More Insurers Paying for Spectrophotometer Use

More than one in five shops have billed insurers for the labor time required to set up and use a spectrophotometer, or color match camera, according to the quarterly “Who Pays for What?” survey completed earlier this year. 

A higher percentage of shops report they are paid regularly for it by eight large national insurance companies. Collision Advice and CRASH Network conduct the quarterly surveys. 

“We only started asking this question two years ago,” said Mike Anderson, shop consultant at Collision Advice. “In that time, the percentage of shops who believe that insurers ‘never’ pay for this procedure has dropped from 71% to 65%, while the number of shops saying they are paid for it ‘always’ or ‘most of the time,’ has grown.” 

In response to inquiries submitted through the Database Enhancement Gateway, all three major estimating system providers confirmed that using the camera to determine a color code formulation is not included in the published refinish labor times. 

“As automakers come out with more variations of colors, the use of a camera can become even more critical,” Anderson said. “It can be a not-inconsiderable amount of time in that you may have to buff or clean the panel prior to using the camera, and ensure you have the vehicle or panel placed in certain lighting conditions.” 

The latest quarterly “Who Pays for What?” survey is now open through the month of April. It focuses on not-included frame and mechanical labor operations. Shops can take the survey here. 

Anyone familiar with their shop's billing practices and the payment practices of at least some of the largest national insurers can complete the survey in about 15 minutes. Each shop’s individual responses are held in the strictest confidence; only aggregated data is released. 

Participants receive a free report with complete survey findings along with analysis and resources to help shops better understand and use the information presented. 

The results of previous surveys are also available online.