EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
It’s Broken; Let’s Fix It! by CHARLES BRYANT “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” does not apply to the current situation between the collision industry and the insurance industry! The insurance industry’s ability to control collision shops’ Labor Rates and to limit which repair procedures it will and will not pay for puts New Jersey consumers’ lives at risk! This is not a matter of collision shops simply pushing to get higher profits from insurers; it is a matter of insurers ignoring the fact that today’s vehicles are nothing like the vehicles that were on the roads a few years ago. As I have mentioned numerous times before, modern vehicles must be repaired according to position statements and repair procedures published by the vehicle manufacturers, not according to restricted repair procedures issued by insurers. The days of Let’s Make a Deal on how vehicles get repaired and what procedures will or will not be paid for (that insurers have enjoyed for years) is over. I want to make sure everyone reading this message understands what I just said: Those days are OVER! Unfortunately, it appears that the insurance industry isn’t the only one that just doesn’t seem to get this. So many collision shops have come to believe that whatever the insurance industry says is just the way things have to be, whether they like it or not. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Because insurers have been utilizing the practice of steering and playing hardball with the collision shops for such a long time, many shop owners have given up – they repair damaged vehicles at whatever Labor Rate and in whatever manner the insurers are willing to pay. This may have worked when the vehicles being repaired were fairly simple; in the past, ignoring certain recommended repair procedures did not matter on those models nearly as much as it does with today’s vehicles. I don’t mean to discredit anyone by pointing out what has transpired over the years, which has brought us to where we are today. Shops had every right to say, “If the insurance company
18 | New Jersey Automotive | October 2021
is not going to pay for a procedure, I am not going to perform the procedure for free.” Years ago, that meant the repair may not have been performed as well as the manufacturer recommended, but it was repaired to a level that the public would accept. For the most part, omitting certain procedures because an insurer would not pay for them did not prevent the vehicle from functioning the way it was intended. Today, that is an entirely different story. Today’s vehicles are equipped with many features that affect the occupants’ safety, so procedures must be performed to ensure the vehicle functions as designed by the manufacturer to protect the occupants when involved in a collision. I have a message for the shops that rightfully say, “If the insurance company won’t pay for the procedure, I am not going to perform the procedure.” That message is: I think you better go speak with an attorney about that position. I would be willing to bet that the answer you get will be that avoiding a procedure that is listed in a position statement or published by the manufacturer because an insurer was not willing to pay for the procedure will not relieve you from the liability if someone is injured in a collision because the procedure was not performed. Vehicles must be repaired according to the position statements and repair procedures published by the manufacturers, or people are eventually going to die as a result. There’s only one way to stop the insurers’ improper conduct and unwillingness to pay for the repair procedures to restore damaged vehicles to a safe operating condition: The collision industry must simply refuse to repair vehicles in any manner other than what is dictated by the manufacturers’ position statements and published repair procedures. As such, I would caution collision shops that have been intimidated into repairing damaged vehicles in a manner other than as dictated by the manufacturer. If anyone would like to discuss this further, I can be reached on the AASP/NJ Hot Line at (732) 922-8909. NJA
