Hello,

I recently seen this in the boards about a company wanting people to take pictures of chip repairs, in order to qualify replacement. I am personally not in MASS so i do not know if like Arizona there is a large amount of fraud involved up there. The last time i tried to take a picture of a windshield i had alot of glare etc, and you could not see the damage.

However where insurance fraud is going on every day like some of the car wash's in arizona i can see how this would be a good thing, the only thing i would suggest is some kind of date stamp to prove the TRUE date the pictures were taken.

As a proud NWRA member I agree this is insaine..

If fraud is the motive, I do not think pictures will help. As has been mentioned before, it is very easy to "fake" the photo.

Reminds me of certain TPA's "only talking to the policyholder" under the guise it limits fraud, but I think we all know why they ONLY talk to the policyholder don't we? Ironically, even some of their own service center employees "impersonate" the policyholder to process invoices.

If they really want to avoid fraud, maybe they need to further develop their "call-back" procedures and talk tot he actual policyholder. They might even find out if the services were actually performed, and what level of service was actually provided. Maybe some ins. co. are just afraid to ask if the services performed by their "approved providers" met their policyholder’s expectations.

In MA there is no deductable for auto glass replacement. Where is the incentive for the glass shop to do a $50.00 repair where a $300.00 replacement is just as easily justified.

You know that travelers sends the customer a statement????? I think that is a great idea...

Ben we have the same problem in Arizona... :(

HERE, also unable to get good pic of w/s due to glare, didn't seem to matter where we parked it, or what angle it was shot from, you could not see the damage clearly.

I have replaced hundred's of windshield's in Arizona because of bad sand pitting including my own my agent(State Farm) said if the glare bothered me that I had every right to replace the glass. How would that picture be taken? Taking a picture is just another way to make it more difficult or a pain in the a-- for the customer so they might not file a claim. I also staff a few car washes what you claim is fraud I tell you it is good marketing. If it is chipped it's the insured choice repair or replace.

If it comes the time to do a job for that insurance company. I'll bill the customer and the insurance company can bite me. Its the customer discretion not the insurance, They dont pay the policy

Rex,

I did not mean to come across wrong. All car wash's are not fraud. But some are. Would you agree with that statement? I agree on the marketing its genius!

Not a bad idea as long as they are willing to pay for the pictures. Then they can have what ever they want

I think there is room for improvement in all area's. I just take offense to some old timers who have problems with my marketing. I have also been involved with the traditional end of the business seeing the agents buying lunches and it made me sick that alot of agents in my market are on the take or there staff is. I could not deal with that! Paying off the agent or staff to get refferals(how would the insured feel if they new the agent profitted from there loss?) I rather market direct to the customers. No other marketing can compete with face to face sales.

This is not a new request by insurance companies. In fact, ICBC in Canada requires digital pictures of all repair/replacement jobs. It works very well and there is a technique to taking the pictures, but in the end it works great.

There are many reasons for glass retailers to take pictures whether it is an insurance claim or not:

1) Pre-existing damege. With the advent of 1+mega-pixel camera phones, you can document damage on the vehicle prior to your techs even touching it.

2) Take before/after pics of your great work. Keep these photos with the claim record/invoice and refer back to them when you need to, especially for warranty claims.

3) Document tricky installs or repairs.

4) Practice - more insurance companies will be requiring digital phots over the next few years. It will be a requirement for all/most by 2010.

If you would like to learn more about digital photos and using them with your claims/invoices, go over to our website, www.edirectglass.com.

Gary Hart
CEO/President
eDirectGlass