Southwest Edition Texas Oklahoma Louisiana New Mexico
29
YEARS
www.autobodynews.com ww ww.autobodynews.com
Texas Insurance Rates to Rise in New Year to Pay for Increased 30/60 Liability Limits As people begin thinking ahead to 2011, one important change will be implemented for drivers with auto insurance. With the passage of increased liability limits in 2007, Texans will notice an increased insurance rate of two or three percent to cover the additional insurance protection in 2011. While the two to three percent rate increase that is expected to come from the increased coverage limits is minimal, many consumers question the reason for the rising costs. According to CBS, the increase in auto insurance minimum requirements is meant to address rising medical costs associated with car accident claims.
Rising medical costs, meaning the cost for post-accident medical care and treatment, have increased in recent years and, in 2007, the Texas Legislature took action in an effort to ensure that car accident victims have the proper insurance coverage. CBS reported that approximately 7 million Texans will be affected by the coverage and rate increases. Approximately half of insured drivers opt for the least expensive insurance option, which is just liability coverage, not collision coverage. Under the current minimum limits, a driver must have at least $25,000
by John Yoswick
consumer is unknowingly accepting the risk of having repairs completed by under-trained workers. —John Edelen
See Liability Limits, Page 29
2010 Year in Review—Words Spoken Signal Issues Collision Repairers will Revisit in 2011 Looking for a preview of what lies ahead for the collision repair industry? Look no further than some key statements made in 2010 that likely will continue to reverberate in 2011.
With these changes, it will become quickly and increasingly more apparent which business are prepared through training to address the increasing complexity of repair…and (which) businesses have failed and continue to fail to prepare themselves for the future. By not selecting a Gold Class business, the
Now-retired I-CAR CEO John Edelen last summer unveiled I-CAR’s new “Professional Development Program” and revised requirements for its John Edelen “Platinum Individual” and “Gold Class” recognition proSee 2010 Year in Review, Page 26
VOL. 29 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2011
GREG COCCARO ‘NOT GUILTY’ AGAIN of Fraud Charges Filed by Progressive
A six-person New York jury found Greg Coccaro, owner of North State Custom in Westchester, N.Y., not guilty of civil insurance fraud—for the second time—on Dec. 15. The case was originally brought by Progressive Insurance in 2005 in a dispute over the repair of a badly damaged Mercedes which was fixed at Coccaro’s Mercedes-certified shop. Progressive alleged that the shop inflated the charges to make the car a total loss, and that both the shop and the insured received payment for the vehicle’s repairs.
In 2005, the customer, a handicapped professor from Columbia University, asked Coccaro to repair her 6-month-old 2004 Mercedes E320 that she had rolled down an embankment and crashed into a pile of rocks. Progressive Insurance wrote an on-site initial estimate of $7,142. Once the car was taken to Coccaro’s shop—which was not a Progressive DRP (Coccaro has no DRPs)—he found far more damage in addition to mistakes on the original estimate. According to Coccaro, Progressive eventually wrote another estimate for $26,804, then a third one for $18,000, and then another. All told there were some 10 estimates done. Coccaro’s final, carefully documented, invoice for the full repair came in at $34,091. That’s when it really got interesting... continued on page 17
Also in this issue... Toyota Recommends OEM . . .p. 31
NABC Establishes Inter-Industry Initiative . . . . . . . . . .p. 39 Chief Partners with Collision Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 19 Huge Cost of Mismatched Bumpers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 10 Airbag Fraud Becoming More Prevalent . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 13 SCRS Affiliate Groups Help Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 21
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Ontario, Ca. Permit No. 1