THIS MORNING I HAD A INSURANCE CO. TELL ME BEFORE WE DO WORK THERE INSURED HAD TO GET A CLAIM. I SAID " I WILL DO THE JOB FIRST AND THEN GIVE MY CUSTOMER A BILL TO PRESENT TO HIS OR HER INSURANCE AGENT ". THE LADY AT THE INSURANCE COMPANY INFORNMS ME THEY WONT PAY A CLAIM IF THE JOB IS DONE BEFORE A CLAIM IS FILED.
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE OUR GOVERMENT GET SOME BALLS AND SEND THE FBI IN TO INVESTIGATE THE FRAUD THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY COMMITS. SELLING A POLICY THAT IS MISLEADING FULL COVERAGE IS REALLY NOT!
THE GOVERMENT WILL NEVER CUT OF THE ARM THAT FEEDS THEM.
I DON'T CARE FOR D/T MARKETING PRATICES HOWEVER I DON'T LIKE TO SEE THEM BEING TAKEN DOWN BY A GOVERMENT THAT HAS DONE LITTLE TO PROTECT THE CONSUMER AND SMALL BUSINESS.

Concerned,

You left out the most important part of the transaction: making the customer actually pay for the job rather than simply giving them an invoice and hoping that they submit it to the insurance company. And if they do, whats to keep them from cashing it and leaving you on the hook?

There are plenty of scams where a customer will claim to have insurance and a shop does the work only to later find that the coverage lapsed, the deductible was more that the cost to do the job, or coverage never existed in the first place.

The confirmation of coverage that the insurance company is insisting on really protects you as much as it does the carrier. You wouldn't take a credit card without running it to make sure there are sufficient funds to cover the transaction would you?

Most insurance policies state that the insured must give timely notice of loss to the insurer.

I have yet to see one that says they must have a claim filed before work is done, but, it follows that this would happen at the notice of loss.

Most insurance policies also have the clause that the insurer has the right to inspect the damage, if they choose to, but you know as well as I do that they never do through the network, so it follows that it would be something akin to discriminatory if they suddenly invoke that right only when the policyholder chooses outside of the network, because the network isn't doing anything to pre-inspect for them anyway, or if they were, it's still a case of the fox guarding the henhouse.

To payment, I understand the principle of the consumer paying up front, and the games the insurer plays if the shop extends credit to the insured, saying that the consumer hasn't yet paid, there is no loss for them to be indemnified against. It is NOT the business of the insurer to stick its nose into the contractural relationship between the shop and the consumer. If a shop chooses to extend credit to a customer while an insurance claim/payment is processed, that is no business of the insurance carrier.

Same deal when Lynx tells the customer they must pay the bill up front on State Farm claims outside of the network. Lynx says when confronted that this is State Farms policy. This is MISLEADING to the consumer who believes this means the INSURANCE policy, when it is only STATE FARM COMPANY policy to tell insureds this, and even at that, it is NO business of State Farm to tell customers what shops business practices are ESPECIALLY when they are NOT TRUE.

Find the middle ground, work with the customer, and DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT. THe day is coming when this will be useful.

Mark we recording every State Farm claim with Lynx. You are 100% correct State Farm has no business telling our customers how they must pay. We will do are best to use all our information to fight for change!!