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While insurance industry representatives protested that the auto claims process didn’t need the changes, Washington state residents and consumer advocates on Monday shared insurance war stories and backed reform legislation. One consumer described a unspecified insurer holding firm on the quote and dragging out the process for months. The carrier...

Pennsylvania and national trade groups this week honored repair shop owner and industry advocate Gerald “Rick” Dotterer, who died suddenly Saturday after contracting COVID-19. He was 63. A second-generation shop owner, Dotterer ran Royersford, Pa.-based Dotterer Auto Body and also served as treasurer of the national Coalition for Collision Repair...

A new Nebraska bill would prohibit insurers from requiring aftermarket parts on vehicles aged 3 years or less during the time of the crash. “Individuals who just bought a new car don't want aftermarket parts installed,” Legislative Bill 602 sponsor Sen. Rich Pahls, R-Omaha, told a Feb. 16 Banking, Commerce...

A bill supported by the Nebraska Auto Body Association would forbid insurers from totaling out an automobile for any repair bill lower than 75 % of actual cash value. Nebraska Legislative Bill 602 would used likely set the bar even higher, for it exempts certain items from factoring into the...

A new Illinois bill would forbid insurers from requesting deviations from OEM repair procedures aside from parts or ADAS calibration tools. The Alliance of Automotive Providers of Illinois is advocating for House Bill 3133, that is nearly identical to 2021’s House Bill 4916. That predecessor failed to go anywhere, but...

A new Texas bill would require auto insurance policies to not only carry appraisal clauses but make the process more cost-effective for consumers trying to use RTA to treat a short-pay. If the right-to-appraisal process produces a total loss or repair cost valuation $1 greater than the insurer’s last offer,...

A sweeping auto insurance reform measure approved by the Texas House Insurance Committee in 2021 is back for that Lone Star State’s 2021 legislative session. House Bill 1131 contains virtually identical language towards the substitute version of HB 1348 the committee reported favorably inside a 6-1 vote. But the 2021...

BMW on Thursday advised shops to find information about OEM repair procedures fresh on every individual vehicle rather than referencing a document from the prior repair. BMW North America collision program manager Jonathan Inzano acknowledged that “it sounds a little crazy,” but a guide could be “once you print it,...

The Iowa Collision Repair Association notched up a legislative victory this session using the passage and enactment of the bill raising the harm threshold for a salvage title. “We wrote that bill,” ICRA lobbyist Scott Weiser said Tuesday of Senate File 230, which Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds into law on...

California Bureau of Automotive Repair Executive Director Patrick Dorais on Thursday discussed topics like customer communication, vehicle technology and teardowns throughout a VeriFacts Guild 21 webinar appearance. Communication Dorais’ agency regulates about 5,000 auto body shops in what’s arguably America’s most significant collision market. He said the California collision market...