Local news stories affecting the auto body industry in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, Alaska and Wyoming
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Rick’s Auto Body of Missoula for nine serious violations of workplace safety and health standards. The employer faces $51,100 in proposed fines as a result of an August inspection following a fatal accident at the facility.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced Nov. 15 that Safeco Insurance Company has agreed to pay a $900,000 fine and reform its approval process for homeowners and auto insurance coverage. The company was fined for the unapproved use of credit scores to deny homeowners coverage, failure to follow its own approved rating guidelines and other auto rating violations.
"This case is a prime example of why market conduct exams are an important tool in insurance regulation," Commissioner Jones said. "When we find that insurers are not complying with the law, we are able to take appropriate action and protect consumers."
Market conduct exams are audits of insurers' rating and underwriting or claim handling activities. Based on a routine exam covering periods of 2006 and 2007, the California Department of Insurance found that Safeco, now a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, was using credit scores and credit components in underwriting homeowner insurance. The exam revealed that in 26 instances homeowners were declined due to their credit rating.
The exam also revealed that in more than 64,700 instances Safeco failed to follow its own approved rating guidelines, including inconsistently applying good driver discounts and discounts for operating a four-door vehicle. As a result of the findings, Safeco issued refunds for a three-year period, resulting in approximately $3.1 million being refunded to California policyholders.
Other non-compliance violations revealed during the exam included more than 38,000 instances where homeowners were not provided with the California Residential Property Bill of Rights and general rating violations where Safeco was using an unapproved rating model.
On a sunny day in the City by the Bay more than 100 golfers representing every segment of the collision industry played 18 holes at Harding Park in San Francisco at the annual FinishMaster tournament on Oct. 9. This breathtaking TPC course is considered to be one of the elite municipal courses in the country, featuring pristine greens and lush fairways throughout. The annual Harding Park Tournament was originally hosted by the San Francisco chapter of the California Autobody Association, but when that chapter folded several years ago, FinishMaster took over the sponsorship to continue this tournament, now celebrating its 16th year.
On Nov. 10th, the day after their annual Gala fundraiser, a safe containing approximately $6,000 in cash and other valuable items was stolen from the Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante, CA. Obviously shocked by the theft, word of the tragedy traveled quickly through the Bay Area and Mike’s Auto Body stepped up and saved the day, by donating money to the organization and covering the loss.
Billy Zeier the Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante couldn’t believe that someone would steal their safe. “We were riding a high after raising $30,000 at our ‘We Are the Children of the World’ fundraiser,” Zeier said. “It was a huge success after almost a full year of work, so all of us were pleased. But, then the next morning we find out that the safe was gone and we all just felt deflated.”
But then the phone rang a couple days later, when Sal Contreras, Sales & Marketing Director for Mike’s Auto Body was calling to deliver some very good news. “I was actually in a meeting when Sal called,” Zeier explained. “I told my people, I’ll call as soon as I get a chance and they said, no—you should talk to him right now. When he told me that Mike’s Auto Body was going to cover the loss, we were obviously ecstatic! What an amazing thing they’ve done for us! Mike Rose and the people at Mike’s Auto Body took a bad situation and turned it around. This is a great lesson for our youth, because it shows that some people really care.”
Sal Contreras is a Boys & Girls Club alum himself, so he knows the value of the organization and how it shapes young lives. “When I was growing up in Richmond, Ca, I was a member at the Richmond Boys & Girls Club,” Contreras said. “So, when Mike Rose called me and said let’s cover their loss, I didn’t hesitate for a second before making the call. Billy was obviously surprised and when we went there to present them with the check, all of the kids couldn’t stop smiling. The El Sobrante Boys & Girls Club is a great program and they really push the educational aspect. Staying in school is one of their main messages and that’s why many of their members have gone on to attend college.”
Ragen Ortland, Operations Manager at Mike’s Auto Body was happy to be in a position to help the Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante. "When we heard about the incident with the Boys & Girls Club, we were appalled that someone would steal from a non-profit and especially a non-profit that benefits children,” Ortland said. “My father (Owner Mike Rose) told us that he wanted to replace the missing funds and we immediately agreed with his decision. This time of year is difficult enough and to have something like this happen can be very disheartening. We felt that replacing the missing funds was the least we can do during this holiday season."
The Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante was established in 1958 when a group of parents were concerned about the lack of facilities and activities for boys in the neighborhood. In 1998, the Girls Club, previously a separate organization located in the building next door, joined the Boys Club to create the Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante.
Members participate in a variety of programs within the five core areas of Arts; Education & Career Development; Sports, Fitness & Recreation; Health & Life Skills; and Character & Leadership Development. The club is affiliated with the Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA), with 4,000 clubs nationwide and representing 4.1 million children.
The Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante serves children ages 7-18 from West Contra Costa, including El Sobrante, and its surrounding cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, Crockett, and Rodeo. At the beginning of the school year, members set personal, school, and career goals, which are reviewed at the end of the school year.
