CBS NEWS STORY ON CALIBER COLLISION CALLED UNFAIR BY PCI'S PARKS.

A CBS Evening News story Feb. 11 investigating one customer's allegation his car was not repaired properly by an auto-body shop owned by a consortium of insurance companies has raised the ire of Carl Parks, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America's senior vice president of federal government relations.

The story by CBS News Correspondent Mika Brzezinski opens with Jim Asay saying he was rear-ended on California's I-15 and then "was clobbered by the Caliber Collision Centers."

"They didn't fix it the way they were supposed to," he told Brzezinski. "They had not repaired the frame of the car correctly. It made the car unsafe."

Brzezinski said Asay's car was examined by California's Bureau of Auto Repair which found the work was "grossly negligent."

He then quoted Ron Pyle, the president of the Automotive Service Association, as saying Caliber or any insurer-owned auto body shop has "a colossal conflict of interest" because "the repair shop chain is owned by a group of insurance companies" and "the bottom line is they want to save money."

After quoting Pyle, Brzezinski then asked Parks why it was not a conflict of interest for an insurer to run an auto-body repair shop. "Well, it's not a conflict of interest because the company and the insured have the same interest," good car repairs and saving money, Brzezinski quoted him as saying.

"The insurance company wants both. The insurance company wants really good repairs because that's how they keep their customers happy."

Brzezinski then concluded: "Fed up, Asay sold it to the state as evidence. 'I was sort of the unlucky consumer who didn't know any better,' says Asay. And 10 states are now looking at whether insurance companies should legally be allowed to own the auto repair industry."

Parks said the "story contained unsubstantiated allegations that insurers are somehow trying to cut corners on these repairs in an effort to increase profits or under serve consumers" and "that simply is not the case."

The "most glaring oversight," he said, "was the failure to understand the need for insurers to provide their customers the best possible repair job. Insurers have a huge stake in making sure their customers get the highest quality service at the best possible price. Customers link their satisfaction with collision repairs to their insurance company. An unsatisfied customer will take their business elsewhere."

As for 10 states considering laws prohibiting insurer-owned body shops, Parks said Texas had passed such a law last year but a federal court judge had issued an injunction against its enactment saying it fails to protect consumers or promote fair competition.

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