A conflict of interest

"Thus the vertical integration of an insurance company into the auto body repair industry creates an inherent conflict of interest."

- from a U.S. District Court ruling finding that a Texas law banning insurer-owned collision repair shops to be constitutional.

No I-9, no job

"If you're going 'wink-wink' on the I-9 paperwork and knowingly employing people not properly documented to work in this country, you are running a risk of being nailed by this agency. And not only are you going to be criminally prosecuted, but they're also going to seize your shop."

- Employment law attorney Cory King, cautioning business owners that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE) special agents are cracking down on employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

"Right to repair"

"The close 14-13 favorable vote came despite an intense lobbying effort [against the bill] launched by the vehicle manufacturers, new car dealers and the Automotive Service Association."

- Aaron Lowe, vice president of government affairs for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, speaking of a U.S. House subcommittee's approval last May of "Right to Repair" legislation that would require automakers to make service and repair information available to the aftermarket.

"We strongly oppose this amendment and urge the Committee to strike this anti- consumer provision from the legislation. As long as this provision remains in H.R. 2048, we cannot support the bill."

- From a letter from four consumer groups - including Public Citizen, founded by Ralph Nader - opposing the amended "Right to Repair" legislation which removed the provision for consumers' private right of action; the legislation failed to move further before Congress adjourned in December.

The estimating runaround

"We're not going to sign it. We will not be continuing our relationship with American Family Insurance. Based on the number of claims we get, it doesn't make economic sense for us to sign this contract."

- Chad Eldridge of Majestic Auto Body in Idaho Falls, Idaho, after learning this Fall that the insurer is now requiring its direct repair shops to use the Solera (formerly ADP) estimating system, while Eldridge has seven months left (at $433 a month) on a Mitchell International estimating system contract he had signed when American Family switched to that system about three years earlier.

"I'm happy to report that the two information providers were willing to sit in a room with us and discuss ways to provide relief to repairers. We did talk with the insurer and didn't get quite the results or the same amount of respect or credibility that we did from the information providers. It was disappointing and disheartening. The conversations we did have with the insurer reinforced the fact that they had no courtesy or respect for the collision repairs who are allegedly their partners."

- Dan Risley, executive director of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), on his group's efforts this past fall to work with Solera, Mitchell and American Family Insurance on concerns about the insurer's switch in the its required estimating system for its DRP shops.