Do you have to get work done to your vehicle after your insurance company sends you a check?

No, you do not have to repair the vehicle. The first assumption I will make to answer your question is that you are the 'claimant' meaning your company is not paying for the damage the 'other/At Fault' party is.

If you are the insured and have a lien holder on the vehicle the draft should have been made out to you and your lien holder minus your deductible, you will need to contact your lien holder and ask them their process for this. Some will simply 'sign over' but most will either require you repair the vehicle or apply the money to your loan.

In both cases, just a little information for you to think about. Should you get in another accident that damages the same part of you vehicle that you were paid to fix, or should you get in an accident and your vehicle totals. This (now) prior unrepaired damage will come into play. In a total loss all or a percentage of this (unrepaired prior) damage will be deducted from the actual cash value of your vehicle. If the 'new' damage is repairable they will (if doesn't need replaced by new wreck) deduct the prior damage as well.

And yes, (I will be you are wondering) the vast majority of the time this accident and damage will show up when a new claim is reported. Most carriers have in their systems a built in VIN check. Or they will run one (for sure) if the vehicle totals. The company I work for, once a VIN is entered into the system (and it has to be to write an estimate) it will automatically throw up a 'block' of sorts saying, 'this VIN has had another loss'...

There are a lot of times when repairing the vehicle is just the smarter thing for an owner to do. Hope this helps if you need any additional information and can provide some specific facts I will try and be of more assistance........Good luck !!!