Direct Billing

[classglassrepair]

I would like to post this topic to get some responses from some of you who have experience with direct billing. It seems that it may be worth the extra effort to bill directly when possible. Someone told me that they knew a guy in Dallas (not Coitster) who would do the repairs and then just bill the insurance. Does this work?

[desertstars]

Greetings, classglass.

There is a wide array of posts regarding direct billing in present and archived messages in this forum. You might want to give them a shot.

Direct billing is a hassle and requires a good amount of follow-through.

Nevertheless, I say go for it. Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.

If you are a member of a network, you won't be able to direct-bill any insurance company serviced by that network. In fact, even if you AREN'T a member, the insurance company will still try to ram your invoice through a network.

The insurance agencies and agents themselves seem to be as confused as you are concerning this topic. They appear to have forgotten that an insured has a right to use whatever shop they wish and that shop certainly should not be expected to shovel their invoices through a competitor.

I can tell you this.

The more of us who practice direct-billing, the easier it will become.

After reviewing the posts, you might want further, more specific information. I, along with others, will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

[Coitster]

Hey guys,
I just wanted to add something too this. I used to direct bill insurance companies and you can do fine doing that. Couple things to remember.

1st. Make sure you include a letter with each and every invoice that tells the insurance company to not send your invoice to the networks, and also include in the letter that the customer has authorized you to receive payment directly from them. This makes sure that they don't just try to route your authorization through safelite or lynx, and also that they don't send your payment check to the customer.

2. Make sure you absolutly keep on top of the recievables. The problem that I used to run into was I would mail my invoice to the company, and then I would call them a month later and they would say they never recieved it, or they lost it, could I re-bill them. So make sure you are checking on your invoices all the time.

If you can do that, then you are fine. You don't even need to call them up to get authorization, just do that job and send it in. May take you a few weeks to get paid, but you won't have to mess with the networks. Hope that helps.
David
Coitster

[Dave M]

Coitster,
I not sure that telling other repair techs to "not even call them for authorization, just do the job and send them the bill" is the proper advise.
Does that mean when your customer says he wants to go through his insurance, you don't check with his ins. co. to make sure he has coverage and if so, will waive his deductible?
Maybe you are collecting from the customer and having him get reimbursed? Could you explain further on your process.

[Coitster]

Sure Dave,
I own a full service glass company. We where doing 30+ replacements a day, and about 14 chip repairs a day. What we did was ask the customer what their deductable was, then we would go off of that. We would do the job, and then just send it in. We always got paid for it. You are not required to call the insurance company, and we didn't. The first time I had even ever heard of calling them was when I moved to Dallas Texas. I call now just because it makes the process faster. When I used to bill the ins. direct it would take 30 to 45 days to get paid for it. When I switched to using the network it cut that time in half. That is the reason I switched. My first 9 years in the glass business I never ever called the insurance companies because that is when they try to stear you. They also start trying to get you down in price.

I found that when we just did the job, we where paid what we billed for. That was before the networks, now even if you bill without calling the networks you only get paid what the networks pay, so thats it. A customer has the right to choose any glass company they choose. Now granted every once and a while we would get stiffed because someone thought they had full coverage, and it turned out they didn't we just ate the job. That was really rare, didn't happen that often. I still know companies that don't call. They don't want to have to fight with the stearing junk that happens.

There is one downside to it, after you do the job, the insurance company will send a letter to the customer saying they would have preffered that they used one of their preffered vendors, but they do that anyway if you aren't on the network. I have only been calling for the last 2 years. Some people may not like it, some people may think thats not the right way to do it..... thats ok. It worked for me. I don't do that now, but if I ever decided to leave the network, thats the way I would do it again. Hope that explains it all.
David
Coitster

[desertstars]

Good points, David. I thought I'd wait until classglass had reviewed the past posts to see if there were further questions before going into detail.

I do, however, call the agent and verify the coverage. I NEVER leave it to the insured (not that you suggested that) to call the agent or you might as well wave a bon voyage to the job. Very seldom is there ever a problem.

In the few times I've encountered a problem, I inform the agent or in some cases one particular network that I am going to record the remainder of the call.

At that point, I ask a direct question: "Are you telling me that the insured CANNOT choose whom they want to do the work?"

Look up the definition of "scramble" and you'll get an idea of what happens next.

Sort of like a guy caught cheating on his wife who asks her: "Who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?"