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Letter to the Editor
Tuesday March 29
GCIA Members Hear from Chief Counsel for Vehicle Information Services on Legal Issues
The featured speaker at the March 24th meeting of the Georgia Collision Industry Association (GCIA) was Erica Eversman, Chief counsel for Vehicle Information Services, Inc. (www.vehicleinfo.com). She also writes an informational column for the online site AutoGuide.net.Eversman has spent the majority of her trial practice on the defense side of the bar, a good deal of which addressed insurance coverage and professional malpractice issues.
The focus of her discussion was to bring important legal issues that affect body shop owners to the attention of the GCIA members so they have enough information to make informed decisions about new proposed legislation and DRP relationships. She also discussed aftermarket part certification and other legislative issues that affect body shops.
One part of her presentation was on NCOIL (www.ncoil.org), the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, and their drive to create a Certified Aftermarket Crash Parts Model Act. Most members were not aware of NCOIL or who belongs to this group. This is an organization of state legislators whose main area of public policy concern is insurance legislation and regulation.
Ms. Eversman made it clear that she believes the NCOIL proposed Certified Aftermarket Crash Parts Model Act is very bad for body shops and the industry as a whole.
Eversman asked the members, “Why are insurance legislators even looking at the passage of a model act dealing with a commercial product that is not an insurance product?” She also asked, “What in the world are insurance legislators doing tromping on the jurisdiction of the FTC and the states' Attorneys General?”
She encouraged all GCIA members to get educated quickly about this proposed act.
Eversman also spent much time time discussing DRP relationships and how they work against the shop and consumer. She pointed out, “Direct repair programs promote the insurers' best interests, not the consumers.” She advised every member to take out their DRP agreements and look them over closely and start asking the insurance companies a lot of questions - especially about liability with any lawsuits the customer might bring.
In a nutshell, Eversman said, “In most DRP agreements, the body shop is entirely responsible for any customer dissatisfaction.”
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