AASP/MA Continues Consumer Outreach on WSAR

Over the past several months, AASP/MA Executive Director Evangelos “Lucky” Papageorg has been making frequent appearances on “Everything Auto with Mike Penacho” – the weekly radio show on WSAR 1480 AM/ 95.9 FM hosted by AASP/ MA Zone 1 Director Mike Penacho (Mike’s Auto Body; Fall River). The ongoing goal of these guest spots has been to arm the consumers listening in with guidance and information to help them better navigate the repair process and deal with their insurance companies.

For two special episodes over the summer, Papageorg was accompanied by his assistant at AASP/MA, the uniquely qualified Nadine Nesbitt – who is both a Massachusettslicensed auto damage appraiser and an insurance agent – to give listeners a broader perspective on how they can better inform and protect themselves through the auto repair and claim settlement processes.

During the show’s July 12 broadcast, Nesbitt spoke directly to consumers in regard to things they need to keep in mind when dealing with insurers.

“Insurance companies are very good at many things – one of which is making a profit. We want our checks to not bounce when we get them from the insurance company. However, there are many different things they do, and most consumers don’t know what’s right or what’s wrong. Most consumers don’t even read their policy […] Consumers are paying billions of dollars for a product, and the companies should be delivering, in my opinion.”

Papageorg discussed the importance of consumers making informed decisions on the kinds of parts used in their repairs – even when their carrier attempts to convince a shop to use products that may not reach full OEM standards.

“Consumers really need to be aware of an old adage: ‘You can pay me now or pay me later.’ With the advent of things like CARFAX and other reporting systems that are out there, if you get into an accident with your vehicle, it’s been reported. The information about how that vehicle is repaired, the extent of that repair and how much money was spent all goes into this reporting system […] If you’re looking to sell that vehicle down the road, somebody’s going to run a CARFAX on it. If you’re going to trade it in, every dealer out there has access to CARFAX and looks at it regularly. If you feel your vehicle is worth $10,000 but that CARFAX report shows that you had x dollars’ worth of damage and the repairs were made with aftermarket parts, that dealer is going to substantially reduce the amount of value of the vehicle on a tradein. Your insurance company may have saved some money up front, but you end up getting penalized in the long run.”

Papageorg encouraged listeners to utilize AASP/MA as their resource for any issues or concerns they encounter during the course of repair.

“A typical person driving a vehicle has an accident once every seven to 15 years. You don’t stay current or knowledgeable on something that doesn’t affect you on a daily basis. We are the people who face it on a daily basis and are able to give the most current information to help someone the best.”

Above all, Nesbitt reminded consumers that their insurers work for them.

“If something doesn’t seem right, ask them, ‘How come you’re doing this?’ Feel free to ask questions. They have a job because you paid for the policy.”

Due to the great listener response to their previous appearance, Papageorg and Nesbitt returned to Penacho’s show on August 9. Highlights of this episode included an in-depth discussion on the differences between first- and third-party claims. Papageorg informed listeners that a first-party claim is when they go through their own insurance policy to cover damage to their vehicle, while third-party claims are handled through another party’s carrier. When an insured goes through the other driver’s policy, that company later gets reimbursed for its outlay from the at-fault driver’s insurer through a process called subrogation. Nesbitt advised that consumers can sometimes proceed with a combination of first- and third-party claims to bring their vehicles back to pre-loss condition. “Every single accident is different; the thing to consider is that you have choices. You don’t have to only do one way; you may need to do both ways. As an example, you may want to use your own collision coverage for the damage to your car if the shop is repairing

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it because you may have what’s called a ‘waiver of deductible,’ meaning that you don’t have to worry about putting up for the deductible and wait to be reimbursed under the subrogation rules. But what if you didn’t buy rental car coverage? In that situation, you can go third party for reimbursement on your rental car.”

However, Nesbitt cautioned listeners that if they elect to go through the third-party insurer to settle a claim, Massachusetts law dictates that any unpaid taxes, liens, child support payments or other debts they are subject to will be reduced from the amount they receive for a repair.

As Papageorg added, “Let’s say you had $10,000 worth of damage but you’re $5,000 behind in your IRS payments. That third-party insurer is obligated to send that first $5,000 to the IRS. You would get the remainder. That obviously doesn’t lessen the amount of repairs that have to be done, so you’re basically working from a $5,000 hole that you somehow have to make up to get the vehicle properly repaired.” "Everything Auto with Mike Penacho” can be heard weekly at 2pm on wsar.com. Archived recordings of the July 12 and August 9 episodes are available at aaspma.org.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS AND THE COLLISION INDUSTRY

MASSACHUSETTS