Moments before going before a judge for the first hearing on another lawsuit filed by Ray Gunder on behalf of a customer for a short pay on a repair, State Farm agreed to pay the entire amount due plus Gunder's legal fees and costs.
Gunder, owner of Gunder's Auto Center in Lakeland, Fla., is an advocate of pressing insurers to provide full compensation for necessary processes and materials needed to properly and thoroughly repair his customer's vehicles. He's an advocate of pursuing legal remedies on behalf of his customers to recover money not paid by insurers for needed repairs.
In a previous case, a matter of unpaid procedures and paint and material invoicing was settled during a court ordered mediation and actual litigation was avoided. State Farm agreed to pay all the procedural and material invoicing as well as Gunder's legal fees and costs associated with that case against them.
Gunder has had other successful cases where he recovered in these cases.
A few weeks ago, Gunder said another one of his customers was denied consideration for needed paint related procedures (prime, block and feathering aka fill, sand and feather) and the labor called for to re-set electronics on a customer's vehicle.
Upon the insurer's refusal to pay, as customary, Gunder contacted his customer and explained the denials and short-pay and discussed possible activities to collect. Gunder said his customer became "extremely agitated and immediately contacted the State Farm claim rep and expressed his dismay."
After several calls and discussions, three days later State Farm called him to advise that they would pay the paint related "prime block and feathering" and related materials as well as re- setting the vehicle' electronics, including resetting the programmed stations in the radio, which were noted by Gunder prior to performing the repair that required disconnecting the battery. State Farm issued a check for $131.61 to cover those costs.
Gunder said he received a letter from his customer who indicated he was happy with the resolution and that he intends to continue bringing his cars to Gunder's Auto Center as needed in the future.
