The subject of supplements was brought up at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) in San Jose last July - and it is an issue that is clearly in need of attention. One participant pointed out that each supplement costs an average of $250. While this number struck me as high, it began to make sense when I focused on the fact that supplements are time consuming - and estimators don't work for free. 

Amaradio

Several different reasons for the growth of supplements were explored. First, it was suggested that inexperienced estimators were the major cause for the increase in supplements, but I disagree. While inexperience plays a small part, it is far from the major cause. Once again body shops are being blamed for the biggest part of the problem. I know exactly when we saw our supplements begin to increase at an abnormal rate - and that was with the inception of DRP programs.

There was a time when I could count the supplements we did in a month on one hand. Most old timers remember the days when the adjuster would come in, copy your estimate, verify the damage, and then ask if you included everything because he didn't want any phone calls.

This was before shop owners allowed the insurers to take control of our industry. Everything changed when DRP contracts began dictating the estimating process. I recall being written up for writing a radiator on an estimate that was pushed through the fan clutch. The DRP representative told me that if I couldn't see it, I shouldn't write it on the estimate. I could see the plastic tank was bent but I couldn't see the actual hole in the radiator because it was pushed over the fan clutch (this is true). I argued that I had enough experience to know that the radiator was ruined. He than told me not to rely on my experience, and to only write what I could see. This is how unnecessary supplements were conceived. If I couldn't rely on my experience, whose experience could I rely on?

Secondly, the "try and see" method was addressed. This works if you have no experience and want to act like you do. Sound familiar? We were next told to make some initial pulls to see how something pulled before we could finalize our estimate. However, we weren't even allowed to put pull time on the original estimate, thus creating another supplement.

For example, if we put eight hours on a frame and eight hours of repair time on each quarter panel, we are then instructed not to write the quarter panel time until we make our pulls. We know what is considered to be an eight-hour repair, but still we are asked to make the pull first to see if the time should be decreased. Another supplement is created even though repair time usually stays the same. Furthermore, we are required to photograph the damage during the repair process to assure there is no overcharging.

Shop owners can help

Now most supplements are being created because the DRP estimating model has become the norm in the industry - even when DRPs are not involved. Insurance companies are trying to estimate the vehicle's damage instead of doing their job - which is adjusting the estimates created by the shop. Even if an inexperienced adjuster comes into my shop, we are more than willing to help create a proper estimate.

Recently, when an inexperienced estimator from Progressive came into my shop to ask me a question about a particular repair process, I suggested she take a look at our estimate and use it as a guideline. Wow! She looked at me as if I were asking her to commit fraud, and then went on to tell me that if she even looked at my estimate she would be fired. The reasoning behind this is that she had been taught to leave items off the estimate hoping they would be overlooked - a third reason supplements are created. The mentality of some insurance companies is that if they make the shops fight for the repair, it must really be necessary. Remember, this applies to some insurance companies. There are insurers that have realized that shops are the repair experts and rely on our judgment, but they are the exception not the rule.

Let me emphasize that there is no lack of experience on our part. We still have to charge what we charge to make a reasonable profit. Supplements were reinvented by the insurers as a way to control the cost of the repair. We as shop owners still need to find all of the damage and to be paid for every repair process we do - just to remain solvent. This creates supplement after supplement - not because we don't know how to tear down a vehicle and write a complete estimate - but because the insurance companies have too much control in the estimating process.