Safety Insurance Photograph ??

[the big welshman]

I received a letter from the above insurance Company the other week advising me that I would have to start taking a photo of the-- windshield- vin# and reg# before I do any work on the car??. The insurance company would not supply the dig camera I would have to buy this myself. The above item is geared up towards the glass shops here in MASS, because the glass shops if the windshield can be repaired the glass shops here are replacing the winshield. Most of the glass shops here do not repair windshields and there is no deductable on the windshield insurance. --Do you think down the road every other insurance companys will want to photo the windshield etc????

[Coitster]

Personaly I still hope that all the insurance companies stop paying for WSR. I know this doesn't make me popular but oh well.
David
Coitster

[grouselab]

What!!! you said you hope the all insurance companies will stop paying for the windshield repair? Why would you say something like that? Why?? Hope you were joking about that..

[Coitster]

Absolutly I hope that all insurance companies stop covering windshield repair. For a few reasons.

1st. Because it will get ride of a lot of the scam artists out there. In my 14 years I have seen so many people come along that all they care about is getting all the money they can from insurance companies. They don't care what their repairs look like. They give our industry a bad name. I can't stand it when people tell me they have had chips done before and it was a horrible repair. Way to much insurance fraud going on. :eusa_naug

2nd. I want it to be much harder for people to get involved in our business. Look at all the car washs, oil lube places and other biz's that are trying to do chip repair. Again their are so many fly by night companies its crazy. Personaly I want the insurance companies out the glass biz all together. Even the replacement biz, they have been nothing but a cancer to the biz. They drive prices down. They tell us what to do and they have the money to do it in many cases. BTW think about it, we even get charged for them to process our claims. How sick is that!!!!!!:mad:

Special Note: I know that the windshield repair manufactures hate to hear this and nothing against them, they are in business to make money. That being said so am I. I can't stand the guys who get in the biz and do work for nothin.

3rd. Because insurance companies are involved in our biz they are trying to regulate things now. If they got out of our biz then this probably wouldn't happen.

4th. If the insurance companies get out of the glass biz altogether people will actualy have to pay for replacements and it will make WSR much more attractive to the customer.

5th. Final reason for tonight. I know that its a comprehensive claim on the insurance and its not supposed to raise rates but here is the catch. If they have a chip repaired and the insurance covers it and they get into an accident or have another claim against them. The insurance company looks at their history and see's that they have another claim. They don't care if its a chip, or a tow truck or anything else. Its a claim and it counts against you. So it can hurt you. No, not buy itself, but accumulativly. So when you tell someone that it won't raise the rates thats only half true. It depends on their personal claim history. You could be lying to them. :eusa_liar

David
Coitster

[Glasseye]

My vote is with you Coitster. In the UK when the insurance companies first started covering glass back in the seventies, it was a good thing, mainly because windscreens in the UK then were made of toughened glass and a breakage was an emergency, drivers were being ripped off big time. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. windscreen replacement/repair is no longer an urgent job and the motorist should be able to make their own choice who does the repair. If this happens, people will become more educated on what is a good repair at a competitive price and by the very nature of good business practise the general quality will improve.

[mafsu]

I agree with Coitster 100%.

[sunshine wr]

Right On ! I agree with Coitster. IMO Insurance dictates pricing in all aspects of auto glass, auto body And not mention when we have to have medical attention. IMO It's a monopoly that should be deregulated .

[mrchip]

very well said coister..i could'nt agree more...but while it is covered and you say glass shops don't do repair why not do repairs for them.. i did work for 5 shops at one time..they were a great fill in..just a thought...and your right about the scam work out there....glass shops don't want to do repairs even though they say they do..in fact a couple of weeks ago when on an ins job the lady mentioned that her husbands car had a chip that couldn't be repaired and while talking about it i got suspicious that she was wrong 2 weeks later i got an ins job for same woman and it was her husbands car(the one that couldn't be fixed) it was definetly repairable..job done..but i found out it was a local glass shop that said it wasn't repairable and charged them a $25.00 SERVICE CALL to tell her that!!!!! remember the discusion about that??

[screenman]

Windshield repair and replacement should never go together. A replacement heated front screen for a Transit will get the replacement guys

[StarQuest]

I think some of you really spun this post!

Can a simple photograph determine a repair or replacement? I serioulsy doubt it!

Why? Because all digital photos can be doctored!

I personally could take a picture and show cause for replacement over repair easily,,,,, if a choose to!

Not sure what this new insurance requirement is going to accomplish.