Oct. 4, 2016—The final “Who Pays for What?” survey for 2016 is open through the end of October. The survey focuses on aluminum repair labor rates, as well as which of more than 20 supplies shops bill for and are paid for by insurers.
Click here to access the survey.
Data from the frame and mechanical labor survey conducted in July garnered more than 750 responses. The survey showed that although more than 30 percent of shops surveyed said they are paid “always” or “most of the time” for labor intended to protect open fuel or air conditioning lines to prevent contamination, almost two-thirds of shops said they never have included a charge for these “non-included” operations on an invoice when the procedures needed to be done.
“This is something you have to do, something the automakers call for,” said Mike Anderson, owner of Collision Advice and a FenderBender columnist. “These numbers make me wonder if shops aren’t protecting these lines when they need to, or if they just aren’t thinking about charging for it. They need to ensure technicians are doing it, even if the shop chooses not to get paid for it, so these systems don’t get contaminated.”
