Fraud in California’s collision repair industry constitutes a very small percentage of complaints in the state, according to data shared in a public hearing Aug. 25 by Sherry Mehl, chief of the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), and Rick Plein, deputy commissioner of the enforcement branch for the California Department of Insurance (DOI).
Mehl was quoted as stating that the fraud rates in the industry are in fact "probably average to low." Plein said less than four tenths of one percent of the DOI's fraud complaints involve a collision repair facility.
Despite the low fraud statistics, Assembly member Mary Hayashi, who chairs the committee on business and professions and is the sponsor of a bill (AB 1200) that would diminish current California anti-steering laws, expressed the need for the committee to identify further steps to be taken to combat fraud in the auto repair industry. Hayashi called for the hearing after writing an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle that said the state’s collision repair industry is “challenged by fraud and misrepresentation.” Click here for previous article.
SCRS said it appreciates the call for common sense, voiced by Assembly member Roger Niello, who said, "it would be a bit of a leap...to condemn an entire industry because of a few bad apples. I have a concern about leaving a public hearing with the information that there is a pervasive problem of dishonesty, lack of ethics and fraud in the autobody repair industry, because I see absolutely no evidence of that based upon the testimony today."
"The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) has worked very diligently over the years toward our mission, which in part is to raise the professionalism of our industry," says Barry Dorn, SCRS chairman. "It is important for the motoring public to have a strong sense of faith and trust in the professionals who go to work each day to repair their vehicles with the utmost concern for safety and accuracy of the repair. Our industry has had obstacles in overcoming the public perception of our trade, and facts presented such as these validate that we have an industry of hard-working men and women who do work tirelessly to repair the public's damaged vehicles in a safe, honest and professional manner."
"As an industry association, we fully understand the ramifications that fraudulent activity has to our consumer base and to those of us who have worked hard to uphold the professionalism of the industry," says Luis Alonso, SCRS national director. "It is however extremely important that the legislature, media, and industry not sensationalize what has been proven to be a very small occurrence in a state such as California. Doing so only fosters an inaccurate public perception of the collision repair trade and minimizes the public's assurance in their service providers.
“It is far more important to recognize the great strides that have been made, documented by statics shared by Chief Mehl, which indicate only 2 percent of complaints filed through her office's hotline actually resulted in disciplinary action; coupled with the statement from Deputy Commissioner Plein that indicated less than four tenths of one percent of the DOI's fraud complaints involve a collision repair facility,” Alonso says. “Those are tremendous, low percentages that only highlight the high standard of ethics within this industry."
With an ongoing mission that includes a call to "raise the professional image of the individual and the industry," SCRS encourages all collision industry associations and outlets to ensure that information and activity that increases the consumers' trust in, and perception of, the industry remain a top priority.
"This is a proud industry of hard-working professionals that fulfill a valuable and needed role for their communities,” says Aaron Schulenburg, SCRS executive director. “It is very important to ensure that false assumptions, accusations and allegations of activity do not undermine the vast professionalism and integrity of our industry."
