Western Edition California Nevada Arizona
32
YEARS
VOL. 31 ISSUE 12 DECEMBER 2013
www.autobodynews.com ww ww.autobodynews.com
Collision Repair Classes, Meetings and Exhibitors Attract Shops to Largest SEMA Ever by John Yoswick
The 2013 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show attracted more than 126,000 people—attendees and exhibitor representatives—to Las Vegas in November, filling the massive Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding spaces with all things automotive. Show organizers say that count was up 7 percent over the previous year and was the highest ever. The collision repair and refinish section of the show boasted just over 200 exhibitors, a small but rapidly growing percentage of the more than 2,300 companies and organizations exhibiting at SEMA this year.
pecial SSEMA
coverage Coverage Pages: 1, 6, 14, 16, 21, 24, 25, 38, 40, 45, 54, 57 and 58
Toyota Wholesale Parts set up their own booth at SEMA where they announced the new mobile/online estimating system in collaboration with Mitchell Inc. See story p. 25
Homeowner’s Motor Vehicle Exclusion Bars Claim Coverage After Insured Runs Toddler Over Says Appeals Court
had negligently supervised their granddaughter. The insurer argued that the motor vehicle exclusion in the homeowner’s policy precluded any potential coverage because all of the claims in the action arose out of Mr. Bautista’s use of a motor vehicle. The trial court denied Farmers’ motion for summary adjudication, finding that the motor vehicle exclusion in the policy did not apply. The dispute reached the court of appeal. The Homeowner’s Insurance policy provided personal liability coverage in the amount of $300,000 per occurrence under Coverage E, which stated: See Toddler Claim Denied, Page 16
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
Reversing a trial court’s decision, a California appellate court has ruled that a motor vehicle exclusion in a homeowner’s insurance policy barred coverage of claims against the insured homeowner and his wife after he accidentally ran over his two-year old granddaughter with his pickup truck in his driveway. After Jose Bautista’s tragic accident, his insurance carrier, Farmers Insurance Exchange, sought a declaration that it was not obligated to provide coverage under the homeowner’s insurance policy it had issued with respect to the resulting action that alleged, among other things, that Mr. Bautista’s wife
See Biggest SEMA Ever, Page 10
PartsTrader, Insurer Mandates Draw Industry Ire at Collision Industry Conference Held with SEMA by John Yoswick
Following a panel discussion on parts procurement at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in Las Vegas in early November, attendees spent nearly an hour voicing criticism of mandated use of any particular system. Tom McGarry of Axalta Coatings ProfitNet Management System noted that unlike several other systems, PartsTrader interfaces with estimating systems but not management systems. He also said a shop ordering parts might need to use one Tom McGarry electronic system in order to receive an automaker rebate, but the shop’s preferred vendor might use a different system, with State Farm requiring yet another. “It’s not a procurement decision anymore; it’s a marketing decision,” McGarry said. “How do you handle that?” Nebraska shop owner Andy Dingman, who participated on the
CIC panel, agreed that shops could be faced with using multiple systems. “And that’s going to be very efficient,” he added sarcastically. California shop owner Randy Stabler, also on the panel, agreed. “The challenge here is the insurance community doesn’t understand by and large that when they increase the body shop’s costs, they have to pay for it somewhere,” Stabler said. “Lowering the payout isn’t increasing efficiency. If the insurers could take that Randy Stabler back to their corporations and figure out ways to reduce the body shop’s operating costs, then they can share in it, but reducing the payout doesn’t increase efficiency.” Stabler also said, however, that he’s “kind of perplexed” why the PartsTrader mandate has become “such a lightening rod” for an industry that has been accepting insurer mandates since the early days of computerized estimating. See Industry Ire, Page 22
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID San Bernardino, CA Permit #2244