It may be the latest technology, but insurance contractors are questioning its effectiveness.
Auto insurance firms have started adopting photo claims, where customers are allowed to use photos to submit claims for damage to their cars, but body shops aren’t happy with the new arrangement.
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A FOX61 report said that Connecticut repair shops are airing their concerns over the new service. Anthony Ferraiolo, president of the state’s Auto Body Association, said that photographs do not always accurately record the damage to a vehicle, which makes the repair and claims process more complicated.
He explained that a customer brought in a vehicle, which was estimated through the photo claims service for a $600 or $700 repair, but when he inspected it and did the repair job, the cost amounted to $4,000.
“The cars are so complex today that you can’t see all the damage,” Bill Denya, a body shop owner said in the FOX61 report.
The Connecticut Insurance Department has heard these concerns and is encouraging consumers to come forward with their feedback about the service. The department, however, reported that no consumers have raised issues with it yet.
“It is new technology and it is like anything else that the department is going to look at and make sure that it is working properly within the market,” Gerard O’ Sullivan, director for consumer affairs for the department, said in the report.
“This is always going to be the consumer’s choice, it’s up to the consumer if they want to do it this way if they feel more comfortable then by all means that’s their right to have someone come out and look at the car,” he also explained.
Esurance, Metlife and
Allstate are some of the insurance firms in the state that are providing the service.
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