Following insurance company efforts in California to pass a bill that would make steering customers to their DRP shops easier, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) reissued its October 2007 position statement opposing steering and deceptive referral practices.

“We reissued our position statement on steering due to AB 1200 and its efforts to dilute California steering laws,” says Aaron Schulenburg, SCRS executive director. “As well, we continue to hear about continued – if not heightened – steering issues from our members. So we wanted to get this in front of the industry and remind them where we stand on steering.”

To read an article posted on ABRN’s Web site yesterday about AB 1200, click on steering in California.

“AB 1200 would negatively impact what California repairers have worked so hard to achieve to avoid steering,” Schulenburg says. “In addition, it could have a dangerous ripple effect in other states. It is important for the market to understand that we are as firm and resolute in our convictions now as when the position was crafted.”

The practices promoted by AB 1200 have no place in the collision repair industry, according to Barry Dorn, SCRS chairman.

"SCRS strongly supports collision repairers, state organizations, legislators and enforcement agencies that are pursuing solutions which further enforce the end of this type of unacceptable behavior," says Dorn. "There are some states that have made great headway in protecting the rights of consumers and small businesses from these tactics, and we sincerely applaud those efforts. The current law in California serves as a positive example of an appropriate position that states and enforcement agencies should be held to. We are sincerely discouraged to see that the insurance lobby is taking such efforts to diminish the consumers' rights in recent proposed legislative efforts."

SCRS said it opposes attempts at legislation, such as California's AB 1200, which are endorsed by the benefactors of minimized enforcement of existing laws that serve to provide the consumer with protection over steering. “It is the hope of SCRS that the legislators of this country, who are both insurance and repair consumers themselves, will see the value in maintaining or promoting laws that provide better enforcement to ensure their fellow consumers' decision on where to obtain their collision repair services are not unduly influenced by parties who have a vested interest in the cost of the repair, or the facility that is chosen.”

SCRS said it recognizes the challenge and difficulty that exists in documenting steering, which is a practice that can range from blatant occurrences to more passive approaches that are built into well-crafted word tracks and are subject to interpretation. “Realizing this, it is important for state legislators to recognize the consumer's right to individual choice in their repair vendor, and we support and commend those states who have actively taken more aggressive attempts to curb practices which inhibit the freedom, or perceived freedom, of choice,” SCRS said.

Here is SCRS’s restated position on steering: “SCRS is strictly opposed to any insurer, insurance agent or representative referring a vehicle owner to a particular collision repair facility once the vehicle owner has selected a repair facility. The selection of a collision repair facility should not be interfered with by an insurer, insurance agent or representative unless specifically requested by the vehicle owner. Once the vehicle owner has selected a collision repair facility, any attempt to discourage the vehicle owner from utilizing that collision repair facility for the sole purpose of steering work, should entail significant penalties.”