Issues With Processing Hail Damage In The PDR Business (Part Three)

In Part Two, we discussed the unnecessary debates that happen when deciding whether dents are nickel, quarter, or dime-sized. In this installment, we will be looking at another problem with processing hail damage in the PDR business.

According to Autobody News’, John Yoswick, David Pinto from PDR Nation brought up another issue that the PDR industry has to deal with regularly. He discussed problems, such as when his business was hired by a repair shop to handle their PDR claims that were originally estimated by another PDR company. However, that PDR company had a contract with a particular insurance company.

“So the customer is coming to me, but I have to send my supplements to a competitor. I’ve waited several weeks for a claim to get processed because it has to go through my competitor, who has no incentive to put that claim through. They’d rather handle the claim themselves from start to finish. They don’t want someone else having it. So I have concerns about the relationships that are being created. I think repairers themselves need to be asking more questions as these relationships evolve. It’s very comparable to what’s happened in the glass industry. You know how things have changed in the glass industry. This is what we’re looking at in the PDR industry, and that’s a concern for me.” Pinto said.

In Part One, Matthew McDonnell from Big Sky Collision talked about the problems that pop up from PDR companies coming from out of state and not understanding state regulations. Later on during the Collision Industry Conference, he also brought up how his company has PDR technicians on staff all year. Previously, he allowed PDR suppliers to use his shop space post-hailstorm. However, he continued on about some of the negatives involving outside help.

“There are some incredible advantages. It’s hundreds of claims for maybe one carrier, and boom, they’re all in your shop. You have the opportunity to fix them beyond the PDR work. It’s almost like you can work on one carrier’s cars and you’re busy.” McDonnell said.

However, he also elaborated on the possible downside: owners don’t necessarily feel like they chose your shop, but as though they were pressured to use it.

“They may feel like they were herded in and are just a claim to you. When you go through that many customers, it’s hard to give that one-on-one attention.”

We will be posting more from the Collision Industry Conference soon. Watch this space…