Six Steps To SURVIVE DESK AUDITS

My general manager warned me, as I started handling the program, that if the insurance company reviewer had any issues with me or my estimate quality, I would be looking for another job. Needless to say, I didn't feel very secure after that conversation. About two hours after submitting my first estimate, I received the dreaded call from the desk reviewer. I listened anxiously as he critiqued my estimate. "100 percent," he said, "Zero leakage. Good job!" I was elated, and so was my boss.

Not every estimate I've written over the years has been that well received, however, I did learn a few things you or your estimators can do to survive and excel at a desk audit. These six simple skills will help considerably with on-site reviews or re-inspections as well.

THE BASICS

Step 1) Meticulous teardown

Let's look at the term "estimate." Estimate indicates guesswork and is open-ended. How do you think an insurance company or customer would respond if you told them, "Well, I'm just guessing, but I think your damage will be XYZ dollars to fix."

I don't think that statement would be very well received. Always remember, don't guess at anything. What you should provide your insurance partners and customers is a "blueprint" for the repair. This can only be achieved by performing a thorough inspection of the vehicle that includes a teardown. We will call it a damage assessment.

It may be difficult to tear down a drivable vehicle, but it can be done. During a simple bumper repair, as an example, have a tech loosen the cover and pull it out of the way or remove under covers and shields so you can see the potential damage behind the cover. Make sure your customer OKs this procedure. Be sure to explain to your customer that by tearing down the vehicle you are putting together an extremely accurate damage assessment that will help facilitate a faster and more cost-effective repair. Clear and concise communication will almost always ensure that you will receive customer permission to initiate the teardown process. I believe that, in general, most people want to know the details and will better understand the entire process if you provide details to them in a common sense, easy-to-understand manner.

Step 2) Manage time effectively

How many times have you just been putting the key in the lock at 5:05 p.m. and a customer pulls up and asks for an estimate? Better still, a customer rolls into the shop on the last ten minutes of his or her lunch break and wants a quick estimate on a rolling total loss? Obviously, you or your estimator will not be able to write an accurate damage assessment in either one of these cases. These situations can be easily resolved by communication.

In situations like I just described, try to get your customer to leave the vehicle so you can get a better look at it. Schedule an appointment with them the following day or offer to take them home or to their office so that you can do a teardown and accurately assess the damage. As the old saying goes, haste makes waste, especially in this situation. I suggest you never write a sheet under these circumstances. If you are pressed into it, write only the damage that is visible and verifiable.

If possible, schedule all estimates. Don't simply say to a prospective customer on the phone, "Come in any time," because you are opening the door to poor time management. Your customer will appreciate the appointment time and feel much more comfortable with your facility and service when you afford them adequate attention.

Try to schedule estimate appointments an hour apart to ensure, in most cases, an ample amount of inspection time to write a truly thorough assessment by giving you and your staff the necessary amount of time to inspect the damage.

Step 3) Know, understand, and follow the DRP guidelines

This is pretty self-explanatory and sounds elementary but surprisingly is often the source of many deviations pointed out by desk reviewers. Make certain the agreed-upon rates are used, and follow the company mandates with regard to added costs, markups and discounts. All electronic estimating systems have an area to set up insurance company profiles with rates and standard charges. Nearly all of them offer some type of "audit" program that scrubs your initial estimate and looks for deviations to the pre-loaded insurance company profile. Review each estimate thoroughly, and compare it to these pre-set guidelines. Make sure reference material provided by DRPs is readily available to your staff people. Any operation that deviates from the standard guidelines should be discussed with a representative of the DRP partner and decided upon before committing the estimate. Again, up front communication will solve a great deal of issues later.

Step 4) Document, document ...

Remember this simple statement: Once completed, your damage assessment should tell a story. It should, by the addition of notes and photos, on its own answer any questions a reader or a reviewer might have. Pretty simple idea, but it requires quite a bit of thought and an organized plan before you begin the process. I suggest you write your assessment in a specific order, starting from the outside and moving in. Don't, for example, in the case of a front-end hit, write first a bumper cover, then a fender and come back and write a bumper re-enforcement. Keeping things in a logical order will help you write a more thorough sheet.

Let's get back to documentation. As I stated earlier, you should be able to back up everything you write, either with notes or photos. If you are replacing an obscure part or fixing something that is hidden or seems unusual in any way, make a note about it in your assessment. Remember, you know why you have chosen to perform a specific operation. Let your reader know as well. This is especially important with components like airbags that might require specialized component replacement. Use the P-pages, built into all estimating platforms for reference, and copy and paste those reference notes into the notes section of your assessment for documentation when needed. This way if a reviewer sees a "weird" item on your sheet, you can reference a line note that describes why you did what you did.

You must be able to substantiate and argue every single line with confidence and be able to provide the necessary backup for what you wrote. Always document your parts suppliers and why you chose them, whether it be price, repair requirements, location, availability – whatever. Let your reader know.

I'd like to suggest that you photo document or even film the entire vehicle at the time the inspection takes place. Computer memory is very inexpensive today so you can create a lot of storage space for all your photos for very little cost. Once you begin to get a reputation for hyper documentation and backup, you should receive very little negative feedback and/or subsequent reductions regarding your assessments from any reviewer.

Step 5) Be firm, not adversarial

If you've put in the time and effort I have described and can document why you wrote what you did, don't be afraid to defend it. If you can logically explain and document your argument, it will be hard to refute. Don't argue or get defensive during the "negotiation" process between you and the reviewer. You will never win if you create an enemy of him/her. Use your knowledge and documentation to your persuasive advantage. You will have to give and take a little but not as much as you probably would have without developing these skills.

Step 6) 'Force read'

This is a tip I learned from one of the best estimators I ever worked with, my son. Force the reviewer to read your entire assessment. One of the most common mistakes we make in the industry is to lump all the extemporaneous operations on the last few lines of our assessment — things like clear coat, color sand and buff, mask jambs, etc.

What you should do is insert them after the line item they pertain to. For example, after replacing the fender and adding in the paint time and related information, insert the buff time for the fender, the masking time for the jambs and all the other extra operations right there, attached to the panels/areas they pertain directly to. Most reviewers try to arbitrarily cut estimates in these areas because it's fairly easy to do. From your point of view, adding these right after the operation they pertain to will allow you to create a much more accurate picture of all the operations needed to restore the vehicle to its pre-accident condition. You will be less likely to forget these often-performed but just-as-often-uncharged operations if you follow this method of writing your assessment. It forces the reviewer to literally read your entire estimate, not zero in on easy areas to cut. Don't add items that are not legitimate, but charge for everything you do during the repair, and document it.

It has been my experience that if you manage your estimate process properly, you can create an accurate damage assessment in every case you encounter. If your assessment is accurate, easy to understand and verifiable by documented facts, you will very likely breeze through most desk or field audits. Remember, the estimate process is the most critical aspect of the entire repair process. It is the foundation upon which the entire repair is built, it must be rock solid and accurate or you are simply asking for trouble in the form of delays, supplements and poor customer service.

If you start out right, with a detailed blueprint, the re-construction will go much more smoothly. Have you seen the ABC television show where they build a house in seven days? Think about the organization that goes into pulling that off. The groundwork takes much more than seven days, but the result is an unbelievable cycle time. Keep that in mind when the next customer comes in wanting a quick estimate.

Lay the right groundwork and you will not only survive a desk audit, you'll dramatically improve your service and bottom line.