THE SILENT MAJORITY STAYING SILENT DOES NOT WORK
You could be lulled into complacency with all the constant game changing, new rules and demands that never stops coming in the area of South African collision repair. For a clear picture of what needs to be changed going forward, perhaps we should take a deep look at how others are solving them.
The U.S. legislative sessions wrapped up their year with various new laws that directly impact matters related to OEM procedures, and labour rate studies with regard to customer claims. Each state in the U.S. is able to set their own laws, making it easier to address individual state problems and not allowing for too much time to elapse before problems are addressed or become lost.
In Rhode Island, David McKee signed a new law into legislation making it an unfair claims practice for insurers to refuse to compensate a repair shop for “documented procedures identified as necessary the OEM manufacturer or paint manufacturer when requested by the repairer”. Further, to this, new legislation passed limits of what insurers can negotiate if they fail to meet the existing state requirements to perform supplemental reviews within four business days after requested by a body shop.
In Texas, Grey Abbott signed into law the elimination of state vehicle safety inspections for non-commercial vehicles. It calls for the states commissioner financial regulation to conduct a study of collision repair labour rates, the use of aftermarket parts and market conditions. There is to be a report made of findings and recommendations on the fairness of these rates on offer to examine the extent to which automotive insurance influences repair work done for customers at body shop level.
Florida Governor, Ron Desantis signed into law a legal code that gives state regulators greater authority to investigate insurance companies and levy heavier fines for misconduct. There is also a law that now prohibits policyholders from entering into an assignment of proceeds agreement for an auto glass company of their own choice in a vehicle claim.
In Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin took away the option of a $500 fee to register an insurance free vehicle. Now they have to hold an insurance policy at all times.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a law to say that scrap dealers need to keep records of purchases of detached catalytic converters aimed at curbing catalytic converter theft.
In Maine, both chambers of the legislature passed a bill that mandates that liability in insurance policies cover the cost of both towing and storage on certain vehicles.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore made a new law that prohibits an insurer from steering a claim to a particular vendor on a claim for automotive glass replacement.
We can see in the above new laws being passed in the US, that the great American dream is in full swing. Various national body shop customers and repair body associations have moved to create a level playing field against insurance and OEM non-negotiable repair demands and have they achieved good results.
It is high time that we took up these issues with our seemingly dormant Competition Commission in South Africa and their ongoing silence at the status quo of insurance top-down dominance against collision repair operators. We need a big shake up!
by Ian Groat
