Disputes over the cost of proper automotive repairs between repairers and certain insurance companies are becoming a common occurrence, according to Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) Executive Director Charles Bryant, with several AASP/NJ member shops reporting difficulties in working with Progressive Insurance.
"Over the past few years, and especially since recent insurance reforms resulting in Progressive Insurance Company returning to New Jersey, a large number of AASP/NJ collision members have reported extreme difficulty in reaching agreements with Progressive on the cost to repair collision-damaged vehicles," Bryant said.
AASP/NJ has repeatedly suggested that members invoke the appraisal clause as the fastest and most economical means of quickly resolving these types of issues, but the association says that member shops have been running into an increasing number of problems with companies like Progressive.
"On a repeated basis, AASP/NJ members have invoked the appraisal clause when these kind of disputes arise. Invoking this procedure has repeatedly resulted in increasing the claim settlements – sometimes by thousands of dollars more than what Progressive was originally willing to pay," Bryant said. "However, Progressive recently began to claim that their policies do not have an appraisal clause, or that the appraisal clause had been revised and now only applies to disputes on the value of a total loss vehicle. This is unacceptable."
AASP/NJ is presently addressing this with the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance to investigate the allegation that Progressive has either altered or removed the appraisal clause from its auto insurance policy presently sold in the state, and if so, what it means.
"We are going to figure this out," Bryant said. "Our members are struggling enough without having the rules changed unbeknownst to them."
More information:
AASP/NJ
