III
Marchi April 2006
Where Did This Dollar Bill Stuff "Reall~
During discovery we found evidence that the
"Dollar Bill" length that Safelite and PPG/Lynx
have made into the insurance industry standard for
adjusting windshield claims (determining repair or
replacement) actually came from the NGA
Windshield Repair Sub-Committee in December
1993. The committee was comprised of windshield
and PVB Manufacturers, including PPG and
Safelite. Althouqh the NGA never ratified this
document, Safelite and PPG used this and told all
the insurance companies they called on that this
was the industry standard, 6-inches. A letter from
Novus in 1994 (where we originally saw it first)
also recommended the size of a dollar bill. This
was after Novus tried and failed to invalidate our
long crack patent. This is antitrust by all the parties
and we'll just have to continue to fight for justice.
When asked to produce evidence regarding
(a) any safety issues with long crack repair and
(b) any evidence that there was any difference
between a 6-inch vs. a twelve-inch vs. an 18-inch
crack repair. Neither defendant produced one
document, nor could did they produce one
consumer who was not satisfied with an Ultra
Bond long crack repair.
NWRC
The NGA has formed a repair committee
called the National Windshield Repair Committee.
I am on the committee and so far it seems to be
cooperative and helpful. There have been five
Come Fromt
conference call meetings and here is what has
been accomplished:
A brochure for windshield repair technicians is
being printed and, at Campfield's request, a
picture of an edge crack accompanies the stonebreaks under common breaks. We will send you
one when they are finished.
Campfield requested help from the NGA on
two issues and they are being considered. RainX and an additional "allowable" amount for mobile
service.
A. Rain-X renders windshields un-repairable
because the Rain-X molecules block the
resin from the glass. Rain-X bleeds into a
crack when the windshield gets wet and
the windshield wipers are used. I am sure
we have all experienced this problem
before. Rain-X is also being used in
windshield washer fluids which means it
will also find its way into stone-breaks. The
committee is attempting to find a solvent
that will dissolve the Rain-X and will be
sending a letter to Rain-X. We believe the
consumer should be warned that Rain-X
will render their windshield un-repairable
and could cost them hundreds of dollars
for a replacement.
B. Mobile Service Charge: As stated in our
article above, the committee is attempting
to negotiate an additional allowable amount
for those technicians providing mobile
service due to the inflation in fuel and other
expenses.
Inside This Issue:
I Where Did This Dollar Bill Stuff
nReallv" Come From?
2 Mobile Service No Longer Free?
3 Who's Minding the Chicken Coop
4 The Deductible Study
4 Getting Paid for Long Crack Repair
HAS THE NWRA GONE TO THE DOGS?
The NWRA by-laws allow anyone on the
board. The board is now comprised of networks,
windshield manufactures, people who make more
money replacing then repairing and those I call
repair hypocrites, (the ones whose words say one
thing and actions say another). The NWRA
president, Paul Syfco receives his paycheck
indirectly from Belron, a large windshield
manufacturer and the company who also owns
Glass Medic. Paul Syfco testified against long
crack repair in our lawsuit, and then admitted that
Ultra BOND e-mail address and web
e-mail: [email protected]
web: www.ultrabond.com • www.edgeguard.com
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The Deductible Study
for something that is covered? The purpose of
the comprehensive deductible is windshields.
That is the only claim that is less than the
deductible.
This also means that long crack repair is the
least expensive alternative for 70% of insureds,
even if they have to pay for it themselves, as
State Farm insureds will be doing by year end.
This may also explain why we have
windshield manufacturers adjusting windshield
claims. The cost to administer windshield claims
was higher when done in-house. Administrative
costs are not counted by states as costs that
effect rates, but when a third party administrator
is used, the administrative costs can be added
to the windshields costs when reporting to states
for rate adjustments. The amount of money paid
to the networks for adjusting a windshield claim
is about 1/3 of what it used to cost to adjust the
claim in-house. The only company that would
adjust a claim for such a small amount would be
a company that would be making money on what
was being adjusted. In this case the networks
make their money steering jobs to replacements
to shops that sell their glass. (Safelite/Lynx/PPG).
Lynx's employees are paid by PPG. The amount
being paid per claim would not cover the costs of
paying the staff. The sole purpose of Lynx is to
sell windshields for PPG, paid in full at the
expense of the consumer.
At our repair shop we keep records of the
insurance deductibles. In some recent studies,
we discovered that the average replacement
windshield costs $354.00. and windshields only
represent 4% of comprehensive costs. This did
not sound right because windshields are 30% of
comprehensive claims.
This is what we found the amount of
consumers' deductibles to be (excluding zero
deductible states):
5%
$ 0 2%
$50.00 28%
$100.0032%
$250.0035%
$500.002%
$1000.00What does this mean and what effect does
this have on long crack repair?
37% of the time the insurance company is
paying 0 and 32% of the time the insurance
company is only paying $100.00.
The insurance companies are paying
approximately $50.00 70% of the time for a
replacement. 80% of these replacements are
repairable long cracks. Could the insurance/
network boycott of long crack repair be a typical
insurance tactic, deceiving to get out of paying
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Getting Paid for
Long Crack Repair
NEWSlEnER
SPECIALS
(ExPire April 30,2006)
The best way to get paid your $100.00 for a
long crack repair is to get paid by the
insured/consumer. As you know, if you make the
call to the network, the network will only pay you
the amount of a stone break or chip. Of course,
that is after they try to sell the insured a
replacement windshield. But the consumer's
insurance policy states that a windshield repair is
covered in full. It does not say anything about a
maximum amount they will payor length/size of
the repair they will pay for. In each of the cases
we have done, the consumer has been
reimbursed the full price of the repair when they
submit the invoice for payment themselves.
Spring weather and the thought
of extra cash for mobile service
takes us outdoors!
$5.00
$1.00
$2.00
$5.00
$5.00
on
on
on
on
hood mats
hand protectant lotion
polishing package
sunscreens
for 25 sheets (50 vinyl decals)
RESIN: $4.00 on any 2 stone damage
and $5.00 on any 2 crack resins
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