Dear Member,
This is the CRA Member Newsletter for July 31, 2008.
We deliver industry news straight to your inbox.
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CRA Announces New Board and Leadership Positions
The Collision Repair Association of California (CRA) has a new present and two new board members to help lead the trade group in its third year of fighting for the right of consumers to have their vehicles repaired in a quality manner at reasonable rates.
Lee Amaradio, owner of Faith Quality Auto Body, Murrieta, is CRA's new president, replacing Gene Crozat, one of the founding members of CRA and its president for the past two years. Lee has pledged to devote significant time to his new role. "I'm excited by the opportunity to work with some of the top repairers in California. Our immediate goal is to represent our members' interests and promote fairness for all stakeholders involved in collision repair transactions." Amaradio is already a well-know trade industry columnist who writes on a wide range of technical and policy issues that affect a repairer's bottom line. He said that the CRA will be focusing on a team approach aimed at reducing the incidence of unreasonable insurer payment disputes and illegal steering tactics. "Gene Crozat helped get us to this pivotal policy position where we have to assess how best to flex our trade association muscle. I assure repairers, insurers and jobbers that the CRA will be guided by the spirit of cooperation and the benefits of constructive dialogue."
Amaradio said that over the next two months the CRA will be unveiling new approaches to improving industry-wide communications. The CRA's website (www.cra-ca.com) and newsletter will be conduits for some of the planned changes, but also coming are meetings where board members will be working with current and prospective members to identify actions that are needed to improve the collision repair environment in specific geographic market areas.
Helping the CRA meet its lofty goals are two new board members, both well-know to CAA members: Jim Boyle of Regal Collision, Vallejo; and Nathan Simmons, C&C Collision, Pasadena. Both members have been very active in trade association matters, from workshops to legislative days.
The CRA board has a total of seven members that aside from Amaradio, Boyle and Simmons include the following: Kim Andreatta, CRA vice-president, Bakersfield Auto Body, Bakersfield; CRA treasurer Blake Andros, Blake's Auto Body, Rohnert Park; CRA Secretary John Tyczki, J&M Auto Body, San Diego; and Roy Carnevale, Anthony's Auto Craft, San Rafael.
The executive director is Allen Wood and the legislative representative is Richard Steffen. Collision repairers with questions about joining CRA should contact Wood at 530-620-7480.
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Commissioner Steve Poizner Tours CRA Member Business In An Effort To Learn More About Quality Collision Repairs
At the invitation of the CRA, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner recently spent an hour touring two collision repair businesses (CARS DAWYDIAK and the Charles Henry Company, Inc.) in San Francisco owned by CRA member Walter Dawydiak. Walter walked the commissioner through the collision repair processes with an emphasis on the equipment and technical skills required for a job well done.
The commissioner was fully engaged in the tour and took special note that Walter's repair facilities had earned "green" designations from the City and County of San Francisco. Also participating in the tour and dialogue with the commissioner were CRA Treasurer Roy Carnevale (Anthony's Autocraft), CRA lobbyist Richard Steffen, and CRA executive director Allen Wood. "The CRA appreciates the commissioner's willingness to learn about our industry and how it stands up for consumers," stated Wood.
 Caption:Walter Dawydiak (left), using a Bentley fender as an example, explains to Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner (right) and his legal counsel, Bill Gausewitz (center) the training, investment and expertise required to identify types of high tech plastic/composite components so that they may be properly and safely repaired.
Dawydiak shows the commissioner a Porsche on the Celette Bench, emphasizing that Jigs are a must for certain types of repairs-Jigs are unique to the vehicle make/model and some insurance companies will not reimburse for the use/rental of them. In the foreground is shop foreman Ernesto Hinojosa who has over 40 years of experience in the collision repair industry.
Commissioner Poizner (right) was impressed that Dawydiak operates two of the four collision repair businesses in San Francisco that have been certified "green" by the City and County of San Francisco.
