Windshield Repair Forum

Please answer this question by choosing the answer that best fits your business model. Feel free to expound on your choice in a post of your own.

I am not registered with any networks and I have only had one person ask about insurance and told them to submit my invoice to their agent for reimbursement procedures.

Not having insurance sales doesn't effect my bottom line currently. I might be missing some sales and will probably eventually register with the networks.

This one is a tricky to answer. I would loose sales, but could still adapt AGAIN. Most of the insurance customers like it that the insurance is paying for the repair, but if they had to pay out of their pocket I may loose a small percentage because they would not spend the money out of there pocket for a repair, they would just wait till it was totally cracked.
I have been questioning them for years on this subject.

It is funny how folks think... In some areas they would spend money on their cars and in other areas they would not spend a dime on them.

Brent,

Why do you only refer to deductible waivers in the two "no" answers. Sorry, this seems a little confusing.

ghost rider wrote:Brent,

Why do you only refer to deductible waivers in the two "no" answers. Sorry, this seems a little confusing.

I guess my thinking was that except in states with zero deductibles for glass claims, waiving the deductible is really the only way insurance companies ever pay for windshield repairs. If they all follow State Farms example and quit waiving deductibles it will for the most part be a cash market except in states with a zero deductible.

Even though Colorado is not a zero deductible state, State Farm insureds with either a zero deductible on their policy or with their "glass rider" they pay for, many times have told me, "since I can get a new windshield for free, I'll just wait until it does crack out and get it replaced".

I've even had them do this when the chip damage was smaller than a dime!

I've always wanted to know if this cost of replacement, when it's obviously unnecessary, costs them less than the "fraud" that we think was the reason they stopped waiving deductibles for repair.

And, under state law in Texas, they are forced to waive deductible. How do they deal with fraud in this case?

Thanks for the reply Brent.

I voted for #2 but a closer answer would have been #3 if it would have a yes instead of a no before it. I guess my area is different. I work in three states with different laws. Only one state has a glass rider, but I do the same amount of work in all three states. To clarify, I'm refering to the amount of State Farm jobs since they stopped waiving ded. It may be the area, but I see a lot of zero ded. comp customers. The relationships I have built with the agents brought this business to my company. I'm sure I would never see a lot of these customers if the agent had not sold the advantages of repair and suggested using my services instead of waiting for the w/s to crack. Also, now that the agent is used to calling me, when they do have a ded. customer I get the referal for the cash job. Maybe people rely on their agents more around here than in other parts of the country, but for right now what Ins agents do affect me more than what the Ins co.'d do.

I chose #2 simply because yes, I make money from the Insurance jobs, and it's decent money, if I was not able to bill/make money from them anymore, it would put a small dent in my earnings. I think I would be just fine without them though.

The people out there that are using Ins. to cover the cost would more than likely either pay out of pocket or not repair at all, and when the Windshield Cracks out, maybe we will get the install work

Either way.......we would be just fine....

I cannot wait for the day that all insurers stop insuring glass completely, now that will be a nice market. Personally as I have said in another post I like fleets where I can do 4 or 5 jobs on each visit, rather than chase the single jobs about town.