PCTG Consumer Complaint Report Record ID#: 1115956366

Pa Department Of Insurance: Steering Complaint " Violation of Pa. Motors Physical Damage Appraiser Act Title 63: The complaint below is based on actual comments that occurred in our front office with witnesses present. Mr. James Guthrie tried to steer our customer to a State Farm DRP facility while our customer discussed her claim with him. On February 23, 2009 State Farm appraiser James Guthrie visited our repair facility to inspect damages on our customer's 2005 Honda Accord. Guthrie signed in at 12:25 pm. Guthrie completed his estimate and signed out at 1:59pm. While discussing his estimate Guthrie advised he had written a Prior Loss estimate on our customer's vehicle that reflected damage on the right front fender. He advised that the claim representative would be contacting our customer to advise her of the Prior Loss damage. A short time later I received a call from our customer who was in a state of confusion over a deduction on the estimate. I explained State Farm's practice of deducting Prior Loss damages and although her vehicle's right side fender needed to be replaced due to the accident damage they had deducted $999.83 from her settlement. As she was asking me questions I explained that appraiser Guthrie was still at our facility to inspect another loss and she could stop by and question him if she liked. She advised she would be there in a few minutes. Our customer stopped by to look over the estimate and the Prior Loss estimate. We went into the shop area and we discussed the damage in question and she explained how she felt the insurance company was taking advantage of her. Guthrie was waiting in our front room waiting to speak with me regarding a supplemental he had prepared. I introduced her to Guthrie and she questioned him why the Prior Loss damage was deducted from her settlement and she felt State Farm was being unfair. Guthrie kept referring her to the claim representative who could answer her questions. Our consumer could not understand why Guthrie who had just deducted a large amount from her settlement would not explain to her exactly why this had happened. During this conversation Guthrie asked our consumer if she was aware of State Farm's A.D.S.P. program? Guthrie went on to say she should considered having her claim handled through A.D.S.P. Guthrie advised our customer whose husband had previously signed our Authorization To Repair contract, to ask her claim representative about State Farm's A.D.S.P. as she would be better off having her vehicle repaired through this method of claim handling. Guthrie left our facility leaving our customer disappointed. We contacted State Farm Insurance Company on our customer's behalf and asked what Guthrie meant by the A.D.S.P. We spoke with a State Farm representative named Missy who explained the Auto Damage Service Program called State Farm Select Service First Program. This program is State Farm's DRP contracted shop program. Guthrie's attempt to steer our customer is a violation of Pa. State Law and Regulation's disclosure requirement. I was not part of the conversation between Guthrie and our customer although I was standing next to them. There was no discussion between Guthrie and I regarding repair cost. Crawford's Auto Center had not prepared a repair analysis for the vehicle and Guthrie did not review the estimate with anyone at our facility. This conversation was between our customer and Guthrie, which was focused on her Prior Loss damages. Guthrie went out of his way to use this opportunity to steer without mentioning any disclosure statements. This claim is another example of State Farm Insurance Company steering. Please investigate our allegations of illegal steering and unprofessional behavior.''' Thank you, Stephen Behrndt #276003