Mike's Auto Body is a 41-year-old family-owned business with 11 locations in Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Richmond, Fairfield, and Napa.
On November 22, detectives arrested a 47-year-old man at his home after a search warrant was served at the home and stolen property taken from the club was found inside, according to Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee. The man is out on bail and awaiting trial and innocent until proven guilty.
The California Department of Insurance Fraud Division announced Dec. 5 the arrest of three-of-six individuals suspected of running a glass harvesting ring-filing more than 1,000 false insurance claims for windshield repair totaling nearly $100,000. The suspects were arrested on multiple felony charges for grand theft, false personation of another, and filing fraudulent insurance claims. Using actual consumers' insurance policies, the suspects allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for automobile insurance windshield chip repairs to multiple insurance companies between May 9, 2011 and May 24, 2012.
The Boyd Group Inc. has announced the opening of three new repair centers in Arizona, located in the areas of Gilbert, Scottsdale and Tempe. All three locations were previously operated under the name of Certified Collision Centers.
Reversing a trial court’s decision, a California appellate court has ruled that a motor vehicle exclusion in a homeowner’s insurance policy barred coverage of claims against the insured homeowner and his wife after he accidentally ran over his two-year old granddaughter with his pickup truck in his driveway.
After Jose Bautista’s tragic accident, his insurance carrier, Farmers Insurance Exchange, sought a declaration that it was not obligated to provide coverage under the homeowner’s insurance policy it had issued with respect to the resulting action that alleged, among other things, that Mr. Bautista’s wife had negligently supervised their granddaughter. The insurer argued that the motor vehicle exclusion in the homeowner’s policy precluded any potential coverage because all of the claims in the action arose out of Mr. Bautista’s use of a motor vehicle.
The trial court denied Farmers’ motion for summary adjudication, finding that the motor vehicle exclusion in the policy did not apply. The dispute reached the court of appeal.
The Homeowner’s Insurance policy provided personal liability coverage in the amount of $300,000 per occurrence under Coverage E, which stated:
We pay those damages which an insured becomes legally obligated to pay because of bodily injury ... resulting from an occurrence to which this coverage applies.
The policy excluded from Coverage E bodily injury that:
7. results from the ownership, maintenance, use, loading or unloading of ... b. motor vehicles...”
The appellate court rejected the trial court’s ruling. In its decision, the court of appeal explained that the coverage issue turned on whether Mr. Bautista’s alleged negligent operation of his truck and Ms. Bautista’s alleged negligent supervision of her granddaughter were dependent or independent concurrent proximate causes of the girl’s fatal injuries. It then decided that Ms. Bautista’s alleged negligent supervision of her granddaughter allowed her to become exposed to the specific hazard created by the arrival of Mr. Bautista in his truck. None of the alleged negligent supervision existed “independently of [Mr. Bautista’s] use ... of the vehicle,” the appeals court added.
Therefore, the appellate court ruled, the trial court had erred in finding that Ms. Bautista’s alleged negligent supervision of her granddaughter existed independently of the “use” of a motor vehicle. Her alleged negligence “was sufficiently related to [Mr. Bautista’s] use of the vehicle and ‘part of a course of uninterrupted conduct’ that it fell within the motor vehicle exclusion.”
Farmers had no liability under the homeowner’s insurance policy as a matter of law and was entitled to summary adjudication on its complaint and the Bautistas’ cross-complaint that it had no duty to indemnify or defend the Bautistas in the underlying action, the appellate court concluded.
The case is Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Superior Court, No. B248324 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 28, 2013). Attorneys involved include: Archer Norris, Limor Lehavi, Mariyetta A. Meyers–Lopez; Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland, Robert A. Olson and Feris M. Greenberger for Petitioner; Louis G. Fazzi and Fernando J. Bernheim for Real Parties in Interest.
Mackin’s Auto Body in Vancouver, WA, was chosen as the 2013 IMPACT I-CAR Elite Member of the year, exemplifying excellence in the collision industry.
IMPACT is the marketing arm of RDA. IMPACT provides programs to keep the collision shops competitive and I-CAR provides the education to repair the vehicles properly.
Mackin’s Auto Body is third generation family owned and operated business. Makin’s has been in business for 86 years with 8 locations in Oregon and Washington. They employ 100 people. Owners Suzanne and Larry Mackin know how to give their customers professional and reliable auto body service. They joined as an IMPACT Elite member because they see value in the many benefits the program offers. Makin’s “Does it right” every time and we are proud to call them the 2013 IMPACT I-CAR member of the year.
RDA/IMPACT is the largest national group of refinish jobbers dedicated to providing quality services and products to their collision shops. RDA has 19 members, representing 185 locations. Members service over 3,600 collision centers throughout the US and do over $400 million in sales as a group, comprising around 15% of the refinish business nationwide. Those interested in RDA/IMPACT should contact Robert McKenzie, Jr. directly at 731-217-9081 or via email at robertemckenzie@me.com. Visit their web site at www.impactcollisionsolutions.com or contact Melisa Jolls at 908-251-5713.
