Is my tacoma likely to be totaled now?

Direct Repair Program

It’s a very divisive subject. In simple terms the body shop and insurance Working together. It ensures/promotes insurance customers that have had an accident a place to go (business to the shop) and the shop will work for a lower rate or whatever the insurance wants in return.

 

Ok so insurance company contracts with a specific repair shop. The shop gets guaranteed business and the insurance company gets a lower rate.... where is the problem?

 

When the shop is working for the Insurance company then the customer will lose quality .

 

How?

 

Working together, that a cute way to put it.
It’s much more like a shop agrees to do all the administrative work for an insurance company, and gives them a discount on parts and labor...all under the guise that the insurance company will be referring customers to your shop that would never have come there.

They then own you, and if you don’t do everything they want, how they want it, for how much they want to pay for it, they will threaten to take you off this great program they have put you on.

The funny part of the whole thing is that insurance company’s cannot actually guarantee you will get more cars than you were getting, because that would be steering which is illegal.

And the money you give them back in discounts every month is more than it would take to, market your business, get a radio or tv spot, or sponsor a little league team...which is what normal businesses do to get more business.

 

Its simple , the shop does the job as cheap as they can to keep the insurance company throwing them work .

 

Got hit so hard the pro badge flew off.

 

As someone who works for one of the bigger insurance companies - our DRP shops aren't losing out on anything in terms of what they are getting paid for repairs but instead are held more accountable for cycle time on repairs among other things. That could be different for other insurance companies and maybe in other cities/markets, but what ends up going on an estimate for a DRP/non-DRP repair isn't all that much different.

Also - based off the photo, your Taco doesn't look like a total.

 

A lot of the drp stuff depends on the shop and which insurance company. The shop is trying maximize what it gets per job and with a drp, they can dictate things they will not do since they have a contract.

I’ve been a drp mgr at a shop and it’s also one of the reasons I left. It has its pros and cons from every position you are in.

 

He’ll just have to go with denial and error

 

Actually there is no contract. Many shops get referrals from insurance so they get more work flowing in and in return insurance asks to expedite the work and guarantee it for lifetime. Doesn’t sound real does it ? Well it turns out a good warrantee a happy customer and a faster turn around repairs saves money. Now it must be said Insurance can’t force you to go to any specific shop. Also it’s false that all shops that are part of the network work for a lower rate, in fact in my experience I’ve seen the opposit. Shops that are part of the network often get away with things that field appraisers can’t even imagine paying for. Trust me I’ve been in this insdusry over 11 years and have seen it all. The other thing I can tell you is say you take it to most expansive shop you can find thinking you’ll stick it to your insurance company or say they charge a higher rate or want to use oem parts only etc etc well here is a newsflash depending on the state but generally true for most states your insurance will ONLY pay for what THEY consider reasonable and balance could be charged to you by the shop. All they have to do is write up a reconciliation letter and than feel like you just shot yourself in a foot lol. I see it almost on weekly bases. In truth it’s in your best interest to be nice to the adjuster and treat him/her with respect instead of trying to bully around it goes a long way

 

I’ve literally sat and signed contracts. If your shop is on a DRP, you have a signed contract with them. Almost every INS company does it, mentioned a few posts back but a lot of it is about cycle times, and customer satisfaction.

 

What I meant by that is that insurance doesn’t not own the shop. It’s a simple business arrangement of supply and demand with certain terms to benefit everyone including the customer. If someone thinks that fighting with a shop over $50 would somehow result in a better repairs they are in for a surprise.

 

I’ve seen things on drp sheets that field writes denials for. It all depends on the coordinator that manages the shop

 

Great first post!
But cmon man, you can’t say you work for a carrier who’s program doesn’t include concessions..pays the door rate, doesn’t drive alternative parts usage, always pays for scans, f,p&b, doesn’t cap materials?
Even cycle time requirements are a problem for quality.
How many times does a DRP shop fix something that should be replaced because they can get more hours and cycle time out of it, and won’t end up paying for the rental? Way too many times to count.

 

Dude any financial business is exact same way. On a flip side there are shops that will put your car on the back burner and sit on repairs for months cause they don’t give a shit and are too busy or have other priorities or are poorly managed. Cycle time is there for a reason. Also as far as cap on materials I’m guessing you’re talking about paint ? Well again you got to look into the estimate software to understand it. I’m guessing your talking about clear cost cap ? It’s set to 2.5 hrs for a continuous application by the software insurance has nothing to do with it.

 

Probably depends on the insurance company and the market your in as guidelines can vary from state to state. For me, our standards are pretty much the same.

We pay the same labor rate at a DRP or non-DRP unless it's a Tesla or certain types of work at particular shops on certain high-end vehicles. I'm not saying that all DRP shops are amazing. I wouldn't take my vehicle to just any DRP shop we have but I also wouldn't take my vehicle to most of the shops that focus more on every nickel and dime they can get rather than quality and somewhat timely repairs.

 

No Alex, the cap is 2.5 for major panels only, not period. Check your p-pages.

 

Maybe in California? I've never looked too far into the p-pages for general refinish times but I know materials being capped or not depends on the state.

 

Continuos clear coat application is what I said. Shops are getting stingy and want to get clear for inner panel. If they are cleared sure I’ll add time but if we’re talking about outside paint 2.5 is where it is from the p pages lol. Again if someone has a problem they should challenge the software not the insurance.