ASA-Michigan has announced that Ray Gunder of Gunder’s Auto Center in Lakeland, Fla., along with his attorney Brent Geohagen and attorney John Eaves Jr., will speak on short pays and PartsTrader on Jan. 18 at the Suburban
Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich. The meeting is open to any and all collision repairers who wish to attend.
Gunder and Geohagen will discuss their successful litigation efforts against numerous insurers, and Eaves will give an update on the injunction he filed in
Mississippi against PartsTrader.
“Our responsibility as an association is to inform and educate the automotive repair industry to ensure that consumer vehicles are repaired properly and to the guidelines set forth by the vehicle manufacturer for their safety,” said Ray Fisher, president of ASA-Michigan. “There is a big difference between being cost effective on processing a claim and downright failure or refusal to pay for necessary work performed.
"The State of Michigan, under PA 300 of 1974 (the Motor Vehicle Service Repair Act), acknowledges that the automotive repair facility is the ‘expert’ when repairing a motor vehicle in the State of Michigan. The escalation of ‘short pays’ these past years is threatening the collision repair industry here in Michigan and we’ve been looking for help on changing that. Many of our members have been watching what Ray Gunder has been accomplishing in Florida, feeling the similar ‘bullying’ and wanting to seek options – and so we did. I applaud the committee for putting this together with me.
"It’s unfortunate that our repair industry feels that lawsuits are the only remedy for proper compensation, especially when most of the differences are actually documented procedures, costs, materials or repair techniques that are needed. When you say, ‘We don’t pay for that,’ the next question is, ‘Then who does?’ The repair facility didn’t have the accident, the consumer bought a policy which contracted with a carrier what would be covered in the event of a loss, it’s damaged and it wasn’t before, so I kind of think, ‘Yeah, you do need to pay for that,’ right? In addition, if the repair facility is competitive, since when is ‘We only pay this’ meant to be acceptable? Can I buy an insurance policy the same way while getting the same coverage? No, because there are variables that cost money for the risks involved.”
More information:
Book a room at the Hyatt attached to the Suburban Collection Showplace
