The new SCRS Board of Directors

One of the four issues involved what were referred to as "bellman programs," in which an insurer takes the damaged vehicle, has it repaired and returns it to the owner, who has no contact with the collision repair shop. Although consumer acceptance of such programs are likely to drive their success or failure, repairers believe they should have some input on the criteria used to select the shops involved to ensure it doesn't spiral down to the "cheapest provider."

Industry consultant Tony Passwater of AEII pointed out that such programs have been in use in Australia for more than a decade; some shops have built a new business model around them, eliminating the need for retail space, a lot of administrative staff or 'fancy buildings." But, he said, such programs are likely to fail if consumers don't perceive they're getting the quality of work they were promised.

Database abuse

A second issue that is already being worked on at CIC is misuse or "abuse" of the estimating databases.

"We have a couple insurance companies that on a repaired panel are requesting or demanding or wanting to pay only a percentage of the flat rate paint time and then full clear time," said Pat Gisler, executive director of Automotive Service Councils of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, cited as one example of the problem.

Others pointed to the problems of "caps" or "thresholds" on materials, disputes over "feather, fill and block," and alignment reimbursements being based on "tire store sale prices."

"The database clearly indicates what it takes to perform that [alignment] operation," Gary Wano, an Oklahoma shop owner and treasurer of SCRS, said. "There's a lot of difference between what it takes to align a car that you're just putting new tires on as opposed to something that's been in a collision. It's not as easy in most instances."

Insurer intrusion into shop management

A third category of issues raised by National Industry Issues Forum attendees were lumped together under the title of "insurer intrusion into shop management." It included such problems as insurers not allowing repairers to schedule work in throughout the week to maximize use of shop resources; specifying use of a specific estimating system; and the continued shift of claims administration costs to shops.

"In our area, we are even being told by insurers to purchase parts from specific vendors by name," stated Jeanne Silver, owner of CARSTAR Mundelein in Mundelein, Illinois.

Expense of automaker certification

The fourth category of issues repairers would like to see addressed involved the automakers. Of particular concern were shop certification programs being launched by some of the automakers, which may limit access to certain replacement parts or force independent shops to make large investments in equipment and training.

Consultant David McCreight of Collision Resources, for example, said one shop determined it would require $156,000 of equipment and nearly $10,000 in training and tools - not to mention an annual fee of nearly $5,000 - to be certified to repair one particular automaker's vehicles. That meant that shop would have to repair an additional 143 vehicles to make that investment pay off - yet only a few hundred of those high-end vehicles are likely to be sold in the shop's area, with only a small percentage of those needing collision repair work in any given year.

SCRS will translate the four issues chosen at the National Industry Issues Forum into actionable assignments to be worked on by the association, by Collision Industry Conference (CIC) committees, or by other appropriate industry organizations.