The Sacramento Bee has reported that Rocklin, CA, police were able to track down four auto burglary suspects – three adults and a juvenile – on Sunday after investigators found a photograph online of $120 worth of food from Carl’s Jr. that was purchased with a credit card stolen in one of the burglaries.
“I’m glad we caught them,” said Sgt. Scott Horrillo. “Sometimes, technology acts in our favor; sometimes, it doesn’t. This time it did.”
Tavion Spignor, 19, Leroy Jackson, 27, and Malek Morgan, 20, all of Sacramento, were arrested on suspicion of auto burglary, conspiracy, possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of personal ID.
They were being held at the Placer County jail in Auburn on Monday. Bond for Spignor was set at $10,000, while Jackson’s was $20,000. Morgan’s bail had not been set yet.
A 17-year-old male, also from Sacramento, was held at the county’s juvenile detention center. He faces the same charges as the other three.
On Saturday night, between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., the four allegedly broke into four different vehicles that were parked in the Blue Oaks Town Center on Lonetree Boulevard and the nearby Staybridge Suites Hotel parking lots in Rocklin.
According to police, they smashed in car windows and grabbed GPS units, wallets and other items that had been left in plain sight.
Shortly after midnight, one of the victims who had caught a movie at the Blue Oaks Town Center theater came out to find her vehicle burglarized and reported the crime. She learned that about an hour earlier, around 11 p.m., one of her credit cards had been used at the nearby Carl’s Jr. restaurant to pay for $120 worth of food.
Investigators contacted the restaurant manager, who remembered a large drive-through order that was paid by credit card. According to police, the manager, who was not identified, had thought the order was suspicious and had taken down the license plate number of the vehicle.
She also thought she recognized one of the suspects as a student at a local high school, and told detectives that photos from the Carl’s Jr. order had been posted on Instagram.
Katelyn Hubick, 20, who was working as a shift leader at the Carl’s Jr. restaurant Saturday night, gave a slightly different account of what happened. She said that a trainee had taken the order.
“They came through and they said they would pay for the person behind them,” said Hubick.
“I was the one who wrote down the license plate, because I thought it was weird. We never see orders that big, never. And the fact that they would pay for the person behind them, and didn’t know how much that order was, I told (the trainee), ‘This is weird.’ ”
Hubick said the order included five $6 burgers, five orange creme shakes, three barbeque chicken quesadillas, one bacon Swiss chicken sandwich, two double western sandwiches, two orders of fried zucchini, six orders of cross-cut fries, two teriyaki burgers, with added bacon, two barbeque chicken sandwiches, with added bacon, five southwest chicken tacos, with added sour cream. The total came out to $119.95.
Hubick said her twin sister, Danielle, prepared the food while she went outside to get the license plate of the car, a Buick that pulled around and parked in front of the restaurant to wait for the food to be delivered.
“I went out and parked behind them and shined the lights on them and got the license plate,’ she said. “They started acting all weird – they were looking back and fidgeting.”
After they left, Hubick said the trainee decided to snap a picture of the receipt from the order and posted it on Instagram because it was the largest order she had seen.
A friend of the food service worker saw the photo and told her, “I know the person because they posted a photo of all the food,” according to Hubick. The friend had been following the juvenile suspect’s Instagram feed.
Horrillo confirmed that the photos were taken by the juvenile suspect, and that detectives were able to identify him and learn that the suspects were planning to return to Rocklin Sunday night.
Officers were on the lookout for the Buick, which belonged to Spignor. At 9 p.m. Sunday, an officer spotted the Buick speed by him, going west on Sunset Boulevard. The car then pulled into a Walgreens parking lot at Park Drive and Sunset Boulevard.
Horillo said that the suspects went into the Walgreens and were coming out of the store when the officer detained them.
A search of the Buick turned up items that were stolen in the auto burglaries Saturday night, as well as things that were taken in an unreported auto burglary in Roseville about an hour before the Walgreens stop.
Hubick said she was glad that the burglary suspects were caught.
“I think they’re kind of stupid,” she said of the suspects’ postings. “I think social networking is helping to catch people.”
Three people were injured at Tesla Motors Inc.'s factory in California on Nov. 13 after a low-pressure aluminum casting press failed, the company said.
Local fire officials said there was no fire at the company's Fremont factory, describing the incident as an "industrial accident."
"There was a failure in a low-pressure aluminum casting press," Tesla said in a statement Wednesday. "Three employees were injured by hot metal from that press."
The company, which makes the Model S electric sedan at the factory, could not be immediately reached for further details.
Shares in Tesla fell after early news reports of the incident but later rebounded.
This is the latest in a string of setbacks for Tesla, which began in early October when a Model S caught fire. There have been three fires so far, two of which occurred after the car struck debris while on the road.