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USAA has extended its timeframe for reimbursing auto body shops’ COVID-19 vehicle sanitization efforts through the end from the first quarter. The nation’s fifth largest insurer said it would certainly cover certain cleaning charges until April. “Due towards the continued breakout of COVID-19 virus infections throughout the U.S., USAA has...

Allstate last month gave its Good Hands Repair Network collision centers a comprehensive directive on scanning, describing the charges it’ll reimburse and the tools and thought process it’d like them to experience the operation. The nation’s No. 4 auto insurer also told shops it had been “working on preferred pricing...

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 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...

State Farm announced Friday its auto claim spending and loss adjustment expenses fell 13.75 % during the pandemic year of 2021. The nation’s No. 1 auto insurer paid $27.6 billion in claims and LAE last year, down from $32 billion in 2021. However, it collected nearly exactly the same amount...

Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday said GEICO’s collision claim frequencies came by an amount within the “twenty-three to twenty-four percent range,” with property damage claims down much more. GEICO’s plummeting frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic year helped the insurer end the year at more than double its 2021 profitability, even with...

Solera on Monday announced the rollout from the artificial intelligence photo estimating system Qapter to body shops in Europe and North America. The Audatex parent company said shops could adopt the automated technology “in under 30 days.” It allowed “non-skilled damage appraisers” to acquire an estimate in less than 3...

Audatex parent company Solera last month announced a study of “tech-savvy” customers found a massive proportion would trust an automated claims experience. Solera said it polled 1,500 “tech-savvy” consumers, a combined 500 bodyshops and dealerships and 500 insurers across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America in November-December 2021. The research...

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...

Mitchell on Wednesday announced the photo estimating artificial intelligence software Claim Genius could be available to insurers through Mitchell Intelligent Open Platform. “As a leader in AI-based auto claims technologies, we're dedicated to streamlining the appraisal process and to helping reduce claim processing time, increase carrier profitability and revolutionize the...