Insurance Companies That Steer Auto Repair Customers To Body Shops May Be Breaking The Law
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday sent a petition to U.S Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to investigate insurance companies that steer auto repair customers to body shops of their choosing. According to a 1963 Consent Decree with the U.S. Department of Justice insurers were ordered to stop sponsoring any appraiser, directing, advising or otherwise suggesting that any person or firm do business with any independent or dealer-franchised automotive repair shop, exercising control over the activities of any appraiser and fixing or controlling the prices charged by automotive repair shops for the repair of damage to a vehicle or for labor in connection therewith, by use of a flat rate.
Blumenthal said companies that deny consumers the right to choose their own auto repair shop may be breaking both federal and state laws. "Practices pressuring consumers to use insurers' preferred repair shops suppress consumer choice and disregard legal duties," he said. Indeed, insurance companies that deny consumers the right to choose the most appropriate repair facility for their car may be breaking the law.
If you are a consumer who was denied by an insurance company the right to choose the most appropriate auto repair facility for your car, please contact us to discuss your legal options.
I worked 18 years for body shops, now I work for an insurance company. Now I understand them, how much fraud is going on in these so called honest body shops. There is so much more dishonest shops then insurance companies. For example, one car stops behind another car and hits rear end of car. It's a 5 mile collision leaving minor bumper damage. When the shop takes apart rear bumper a lot more damage is discovered. What happens is that the body shop does more damage to inflate the bill and also the owner can claim bigger body damages, and after all this the car that was damaged more by the body shop takes a bigger depreciation because the shop inflated the damages. Who polices this?