Insurance Company's Being Sued For Short Pays And More Part I

When speaking to a PDR Technician or Body Shop, you will find that each have the same pain points when dealing with insurance companies. Either they don’t get the agreed upon payment or the worse is the conspiring that goes on when they establish and enforce “an artificial market value for collision repairs.” Finally, body shops are fighting back and filing suit.
The most recent is an auto center in Pennsylvania, which has filed a lawsuit against seven major insurance carriers and their affiliates. They are being accused of the very things I listed above. Short pays and artificial market value for collision repairs.
The insurance company’s named were State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, Progressive, Farmers, Liberty Mutual and Nationwide as the lead defenders and then what seems like a three page list of their respective subsidiaries. You know, the adjusters that make you crazy.
The suit is actually being filed in Illinois because most if not all headquarters are in or come from Illinois.
The suit itself stems from “the artificial establishment and perpetuation of a so-called prevailing rate, which is used to suppress compensation to collision repair facilities.”
The lawsuit is being filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), the suit alleges that the defendant insurers are guilty of “long-running, unlawful conduct to suppress compensation” to shops that are trying to be patient but waiting far too long, if not forever, for their payments.
In addition to the above, the suit further says that the insurers have worked to implement a “prevailing rate” for collision repair compensation that in most cases is far lower than that of market value, aided by industry information providers that the suit labels as “conspirators.”