The new Apartheid. (steering)

[Daveycrewcut]

I have to agree with Glasstarz on this one. Steering occurs when a prospective customer has already selected you to work on his windshield and THEN gets redirected to a different "preferred provider". That should never happen if you have informed your prospect properly before the first notice of the claim is made.

The Insurance companies do not want to deal with frivilous claims like auto glass claims (unless other more serious damage and/or injury is involved) so they farm them out to third party claims administrators. It just so happens that the two biggest TPA's are affiliated with glass distributors.

It is only intelligent marketing to provide the insurance companies with what they want, i.e. someone that can administer their auto glass claims and give them special pricing (especially on replacements). When you are repair only (or replacement only for that matter) you can't give them what they want.

What we as independent glass repair entities need to do is NOT sign Offer & Acceptance agreements unless we truly agree, but insist that we be listed as potential providers.

Repair only businesses should get behind the NWRA and insist that the Insurance industry be informed that there is a difference between repair and replacement and what it is!

[screenman]

I feel reading these post's that someone has taken me back 19 years ago when we were all talking the same talk. This I feel is not history repeating its self, more like things not ever changing.

[Frank EU]

Screenman, are you saying that we should wait another 19 yrs to see what will happen with the steering issue in the USA? Because too many think that things will go away, are not happening at all or not as fast as we keep on telling them? Sometimes people need to really feel the pain, and do not like to be helped preventing the pain or damage. That is just fine, it is called learning things the hard way, we will see in the year 2028.

[screenman]

Definately not wait act now and keep acting, I and many others over here have spent years trying to educate the insurance and to some degree the fleet customers of the benefits of using us. All I was trying to point out to those that did not know is that this is by no means a new thing.

We tried in 1990 to get together and really fight for the things you are talking about and with very little results unfortunately, I wish you better luck. The insurance billing systems in the UK have been messed up big style, mainly by very poor quality unskilled and in some cases unethical repair/replacement companies.

Insurance companies were suddenly being hit with huge bills for repairs that went just off the scale of what they were used to, this then looked far more like a cost to them than a saving. This being the reason why they have had to pull in the reigns and pay only the people they trust, unfortunate for the this trust is sometimes misplaced.

As you know all our insurers operate glass helplines and as you also know everyone of these glass helplines is run by a replacement company contracted to do so, why this sytem exists why on earth would they want to share out work.

At the end of the day it is business and there are many great ways to earn a fantastic income in this trade without insurance work.

Am I in for fighting steering? certainly I am I have never been away in 21 years.