they have already started fixing her car and spent 30 hrs on it. The body shop is charging her a total of $2,555 for storage, admin costs and the 30 hr of labor on her car. My sister argues that she has not given the consent to the body shop to fix the car. But the body shop argues that Tom is her agent and he has given consent to the body shop to repair the car. My sister is unaware that Tom was acting on her behalf as her agent has asked the body shop to stop all work and she will tow her car from the body shop tomorrow.

Here are some of my legal concerns:

Since my sister is unaware that Tom is her agent, there is no principal and agency relationship. She has never given any authority or consent to Tom to act on her behalf. Can the body shop still claim the work they have performed on the car? Is Tom liable for work done on my sister's car? Is it necessary to bring them to court and if we do and when we pick up the car tomorrow, will we have to pay for the work performed or can we wait for the court order?

She never authorized the work so as a legal matter she need not pay...

She can go to small claims court if need be.