A hearing was held last week in a case involving an auto
glass shop owner who is representing himself in a restraint of trade suit
against 14 insurers and two third-party administrators.
The allegations David Harner, owner of Auto Glass of
Westchester Windshield Doctor, has made against the insurers are similar to
those that owners of collision repair facilities have made in steering cases:
breach of contract, fraud, unfair claims settlement practices, restraint of
trade, antitrust and coercion.
In addition, Harner alleges that the PGW/LYNX claims
management system uses "scripted statements" to steer customers to
preferred vendors, saying things that collision repairers are all too familiar
with:
• "They are not on our list."
• "We don't guarantee their work."
• "You will be responsible for partial charges if you
choose to use the [plaintiff's] repair shop."
• "Your policy will change in some fashion if you use
[the plaintiff's] repair shop to perform repairs."
Harner is seeking $2 million in injunctive relief, along
with court costs and attorneys' fees. Last week's hearing was held at the
request of the defendants as they had previously announced their intentions to
have the suit dismissed.
More information:
Read the complete story, "David vs. Goliath," at GlassBYTES.com