"When you encounter an insurer that says, 'we don't pay for that,' or 'you're the only one who charges for that,'" Bryant said, "Do yourself and your fellow shop owners a favor and submit a complaint to the DOI. If we work together as an industry, we can get changes made."
After going through the regulations set forth by the DOI, attendees shared some grievances with one another, commiserating about the unfair practices facing them as shop owners, and sharing practices that have worked for them.
"The best thing you can do is educate your consumer," said one attendee. "You have to be more involved in how you handle your customer and your claims. Explain to them their rights as your client and your rights as a shop. Tell them everything you're doing, why you're doing it, and how it's going to help them."
Bryant also brought up some of the resources provided by AASP/NJ to help shops in their day-to-day business, including the AASP/NJ Hot Line, Labor Pool, equipment exchange, insurance benefit programs and the AASP/NJ Legal Defense Fund.
"There are certain things facing us that we won't solve here tonight," Bryant explained. "We may not even get them solved completely through [the DOI] regulations. I believe the only way we will really make this industry better is through standing our ground, working together and by bringing the terrible things insurers are doing to us to a court of law."
For more information on this meeting and AASP/NJ, please visit www.aaspnj.org or contact AASP/NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant at 732-992-8909. For more information on AASP/NJ's NORTHEAST® Automotive Services Show, please visit www.aaspnjnortheast.com.
Last month, representatives from shops all around New Jersey gathered at the Holiday Inn in Totowa and the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Toms River to partake in two nights of education on collision repair business practices led by the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) Executive Director Charlie Bryant. As any shop owner knows, navigating the minefield of this industry and owning a successful shop when dealing with insurers can be a difficult task. Bryant shared wisdom from his decades of experience in the industry with attendees, giving guests tips and notes about how to get the most out of their businesses without suffering from stagnating insurance practices.