Networks Continue Lying about Windshield Repair

Safelite, Lynx/PPG, and Harman, continue to lie to consumers about windshield repair.

September 2006 -- After over three years of litigation with Lynx Services from PPG over windshield repair, wherein they admitted that there is no safety or structural problems with repairing cracked windshields, Lynx continues to lie to consumers about their windshield being repairable. Safelite and Harman who also know there is no problems has CSRs telling consumers it is, "Structurally unsafe to repair cracks over six-inches long." Why do they tell this lie and why do insurance companies condone this? Money. It's all about money.

If you go online and shop for auto insurance when you come to the comprehensive deductible it will already be checked at $500.00. This is also where insurance agents are trained to start at because windshields are the number comprehensive insurance claim in the United States and a $500.00 deductible keeps the insurance company from paying for windshields. Windshields are 30% of comprehensive claims but only 5% of comprehensive costs. Studies, excluding no-deductible states show 40% of insured consumers have a $500.00 deductible followed by 30% at $250.00. The average windshield replacement is $350.00. You can see by doing the math that 40% of the time the insurance company pays nothing and 70% of the time they are paying an average of $50.00.

The purpose of the windshield manufacturer networks is to steer and sell windshields and being the insurance company's TPA (Third Party Administrator) to windshield claims allows them to be the gate-keeper for the products they manufacture and sell. Problem with the insurance companies doing this is the obvious conflict-of-interest (the fox is guarding the hen house) and it is the consumer and the windshield repair industry that is being damaged. Any layperson knows this is antitrust and fraud. But what is the insurance companies interest when a claim is being made? We all know the answer to that; to get out of paying or pay as little as possible, regardless of what the policy says.

In order for the network to keep being the TPA they must keep the average claim cost down and the total windshield costs down or the insurance company will switch to another network that has better numbers, which means it is better at deceiving the consumer. This is the root of the lie they tell consumers about their windshield not being repairable.

The network uses the, "size of a dollar bill (six-inches)" to adjust the claim and determine repair or replacement, even though the repair industry has been repairing long cracks up to 18-inches since 1990. Less than 10% of repairable cracks are less than six-inches; 81% of repairable cracks are between 7-18 inches and the vast majority of replacements have this length of repairable crack.

As these windshield manufactures also know the edge crack is the cause of over 80% of these replacements. Their built-in defects cause it to fracture and crack to over six-inches immediately (see report- Windshield Facts). By using the six-inch criteria they eliminate 90% of the repairable long crack repair market which could prevent most replacements. If they told the truth about what damage was repairable the insurance company would be paying about $100.00 for a long crack repair on 80% of the claims they are now paying zero on (the 40% at $500.00 deductibles) or the 70% of replacement claims ($250.00 and higher deductibles) when the are paying an average of $50.00. However in the no deductible states they could be saving 60%.

So what happens with the 30,000 windshield claim calls per day. The networks steers and sells a windshield; the insurance company escapes paying or pays very little and; the consumer is out hundreds of dollars when they should have had a repair at no cost to them as it was covered in the policy; And of course the repair industry is restrained by anticompetitive acts that are suppose to be illegal in the allegedly free enterprise of the United State of America.

See Network CSRs on tape.

For More Information Contact:

Windshield Repair Journal
2458 E. Main Street, B-1, Grand Junction, CO 81501
Tel: 970-256-0200
FAX: 970-256-1786
Internet: rich@ultrabond.com

[ Home ] [ Up ]

Networks Continue Lying about Windshield Repair

Safelite, Lynx/PPG, and Harman, continue to lie to consumers about windshield repair.

Send mail to rich@ultrabond.com with questions or comments about this web site.