It probably will come as no surprise to collision repair facilities in the U.S., but shops in Canada are also experiencing steering and are reaching out to their provincial and federal governments to enact change.

A coalition of collision repair facilities in the Muskokas region of Ontario recently took out a half-page ad in local newspapers to alert consumers to their rights under the Insurance Act, including the right to choose the collision repair facility of their choice.

The shops allege that insurance companies, as a group, are moving toward the use of one large, "impersonal" direct repair facility for all collision claims, leaving out other qualified shops in the area.

After meeting with the concerned shops, Parry Sound-Muskoka Member of the Provincial Parliament Norm Miller said he was sympathetic to their issues and asked them to put their concerns in writing so he could direct them to the relevant authorities, including the Financial Service Commission of Ontario, the minister of finance and the minister of consumer services.

Concerned repairers in the U.S. will typically contact the Department of Insurance (DOI) in their respective state but are often told, "We don't get involved in business disputes between insurers and body shops. We are a consumer protection organization."

"They don’t extend themselves sufficiently to understand that this is a function of claims handling, for which they do have jurisdiction,” says attorney Erica Eversman.

To complicate matters, insurance department commissioners usually have insurance industry backgrounds, which repairers equate to "the fox guarding the henhouse." The shop must then convince the consumer to file a complaint, which some shops are hesitant to do. However, the DOI then states they must see a "pattern" of abuse before they can act and that one single complaint does not constitute a pattern and will probably not merit action. 

DOIs: The Fox Guarding the Henhouse?