ADALB Reviews One Complaint and “Other Business” in Public Session

The most recent meeting of the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) on May 23 focused primarily on “other business,” though the second half of the public session provided time for a public review of a complaint (2022-44) brought against an independent appraiser, Thomas Newman, who was accompanied by Metropolitan Appraisal Services Owner Larry Kostant.

The complaint alleged that the appraiser would only pay $21 for a pre- and post-scan, despite the shop providing a sublet invoice showing the actual cost of the scans. Kostant argued, on behalf of his appraiser, that the invoice was presented prior to the post-scan being performed, causing Board member Bill Johnson (Pleasant Street Auto; South Hadley/Belchertown) to point out that it’s “commonplace to write a sheet before repairs have been completed. Underneath the direct repair program, your responsibility is to write a sheet for the proper repairs for the car.

“Further, you commented, ‘I don’t deal with dollars,’ but the CMR says it’s your responsibility to negotiate the cost of repairs,” Johnson added. “If you’re only negotiating hours, how are you attributing that to the cost of repairs?”

Kostant suggested that his company pays based on database times, and in response, Board member Rick Starbard (Rick’s Auto Collision; Revere) pointed to the Database Enhancement Gateway and the thousands of inquiries that have resulted in changes to database times. “Those times are not etched in stone because they’re not based in reality.”

Observing that the appraiser wrote for all the operations, though at a lesser amount than the shop requested, Board member Peter Smith (MAPFRE) asked if any operations by the shop went unaddressed. Newman acknowledged that he denied the shop’s charge to blend a damaged panel since the panel was damaged prior to the accident in question and therefore not covered under the claim.

When Chairman Michael Donovan questioned the total amount of money in dispute, Kostant informed him that the dispute was for approximately $400 on a $10,000 estimate, further insisting that he would have approved the additional value if the shop owner had contacted him instead of filing a complaint.

“To me, there was a failure to negotiate. The shop submitted a sublet slip for $95, but the appraiser came back with 0.5 hours which equals $21; the shop wasn’t trying to negotiate in hours, but the appraiser chose to convert it to tenths of hours. That seems to be a very clear failure to negotiate,” Johnson expressed, making a motion to sustain the complaint; however, he failed to get a second.

Board member Samantha Tracy (Arbella Insurance) motioned to dismiss the complaint, and Smith seconded it. Starbard agreed to dismiss the complaint under the condition that Kostant promised to make the customer whole by paying the difference charged as a copay as logged in the complaint.

In “other business,” addressed earlier in the meeting, Starbard raised a concern with independent appraisers writing for multiple shops, including unregistered shops, with the Board discussing the lack of communication between state and municipal departments of licensure. Johnson also reiterated his concerns from the previous meeting related to insurers’ inability to deem a vehicle a total loss prior to an inspection.

Once the public session concluded, the Board retired to Executive Session to continue its review of the complaints they agreed to proceed on in order to determine whether the complaints will be dismissed or if they will proceed to the next step of the ADALB’s complaint procedures.

The ADALB is scheduled to reconvene on July 12. Don’t miss detailed coverage of the May meeting, only available in the June issue of the Damage Report members only newsletter.

AASP/MA members are strongly encouraged to listen to the recording of the May 23 meeting in the Members Only section of aaspma.org for a glimpse into the inner workings of the ADALB. View the meeting agenda at bit.ly/ADALB0523