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AUTOBODY AL / FL / GA / MS / NC / SC / TN / VA / WV
PA Shop Owner Files $713,000 Lawsuit Against Progressive for Underpayment of Legitimate Costs by Stacey Phillips
Across the country, “insurers aren’t fully reimbursing consumers so they can have proper and safe repairs done,” according to Ron Perretta, owner of Professionals Auto Body in Pennsylvania. “It’s impossible for the shops to fix these cars properly [while] being paid what they are being paid,” said Perretta. “Their hourly rates are being suppressed and the repair operations that are needed to fix these cars properly have been suppressed.” He said insurers continue to
“bully” shops into lowering their rates and not performing operations required to bring the vehicles back to their pre-loss condition. After experiencing this firsthand for many years at his two Pennsylvania locations in Altoona and Duncansville, Perretta filed a lawsuit against Progressive in 2017. According to court documents, “Progressive had a contractual duty to the insureds and third-party claimants to compensate Professionals for the reasonable and necessary costs to return the covered vehicles to See PA Lawsuit, Page 12
Ebby’s Auto Painting & Collision Shooter Pleads Guilty to 7 Felonies in VA by Sarah Fearing, Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
A man who shot a painter at Ebby’s Auto Painting & Collision Repair in Williamsburg, VA, last July has pleaded guilty to seven felony
The suspect being escorted out of Ebby’s after being taken into custody. Credit: Andrew Harris, WYDaily
charges—but attempted first-degree murder is not one of them. Michael Sean Taylor, 41, of Hampton, entered a plea agreement March 1 in the York-Poquoson Circuit Court. As part of the agreement, Taylor pleaded guilty to three counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting into an occupied building or dwelling, two counts of abduction and aggravated malicious wounding. In turn, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge and a fourth See VA Shop Shooting, Page 10
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM
Vol. 9 / Issue 2 / April 2018
Non-OEM Parts Legal Battle, Begun in 1997, Set for Trial in May 2018
District Judge David Herndon said in rejecting State Farm’s calls for A federal judge in February declined dismissal of the suit that whether or to dismiss a $9 billion class action not the Avery judgment should have racketeering lawsuit against State been overturned, the vehicle owners Farm over the insurer’s alleged role involved deserve to know in the election of an Illinois they lost fairly. Supreme Court judge—set“Plaintiffs seek to vinditing the stage for the latest cate their right to be judged trial in a decade-long battle by a tribunal that is uncontinvolving the insurer’s use aminated by politics,” Judge of non-OEM parts. Herndon wrote. The lawsuit claims The suit is seeking triple Lloyd Karmeier State Farm helped secure the damages of the Avery the 2004 election of Justice suit plus more than a dozen years of Lloyd Karmeier, and that Karmeier interest—a total of about $9 billion— improperly participated in the rever- for the 4.7 million vehicle owners repsal of a $1 billion judgment against resented in the original Avery suit. the insurer in 1999 in the Avery vs. Trial is set to begin May 7. State Farm class action lawsuit. Without passing judgment on How did we get here? the merits of the current case, U.S. See Legal Battle, Page 42 by John Yoswick
Uber Halts Autonomous Car Testing After Pedestrian is Killed in AZ
ter: “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with A woman has died after being struck local authorities in their investigation by a self-driving Uber vehicle in of this incident.” It is believed that Elaine Tempe, Phoenix, AZ. The Volvo XC90 was operating Herzberg, 49, is the first pedestrian in autonomous mode when it hit the to be killed by an autonomous car. The incident occurred between Mill Avenue and Curry Road on the night of March 18. Police said the victim was crossing the road outside of a crosswalk at the time of the collision. The woman was taken to The autonomous Volvo XC90 struck a pedestrian as she the hospital, where she died crossed the road. Credit: ABC15 from her injuries. The National Transportation woman as she crossed the road, police said. A vehicle operator sat be- Safety Board said in a tweet that it is hind the wheel at the time of the “sending a team to investigate” the incident, but the car was carrying no incident. Uber had been testing its auother passengers. Uber said in a statement on TwitSee Uber Halts Car Testing, Page 47 by Alistair Charlton, GearBrain
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