The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) blasted the insurance industry for "blatant disregard" for its members and cited 13 questionable business practices that have driven a wedge between the two industries. The list was compiled following a survey of member and non-member repairers nationwide. The practices include:

• Deceptive referral practices of a malicious nature that cause consumers to question the quality, services and integrity of any repairer that is not a part of an insurer's direct repair program (DRP).
• Disparaging statements made by some insurance company employees to consumers in an effort to apparently "steer" them to one of their DRPs, referral or concierge-type shops. "In our opinion, this is in clear violation of the laws in place in many states that prohibit an insurer from steering customers to a specific repair facility," SCRS says.
• Secondary steering tactics in which field appraisers write a repair estimate that is as low as 50 percent of what the repair shop has written. When consumers object to the low estimate, some appraisers say, "If you go to XXX shop (their company DRP, referral or concierge-type shop) they can fix your car for our figure." In many cases, the end cost is equal to or greater than the original shop's estimate.
• Vague and ambiguous remarks about repair "delays." Various insurance company employees have time and again insinuated or stated to a consumer that the repairs will take longer if they are not done at one of their DRPs, referral or concierge-type shops.
• Refusal to reimburse for proper repairs. "Certain field appraisers have developed their own terminology, as well as redefining, what a "proper" repair is," SCRS says. "As it relates to an area of the vehicle that may not be visible without removing a trim panel or floor covering, it seems as though various field appraisers have made the determination that finish work on a "non appearance panel" is not necessary. In our opinion, this goes firmly against the contract language, which calls for the repairs to be made to 'pre-accident function and appearance.' "
• Misleading service offerings or insinuations in the name of consumer service. Consumers often are duped into using the insurer's DRP, referral or concierge-type program, which leaves consumers with little to no information as to where the vehicle will be repaired, what the amount of the repairs will be or the method of the repair. "It is our opinion that the owner is left with little or no say in any of these important decisions," SCRS says. "We are gravely concerned that through all of their marketing efforts, some insurers have convinced the state insurance departments or regulatory bodies that this very process brings value to the consumer, when in reality, the recent surveys by SCRS as well as J.D. Power and Associates indicate otherwise."
• Database manipulation and representing it as "market acceptable processes." "The manipulation of the databases used in the various estimating guides is a practice that cannot be tolerated," SCRS says. "At least one insurer has convinced one information provider to alter their system to default to an arbitrary figure of 50 percent of the actual refinish time required for a proper repair. This is all without merit, and goes firmly against the vast research and posted times developed through time studies and other means by the information system provider."
• Intimidation techniques and threats to keep DRPs, referral or concierge-type shop operators from discussing the details of the various programs. Some insurers seemingly intimidate their participating shops from discussing the values and faults of the programs through the fear of retribution, SCRS said. Repairers said they fear losing work by discussing these unfair practices surrounding the questionable repair methods used by many of the inexperienced appraisers and adjusters handling these claims.
• Utilizing inexperienced claims staff to negotiate repair hours and methods based on a consumer's loss. Some insurers employ a significant number of inexperienced claims personnel. "This causes serious delays and issues when trying to negotiate a fair claim settlement between an inexperienced claims adjuster and an experienced collision repairer," SCRS says. "The tactics employed by these inexperienced staff members causes production delays for the repairer, parts issues and overall increased cycle time which lowers customer satisfaction due to obvious missed or ignored items."
• Denigrating a collision repairer because of the lack of a DRP, referral or concierge-type program relationship. Some insurance personnel seemingly employ tactics and word tracks to leave doubt in a consumer's mind as to the quality of the shop when they don't participate in one of their DRP, referral or concierge-type programs. SCRS said these include such verbiage as: "Due to your decision to take your car elsewhere from our network, you may encounter delays and incur additional repair costs or rental car expense that we will not be responsible for."
• Prey on the consumer's lack of knowledge in their rights or repair expectations to gain leverage against the informed repairer. Most consumers don't have the skills or experience needed to make sound collision repair decisions without guidance. "Unfortunately, it appears as though some insurers take this situation and use it in their favor," SCRS says. "The end result is a consumer who is coerced into a situation that may not be in their best interest. In fact, if repairs are done in a substandard way, the consumer is oftentimes at a loss on how to rectify the situation.
• Unnecessary delays for estimate completion and authorization. Some insurance company adjusters or appraisers don't have the authority or the skills needed to write an accurate or complete estimate of the damage. "Shops must go through several layers of management in order to get simple required procedures that are missed on the estimate," SCRS says. "Our members also indicated that to completely fix the vehicle, they must write many supplemental increases because the original insurer's estimate was grossly incomplete."
• Refusal to negotiate in good faith. Some insurers arbitrarily state that repair market conditions prohibit reimbursement for certain procedures, labor rates and other required work (without a proven valid survey performed in those market areas). "This appears to merely be a negotiation tactic on the part of these insurers, to not properly reimburse the repairer for the required work," SCRS says. "In particular, there are some insurers that grossly disregard the vehicle manufacturers' repair procedures and recommendations, and in fact, have flat out refused to reimburse for those procedures frequently."