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Department of Insurance Says Labor Rate Regulations On the Horizon-CRA Fights To Eliminate Use of Bogus Insurer Surveys
The Insurance Commissioner's legal counsel, Bill Gausewitz, told representatives of insurers and collision repair associations that the Commissioner is looking at adopting new rules for the application of insurer labor rate surveys in rate disputes between insurers and repairers. Nothing is definite and, in fact, a working group of insurers and repairers continues to plug away at finding rules that will be fair and effective. The next meeting is set for August 26th in Sacramento. Gausewitz has asked the group to propose rules that would serve as prohibitions, that is, if insurer conducted a survey that involved a prohibited action, it might be subject to an unfair claims practice violation under Section 790 of the Insurance Code. CRA lobbyist Richard Steffen said a major obstacle to rulemaking is that the collision repair industry is not regulated by the Insurance Commissioner. "The rules have to apply to insurers and that limits how we craft the prohibitions," he said. "The CRA doesn't want surveys used in a way that will create average rates that fail to reflect the ingredients of quality repair work. We think the Commissioner understands that not all shops are equal and that averages are not standards."
Steffen noted that agreement between the two industries will be difficult to reach. The three repair associations contend that discounted rates, including DRPs, should not be included in an insurer conducted survey. The insurers state the following in a memo to the department and repairers: "The survey should not contain shop labor rates that have not somehow been verified and justified as being reasonable." Aside from being a double negative, this statement is about as clear as the Mississippi River during flood season. What is the meaning of "somehow been verified?"
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GM Expands Body Shops' Loyalty Point Awards for Collision Parts Purchases
Effective June 1, 2008, General Motors has expanded the number of qualifying parts for its very popular GM PART-ner collision parts loyalty program. The objective of GM PART-ner is to thank the body shops for using genuine GM collision parts.
The 900 qualifying parts are some of the fastest moving collision parts GM offers and account for over 75% of the new aftermarket parts business on GM applications. The 900 part numbers are also the same parts that are on the Bump the Competition dealership price-matching program.
Enrolled independent body shops earn two (2.00) GM PART-ner points for every $1.00 in purchases of the qualifying 900 part numbers. The points are worth $.01 each and can be redeemed for gift cards/certificates from Lowes, Sears, Best Buy, American Express, I-CAR and GM Dealer Equipment.
Besides the GM PART-ner points, enrolled body shops also receive free Enterprise Rent-a-Car upgrade coupons and discounts from a number of body shop vendors including I-CAR, GM Dealer Equipment, Chief Automotive Systems, AutoWatch and more.
GM PART-ner is entirely turnkey for the body shops - there are no forms to fill out, box tops to send in or websites where information has to be entered. There isn't any cost to the body shops but they must be enrolled by a participating GM dealership.
General Motors funds all of the GM PART-ner points while the dealership pays a small monthly administration fee for participating which is eligible for 100% co-op promotion fund reimbursement.
According to Ron Saetermoe of Automotive Associates (GM PART-ner Program Headquarters), "Some body shops earn thousands of dollars annually for doing something they're doing anyway - buying genuine GM collision parts."
Body shops that are interested in becoming enrolled in GM PART-ner should contact their GM dealership and ask to be enrolled. GM PART-ner Program Headquarters will be happy to send interested body shops a list of the 900 part numbers and some additional information if they send an email to
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How to update your labor rate on-line for State Farm
You have two choices: On line or Fax
1. Get your State Farm I.D. # from either: - Your State Farm rep. for your shop (he has it)
- Or call Jerry Torrence 818-735-7490 (he will gladly provide)
2. Log on to : http://b2b.statefarm.com/b2b/apps/afrfsrvy/ 3. Enter your I.D. #, and your updated labor rates for each category. If you use a paint calculator, make sure to state that. 4. Press submit * Suggestion: Update your survey as often as you want. You can do it monthly or quarterly
Option Two: Fax
1. Fax your survey to your area's ETM (Estimate Manager). If you don't know the fax number, call the ETM, or your State Farm Rep. How to do it: Write a short one page document with the following information which can be hand-written. - Shop Name: _____________
- SF ID#: __________
- Write your name, and phone number (if you want)
- Write your updated labor rates
- Body Labor: ________
- Frame/structural Labor: ______
- Refinish Labor: _______
- Materials: ________ or if you use a paint calculator, write that down
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