WMABA supports SCRS stance on insurer misconduct

RICHMOND, Va. — The Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA) has expressed its support of the recent release from the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) titled Insurance Company Abuse - SCRS Members Identify Some Disturbing "Trends," which details insurer abuse and misconduct in many areas of business practices and outlines trends at WMABA’s regional level.

WMABA says it has experience, both in the recent past and currently, in which members bring forth issues of insurers abusing relationships with repairers to affect bottom line dollars on a claims level. Recently, a member shop was forced to leverage WMABA contacts to be paid on an item already clearly stated in all three major database providers. WMABA says this instance, while having a positive outcome in the end, shows the strain of relations felt on a daily basis.

Many WMABA members maintain to have validated instances of customer steering, of which the insurer vehemently denies. Some of the repairers have been steered away from despite having direct repair relationships. All of the examples given show a clear trend to WMABA that the interactions between repairers and insurers are becoming ever more stressed.

In further support of the SCRS press release, WMABA Executive Director Jordan Hendler states, "WMABA supports any member who chooses to stand up for their business when experiencing undue pressure from an insurer which strains their ability to repair the vehicle safely for fair and reasonable pay. The SCRS release, coupled with the increased tension on a regional level further solidifies our position to make this a priority. Even if we have to address issues on an individual basis, this little bit will begin to take hold and show that repairers can be unified and demand to be treated as a respected business entity while making a fair wage. WMABA believes that a position on this issue is both necessary and important; but no more important than the actions that follow. We commend SCRS for positioning themselves with the issues faced by the average repair facility and for taking the first step to help end this dynamic."

WMABA Vice President and Repairer Barry Dorn offered additional sentiments by saying, "As I also serve as Vice President for SCRS, I was involved in the construction of the original release. It is vitally important to repairers that this message gets out to gain involvement. Furthermore, working on a regional level will only heighten awareness of both repairers and insurers to do the right thing."

For more information on WMABA, visit www.wmaba.com.