PCTG Consumer Complaint Report Record ID#: 1225879023

Daniel Martinez, owns a red '03 Dodge Ram that got keyed on nearly every surface. The job went without incident until it came to the paint and materials costs which I incurred on behalf of Mr. Martinez. State Farm refuses to budge on their view that the antiquated formula of taking $24 per labor hour is sufficient for payment of paint and materials. This formula is a ridiculous way of calculating P&M costs. Back in the day of manual estimates and pouring through Mitchell manuals, this formula may have been an adequate way of calculating. It has, obviously, never been accurate, only a guideline because labor hours have absolutely nothing to do with costs of repair. My vendors and manufacturers do not charge me only what the insurance company pays. They get to charge me what they need to in order to profit from the sale. My business requires nothing less. State Farm insists on paying only $734.40 on Mr. Martinez's repair for P&M. To put it into perspective, I needed a gallon of paint for the truck. The car is red, the highest pigment and, therefore, the most expensive. A gallon of paint cost me $472.05. That is just for the color, not for hardeners, reducers and clear coat. This also doesn't even begin to address the expense of primer, scuff pads, tape, paper, sandpaper, polish, razor blades, and so on, needed for every repair and especially on one of this magnitude. Because insurance companies choose not to pay P&M costs, we have begun creating a bucket for each and every car we have in our shop. In it, my technicians put every piece of material used in the job into the bucket. At the end, I calculate actual P&M costs per job. I can produce actual invoices from my suppliers and an invoice from my shop to the insurance company for actual cost of P&M for any particular job. Some insurance companies are recognizing this as accurate and are compensating fairly. This is not the case with State Farm. Mr. Martinez's P&M costs are $1,439.50, and State Farm wants to cheat me out of half of my legitimate costs. The ultimate goal of our industry is to accurately calculate the cost of doing business as is demanded by the insurance companies. We are constantly asked by insurance companies to produce invoices to justify our parts costs. Why is it they don't demand to see our paint costs? The answer is obvious, our costs exceed what they pay. They can't have it both ways. Either we accept invoices or we don't. Other states are recognizing actual cost of materials and have started to compensate accordingly. Isn't it time Pennsylvania does the same?