To Achieve a Genuine Honda Fit.

Honda collision repair parts are engineered and manufactured to Honda standards. In the collision-repair business, time is money, and you can’t waste time on parts that almost fit properly. Use Genuine Honda replacement parts. Your reputation depends on it.

For Genuine Honda parts, contact these Authorized Honda dealers.

Bernardi Honda

960 Worcester Road Natick, MA 01760

Parts Direct: 800-247-3033

FAX: 508-651-1220 www.bernardihonda.com

Lia Honda of Northampton

293 King Street Northampton, MA 01060

Toll Free: 800-369-7889

Direct: 1-413-587-2900

FAX: 1-413-585-0502 www.liahondanorthampton.com

Honda of Enfield

20 Palomba Drive

Enfield, CT 06082

Toll Free: 800-222-6632

FAX: 860-253-5419 www.liahondaofenfield.com

Honda North 382 Newbury Street

Danvers, MA 01923

Toll Free: 800-882-9797

FAX: 978-774-9483 e-mail: eadams@iclautos.com www.hondanorth.com

Schaller Honda

1 Veterans Drive New Britain, CT 06051

Toll Free: 800-382-4525

Direct: 860-826-2080

FAX: 860-826-2083 e-mail: jkiniry@schallerauto.com www.schallerauto.com

Lundgren Honda of Auburn

525 Washington Street Auburn, MA 01501

Toll Free: 800-777-2044

FAX: 508-721-0872 e-mail:pmccarthy@lhonda.com www.lhonda.com

Balise Honda

400 Riverdale St. West Springfield, MA 01089

TOLL FREE: 800-992-6220

FAX: 800-254-3544 wparts@baliseauto.com www.BaliseWholesaleParts.com

One Call, One Truck for 14 Brands!

Balise Honda of West Warwick 509 Quaker Lane West Warwick, RI 02893

TOLL FREE: 800-992-6220

FAX: 800-254-3544 wparts@baliseauto.com www.BaliseWholesaleParts.com continued from pg. 32 of the industry about the issue and continued to research laws that might shed light on the answer.

One Call, One Truck for 14 Brands!

So, what can you do about the labor rate?

First and foremost, set what YOU believe that you need to get for a labor rate, and charge that rate. I know that this is not easy to do, and that insurers – that pay for the great bulk of collision repairs throughout the United States and perhaps the world – are going to do everything in their power to avoid paying your rate if it is higher than a particular insurer is regularly paying. But if you think the labor rate that insurers are paying is going to increase just because you wish that it would, then you are living in a fantasy world. The labor rate that insurers will pay is probably not going to increase until enough repair shops set their own labor rate, insist on getting paid that rate and tell their customers up front that they will be looking to them to pay any difference their insurer refuses to pay.

Repair shops legally cannot agree with one another to charge a particular rate. But individual repair shops can choose what they want to charge and can determine what other shops in the area are charging so that they can be competitive and set their rate accordingly. Further, there are consultants that can look at your business and help you determine what you need to get for a labor rate in order to make a reasonable profit. There are also surveys that can tell you what other shops are charging – and what they are actually getting paid. And in today’s world, there also may be online resources that can help you determine what a reasonable labor rate for your shop and your location might be.

No matter what insurers tell you, there is nothing preventing you from charging what you want to get paid and balance-billing your customers for what their insurers won’t pay. And despite the ridiculous Notice recently issued by the Division of Standards – as the result of apparently bogus information supplied to the Division by a couple of insurers – there is NOTHING illegal about suggesting to your customers that they try to get reimbursed from their insurers for whatever those additional amounts are. You also can develop and inform your customers of strategies that you believe may be effective in convincing their insurers to reimburse them, provide your customers with suggested language to use when making a demand to their insurer and otherwise provide assistance in their efforts as you see fit.

Please understand that you need to let your customers know in advance what your charges are, that their insurer may not be willing to pay your labor rate, that the customer will be responsible for the amount that the insurer will not pay and that although they should try to get reimbursed the additional amount from their insurer, there is no guarantee that their insurer will pay it. But if you can educate your customers as to what it truly takes to properly repair their cars and that you have the ability to properly make those repairs, but that you need to get paid a decent labor rate in order to remain in business, then hopefully your customers will agree to your terms.

Also, your ability to charge and collect a higher labor rate may be affected by the nature of your particular business. As an example, do you perform specialty work? Historically, businesses that specialize in certain repairs, perhaps for repairs to particular high-end vehicles, have been able to get paid more when they sell their services in a way that makes their customers and their customers’ insurers understand that they are worth being paid more.

This originally was brought to my attention many years ago by a shop that only repaired Corvettes and had built a reputation for doing so. They did not care what an insurer was paying. Their customer was the car owner, and these particular car owners took great pride in their vehicles and were willing to pay more out of their own pocket to make sure that repairs to their cars were being performed by a reputable business that knew what it was doing.

I have seen this occur for other high-end vehicles as well –including once seeing an insurance industry lawyer willing to pay extra dollars out of his own pocket for repairs to his Volvo. The attorney knew from his experience representing insurers that certain repair shops were less than reputable, he knew the excellent reputation of the shop that he chose to make repairs, and he was willing to pay a few dollars more to make sure that repairs were properly made to his vehicle.

Over the years, I have also seen several shops who have taken the bull by the horns and learned and invested in specialized repair technologies ahead of other shops. The making of aluminum repairs sticks in my mind as a prime example. When the ability to make proper aluminum repairs was in the hands of only a few shops in the state, those shops were able to set – and continued on pg. 38