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Insurers, Collision Repairers Discuss How to Improve Estimating, Claims Adjusting Process

Collision repairers and insurance company representatives at this summer’s Collision Industry Conference (CIC) discussed the friction that exists between the two segments of the industry in terms of estimating damages and adjusting claims.

An appraiser for Erie Insurance seemed to surprise some collision repairers at the meeting when she suggested shops and insurers should keep customers in the loop about the claims adjusting processes.

“So if you’re emailing the shop, ‘cc’ your customer in that for information purposes,” Connie Hutton suggested during the CIC Estimating Committee panel discussion. “And continue the thread. It keeps them informed and, believe it or not, when I was on the shop side, I got paid for most everything I did because I kept [the customer] informed.”

Panelist Rob Wagner of Rob Wagner Auto Body in Pittsburgh said he was “blown away” by Hutton’s suggestion.

“We need to invest in cloning technology,” Wagner said of Hutton, drawing laughter. “Because that’s literally something that’s created friction between me and appraisers before. It’s, ‘What are you doing talking to the customer about this?’ But it’s their car.”

Insurer Estimate Not a Repair Plan

Hutton also emphasized there’s a clear difference between an insurer estimate and a repair plan.

“When I send my estimates out, my first line says: If you need a supplement—photos, invoices, sublets, whatever—just send all that’s clear, and you’ll be paid,” she said. “Half of [shops] don’t even read that. It just wastes time for you, not me.”

Hutton was asked what types of repair operations are the hardest for her to approve.

“A sublet to a [dealer] that doesn’t include any documentation when the bill is $3,500,” Hutton said. “It just says, ‘Calibration done.’ I need a little bit more than that. I’ll pay it, but give me a little bit more information. And the shop should need it, too. Any time you sublet something, it’s on you, still. We’ll come back to you, not to them.”

Collision repairers on the panel were asked what operations they most struggle to get approved for payment.

“Safety inspections. It’s getting easier, but that’s definitely one,” Wagner said. “If you have structural damage on a Subaru and you’re writing to take the whole interior apart, and you have a bill-payer that’s not used to seeing that, that’s probably going to freak them out.”

Panelist Erin Solis of the Certified Collision Group referred back to Wagner’s reference to cloning.

“You want to clone them, but the rest of us want to clone you,” she told Wagner. “Because part of the reason why you can’t get paid for the R&I of the steering column on a Subaru when you have to measure it could be because you’re the only one in your market doing it.

“There are still a lot of repairers not doing the safety inspections, and I hear from shops all the time they are getting push back because [they are told] no one else in their market is doing it.”

Claims Handling Inconsistency

Wagner said one of his frustrations with how auto claims are adjusted is the inconsistency in what procedures get approved.

He pointed to two claims at his shop involving the same Lexus vehicle, with virtually the same damage and the same insurer involved. Shortly after the shop completed the first $17,000 repair to the vehicle, the customer hit a deer, resulting in similar damage and a $19,000 bill.

“With the first repair, there was a short-pay of about $2,500, and on

Shop Showcase the second repair there was a shortpay of about $2,500,” Wagner said. with Ed Attanasio “But items that the insurer said on the first claim they would never pay, got paid on the second claim, no problem. And vice versa. It just seems like they reach a quitting

Social Media for Shops point [when reviewing a claim], and decide, ‘That’s good enough.’” with Ed Attanasio Wagner also drew applause at CIC when he challenged the estimating system providers to do a better job including small and onetime-use parts often needed during

SEMA Show Goes On repairs in their systems. “Clips, O-rings, screws are with Ed Attanasio parts, and they need to be in the database,” Wagner said. “If you want to talk about the one thing that absolutely irritates me to no end, it’s all

Media and Publicity for Shops the time I have to spend digging to try to find all those parts.” with Ed Attanasio Wagner said his shop recently Shop StrategiesConnie Hutton of Erie Insurance encourages shops and insurers to keep customers in the with Stacey Phillipsloop while claims are being handled

Body Shops Giving Back with Stacey Phillips

Tips for Busy Body Shops with Stacey Phillips

My SEMA with Stacey Phillips

Shop Strategies with Victoria Antonelli

Erin Solis of the Certified Collision Group said shops often struggle to get paid for safety inspections because too few shops actually do them See Improve Estimating, Page 59

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