Collision Advice announced that the third of its quarterly “Who Pays For What?” surveys is taking place throughout October, asking shops about their billing practices (and insurer payment practices) related to aluminum repair, shop materials (like panel bonding adhesive) and shop (or sublet) services and fees.
“Our previous two surveys earlier this year, looking at refinish and structural repair operations, had great participation and are providing the industry with what I think is the most comprehensive data ever on ‘who pays for what,’” said Mike Anderson of Collision Advice. “This latest one looks at a variety of important topics, so while I’m intrigued to see what we learn about aluminum repair rates, there are also just as many questions in the survey for shops not yet offering aluminum repair.”
Every shop that completes the survey (and provides optional contact information) receives the survey findings at no charge.
Shops can take the survey (during the month of October) by clicking here.
Anderson said the survey, which takes about 15-30 minutes, should be completed by the shop owner, manager or estimator who is most familiar with the shop’s billing practices and the payment practices of the largest national insurers. Each individual shop location (whether a stand-alone business or part of a multi-shop operation) may submit one response to the survey. Each shop’s individual responses are held in the strictest confidence and are not released in any way; only cumulative data is released.
More details about the quarterly Who Pays for What? surveys, including the findings of the previous two surveys, are available here.
A 62-page report on the first survey, for example, details shop billing and insurer payment practices related to 26 refinish-related “not-included” items. The most-recently published report focuses on 20 not-included repair procedures related to structural/frame and mechanical operations. The results are broken down by insurance company and region. The reports also each include a set of resources shops can use to help put the data to use in their shop.
“The surveys will help shops understand what these operations are, and whether other shops seek and receive compensation for them – or if they truly are ‘the only one,’” said Anderson.
