I have been looking and reading this posts for a while now and as a glass biz owner and operator i feel and understand everybody's pain with what is going on in the industry with TPA and insurance companies. a couple of weeks ago i was watching a news magazine can't quite recall i think it was 60 minutes and they run a segment about scams. What if we bombard 60 minutes and 20/20 with info. They will definatly do a story and ivestigate. This is a challenge i am presenting to the brave men and women in the industry. Ihave personally already sent 5 emails to dateline and i am planning on doing the same to 60 minutes

"glass" I agree. I just watched the thing on Am Fam when pigs fly. I think we need to get the media involed. If its insurance people that "own" the insurance commissinors or "pay" them to be on their side, we need to make this public know what these companies are doing. We all pay plenty of premiums to these companies for our insurance. And they all do just fine, ever read their finacial reports and see how much these top guys make?

the problem with the media, is that they usually don't air bad news on insurance companies. With Geico spending a fortune on tv commercials I don't think the network they are aired on would like to jepordize all that ad revenue. The media, just like our government is owned by big business

SO MAYBE WE SHOULD CHALLENGE THEM ON THAT FACT? THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING WE CAN ALL DO. SHORT OF ENDING UP IN JAIL

Jail might not be so bad... its the only place the government takes care of you, they give you meals a place to sleep exercise equipment, you just have to be careful when you drop the soap.

Rich don't forget that FREE medical that most of the American public can no longer afford.

Funny how criminals get "rights" that average Americans do not even have.

It would be nice to see the scams exposed--but this could prove to be a two sided sword!

[For example, I know I would have a hard time explaining why some shops charge 50% more than others in the same area for the same goods and services.]

I think it would be great if the public was fully informed.

HAL - can you explain why, despite state regulations, insurance companies also have prices all over the place? No insurance companies that I know of, have the EXACT same pricing for the same insurance coverage?

I am NOT justifying glass shops that charge hundreds of dollars more than most of their competition, but you can see why there might be some variations (as all of you insurance companies currently have).

But the insurance companies always expect glass companies to have the EXACT same price for each glass part (despite the need in some cases for additional services even on the same parts) and the EXACT same discounts for different parts (despite our costing being considerably higher in some cases.)

We already know the insurance industry will suddenly "expose" the fraudulent glass companies "over charging" them. Forcing insurance companies to do "something" in order to "maintain current premium levels" and use every legislator they "pay"(I mean know) to help pass laws that allow them to further and further control our industry.

And,instead of prosecuting shops committing fraud (either over charging or charging for services not rendered) the insurance companies make the entire industry pay the price, telling us to "police ourselves" when they know we have no authority to do so.

The real truth is, insurance companies care about their profits above all else. That despite provable industry cost increases, the insurance companies continue to erode pricing, force us to use our competitors for billing services (or make it a huge risk not to), and claim to care about their policyholder’s safety yet never ask what qualifications, products, or warranties glass providers offer, all this while posting billion dollar profits as an industry.

By the way, glad to see you posting again on the boards HAL.

We have not done a state farm job in 3 months since metryx. We are still putting in windshields for the same cash prices or worse as I did in 1987 who would invest in a business that is not allowed to raise costs in accordance of inflation and labor costs?

I have invested 18 years of my life in this trade I challenge any safelite installer to do a better job or care about service as much as we do , but try to get an insurance job referral from any of these freaking third party managed deals (not like they pay anything anymore) but still a little better than the hacks I am up against in this town .If it isnt NAGS its the TPA's or the competition , I am finding it increasigly hard to find any good in this dictated pricing and one way referral system.

Thses guys in my town put in glass for 125.00 (total)
How can you pay taxes on this and pay an employee etc ?

I recently have been buying and selling cars after fixing them just to pay my bills. Its Thursday and I have not installed one piece of glass this week.

My comapny did 496 jobs for State Farm in 2005. We made a mistake and did not call back after not being able to get in for a 3 way call and did the job without pre-authorization. We still billed at the required State Farm price, but a months later we got a letter saying we were being removed from thier O&A.

1 out of 496 and we even still billed what they would have wanted. So now, they expect us to still bill at the O&A prices but now they send the check to the insured instead of paying us, even though we have an assignment on every job. Customers are cashing the checks from State Farm and not paying us.

I call the person supposedly in charge of glass claims for the State I'm in and message after message gets ignored. I guess it's going to take legal action or a "tv investigation" to get any help. You try and do the right thing, bill fairly, do business honestly and you get screwed out of thousands of dollars...

jc,are you contacting your customers at the time of job setup and telling them to put the check in a self addressed envelope (stamped) that you leave with them?

Absolutely. For now we are telling them as we schedule the job and then again with a note and a self addressed envelope when we send them the bill and tell them to pay when they get the State Farm check.

Most are paying, but if 25% don't, I'm out $2,500-$3,000 per month. I've had to send some to collections now and paid a few extra dollars to put it on their credit. They get 4 different letters before it goes on their credit.

I think I'm going to have to file in Small Claims on each of them. I think a summons might get their attention...

It's simple: do not do a job unless the insured pays you while they await their check from State Farm. Would you rahter keep doing jobs for free?

Check your State laws regarding assignment of claims and if you have it contact your attorney and you will have to push the issue with State Farm.

That's what I have to weigh. Will I lose more trying to get people to pay up front and wait for a check from the Insurance Company or more not getting my check back and filing in small claims court? That's the magic question right now.

Glassgod has the best idea-

When the Tpa tells the insured they will have to pay up front(hopefully your on the phone also)Tell the TPA and insured you will hold there check until the insurance company re-imburses the claim.IT will be interesting to hear what the TPA's reaction is.