Former American Family and GEICO adjusters on Monday described their carriers as centered on cost and indifferent to safety in comments to Washington state lawmakers.
Former American Family senior auto damage adjuster Jackson Clemmons and former GEICO adjuster Josh Green appeared before the House Consumer Protection & Business Committee hearing Tuesday meant for House Bill 1428.
Sponsor and Committee Chairman Steve Kirby, D-Tacoma, said Monday he planned to alter HB 1428’s language from the version visible that day, so we’re not going to bother summarizing the current draft here. But Kirby suggested the aim is always to reform a procedure he called “heavily weighted” in favor of the insurer’s opinion on which should be paid. He also assured the hearing that OEM parts wouldn’t be an element of the revised bill.
American Family
Clemmons said that throughout his time at American Family, “I didn't feel comfortable” with lots of of the company's claims handling practices.
He said he and co-workers received “no hands-on training at body shops,” from I-CAR or in-house with auto body technicians at American Family.
“Instead, we were mainly trained regarding how to negotiate down claim settlements as low as possible,” he said.
Clemmons said his daily mandate was to “never match an appearance shop's estimate,” and both management and his supervisor instructed him to barter down claims whenever possible.
“My supervisor’s exact words to me were: ‘You are a claims adjuster. As well as your job is to adjust down the repair estimates,'” he said.
This left estimates “short, sometimes severely,” based on Clemmons. Customers received short-paid claims, but “American Family did save money,” he explained.
He called the “last straw” an incident where a small repair shop had written to repair a “completely kinked” Toyota 4Runner left front front frame rail.
“It easily must be replaced,” he said. He explained he brought this problem having a “safety component” to some supervisor and was told the insurer wasn't responsible for the way the shop fixed vehicles.
“This really left a bad style of my mouth,” Clemmons said.
He said he realized he wasn't employed by the automobile owner with respect to repair guidelines and safety, only working to lower American Family's cost “by any means.”
American Family disputed Clemmons’ account inside a statement Tuesday.
“We strongly disagree with Mr. Clemmons' characterizations of his experience at American Family,” the insurer said. “We're dedicated to serving our customers and working using the repair centers they choose, and our claim professionals reflect that commitment. We believe in paying a fair selling price for high-quality and safe vehicle repairs covered by our policies.
GEICO
Green, a GEICO employee from 2008-2021, said his auto damage training in the carrier was “not adequate enough for me to do my job properly. I could not let you know what a proper repair was” back then.
“My advancement opportunities within GEICO relied on writing the cheapest possible repair,” controlling rental costs, and CSI, Green said.
“I was not rated on safety of repairs,” he explained.
He also claimed he could control those GEICO KPIs, describing the opportunity to manipulate who received CSI surveys.
Green said insurers “can, will and do dictate repair decisions” dictate repairs by failing to pay for repair procedures and passing costs on to a customer or shop.
GEICO has not yet taken care of immediately Tuesday requests for discuss Green’s allegations.
Insurance industry reacts
The accounts through the two former claims professionals contradicted insurance industry representatives’ descriptions from the Washington auto claims process earlier within the hearing.
“A large number of claims are handled without controversy, resulting in high-quality repairs, and insurers possess a terrific curiosity about ensuring repairs are carried out not just cost-effectively, however in a quality fashion that produces a safe and reliable vehicle being returned to service,” Mel Sorensen, lobbyist for the American Property and Casualty Insurance Association, told the committee Monday.
Northwest Insurance Council President Kenton Brine said current law provides “adequate protection” for consumers, as does “the need among insurers to provide quality service at a reasonable price to our insureds.”
Brine said post-repair surveys examine factors like “quality of repairs,” “quality of service” and on-time delivery. Ratings have been in the 96-98.5 percent range. Customers evaluate the service from insurers and repairers favorably, he said.
“We believe that talks to our prime quality of these services,” he said.
