What in the World is Going on with the Collision Industry?

We used to be able to pretty well predict what is going to happen next, or what might happen based on the times and issues we are facing. Well, that’s out the window these days! Being an observer and problem solver in the collision industry, I often get warning signs that something is about to happen long before it does. Shop owners and workers in the collision industry often call me on the AASP/NJ Hotline to report occurrences and to seek assistance with odd situations. I typically have a solution or a form to provide, which can usually solve the problem or at least assist in the resolution of the matter. That’s usually because these problems are recurring ones and the Hotline office has a wealth of information and answers that often cannot be found easily anywhere else.

Lately, however, and especially since the COVID pandemic, the issues and problems we have been seeing more recently are new, and often, quite unusual. In fact, some of the issues that members have been making me aware of just don’t add up. I recently received a call from a member who informed me that an insurer’s response to a request for a supplement was, “We are not coming back; we have paid all we are going to pay.” Another member reported that an insurer inspected a damaged vehicle and simply refused to pay for one item after another. I was informed that the insurer’s response was, “We don’t pay for that,” over and