Sept. 3, 2013—The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) has announced its support of the Mississippi Collision Repair Association’s (MSCRA) recently filed suit against State Farm and PartsTrader in an attempt to prevent the insurer from bringing the PartsTrader program to Mississippi.
“The collision industry has clearly rejected the concept of PartsTrader, yet State Farm is taking the position that they are going to force PartsTrader on the collision industry,” said Charles Bryant, AASP/NJ executive director. “State Farm’s attempt to create the appearance that they are trying to help the collision industry solve a problem has clearly failed.”
On Aug. 28, MSCRA and two dozen collision repair facility operators filed a lawsuit in the Hinds County, Miss., Chancery Court against State Farm and PartsTrader, stating the required PartsTrader program can damage their cycle time and therefore, harm customer satisfaction.
“If PartsTrader was good for the collision industry, State Farm would have been able to convince the industry to accept the concept by now,” said Bryant.
“We believe the suit is without merit and we intend to vigorously defend the suit,” said State Farm spokesperson Roszell Gadson.
