Windshield Repair Forum

Post a link then.

What I recall are rumors spread for a variety of reasons, but with no actual backup information.

So, as I stated, I have not read a memo from State Farm where they announce their intent to end deductible waivers nationally. If you have this, i'd love to see it. If not, then this is another of those "rumor threads."

State Farm's exit strategy
By Jenni Chase
July 2005


In May 7, executives with State Farm Insurance of Bloomington, Ill., announced that they were eliminating the deductible waiver for windshield repair effective Dec. 1 in Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma and Washington. Although company officials would not comment on when the policy change would take effect in the remainder of the states, Glass Claim Services Manager Bob Bischoff says that the May 7 announcement was the first in a series. "As states roll out, we will communicate with glass shop [owners] so they will first hear about it from State Farm. The May 7 statement was our first notice to glass shops. As other states roll out, another communication will be sent to shops in those impacted states prior to the effective date..."

I understand that it may at some point roll out nationally. It also may turn into a failed test. Who knows?

The problem on this forum at least are rumor threads which cloud the issue. Texas is not one of the states, and has not been mentioned as one of the states.

Alright, Jeff...we obviously will not agree that the language "remainder of the states" has any significance. I think it does.
"....company officials would not comment on when the policy change would take effect in the remainder of the states, Glass Claim Services Manager Bob Bischoff says that the May 7 announcement was the first in a series. "As states roll out..." I'll try to dig out the memo...I know I have it somewhere. But again, the language we could probably disagree on...

This is a fact and not a rumor,State Farm no longer waives the deductible in Louisiana also there is talk that they are going to stop replacing windshields altogether because of all the debris that is being hauled off from Katrina which is flying off the trucks ,because they are not covering the tops of the trucks like the law states.They are probably going to raise the deductible to 250.00 or 500.00 so they won't have to pay for the screen.

According to the memo, "this means effective January 1, 2006 in your state, State Farm will pay for eligible policyholder windshield repairs only after the policyholder's deductible has been met and the glass service provider has collected the deductible from our policyholder."

So the policy holder has to pay their portion of the deductible and State Farm will pick up the rest. That is a most definate change from the current standing of the customer not paying a thing. That means no more free repairs for SF's policy holders.

The District of Columbia is in my service area and affected by this. This is good info to have.

I recently had a state farm customer who had several big chips on her windshield that ocurred before jan 1st. because the customer had a deductible they would not waive it even though the damaged happened under state farms old policy. they're getting ruthless.

I received this email last week.

To: State Farm(r) Offer and Acceptance (O&A) Program Participants in Maryland

From: Bob Bischoff, Glass Claim Services Manager State Farm Insurance

Subject: Waiver of Deductible - Repairs Car Policy Endorsement 6127

Summary: All glass-only claims occurring on or after May 1, 2006, in your state will be subject to the terms and provisions provided in the new State Farm(r) Car Policy, Endorsement 6127.

This means effective May 1, 2006 in your state, State Farm's Car Policy will provide payment for eligible policyholder windshield repairs if the cost of repair exceeds the policyholder's deductible. As provided in the O&A Agreement, State Farm will pay the glass service provider the cost of repair agreed to in the O&A Agreement, less the policyholder's deductible, and the glass service provider is to collect the amount of the deductible from our policyholder.

Details:
* The language that is being eliminated under the Car Policy for windshield repair is: "If we offer to pay for repair of damaged windshield glass instead of replacement of the windshield and you agree to have such repair made, we will pay the full cost of repairing the windshield glass regardless of your deductible."
* State Farm continues to value windshield repair as an option, as stated in the O&A Agreement.
* Lynx Services(r) will continue to dispatch claims and identify the applicable deductible amount. The Lynx dispatch fax or communication will have the appropriate deductible amount for any given repair or replacement.

PLEASE REVIEW: There has been some confusion regarding the waiver of a deductible when a windshield is repaired on a glass-only claim. With the State Farm policy changes in Endorsement 6127, deductibles will no longer be waived by State Farm when a windshield is repaired for a State Farm insured and the glass service provider will need to collect the deductible from the State Farm policyholder. There is no policy change affecting windshield replacement. The O&A Agreement continues to provide that the glass service provider collect the deductible from the State Farm policyholder on replacements. The O&A Agreement also now provides that should an O&A participant shop waive a deductible when replacing a windshield for an insured, it is a violation of the O&A agreement and grounds for review and removal of that glass service provider from the program in all states.

For More Information: We greatly value our relationship with both you and our mutual customers. Thank you for reviewing this change, and please contact Glass Claim Services at 309-766-6000 or me at 309-766-0660 if you have any questions.

The argument that SF's elimination of the deductible waiver may or may not happen in any particular state can certainly be made.

My point is simply this: Do I sit idly by and wait...and hope it doesn't happen? No. If I were to sit around and wait and do nothing I deserve whatever SF decides to do...good or bad.

By being proactive and bringing my SF customers into the loop now, I am putting considerable pressure on SF to reconsider the plan in my state. They don't hear me...but they do hear their customers.

If anyone thinks that SF's Car Policy Endorsement 6127 isn't going to impact their state, they are living in a dreamworld. It is coming.

You can sit by and wait for SF to nail you, or you can do something about it. Being kicked off the O&A is a non-issue now...so the time is ripe.