Consider for a minute the plight of auto insurance claims adjusters and auto body shop owners/operators; two groups of people who must work together toward a common goal of satisfying the customer, yet they have seemingly conflicting agendas. The insurance claims adjuster is charged with accurately estimating the dollar amount required to return a damaged vehicle to its pre-accident condition and satisfy the customer while bearing in mind the company's profitability. The body shop owner/operator is charged with repairing the vehicle to the customer's satisfaction, billing at a rate that is in line with the estimate, and making a profit in order to stay in business.

How do they do it? The truth of the matter is they haven't always done it well, but thanks in part to a joint task force of the Automotive Service Association (ASA) of Ohio and the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII), all parties involved are gaining an appreciation for the other's plight.

A novel approach to solving this problem was engineered by the joint task force of the ASA of Ohio Collision Division and the OII. ASA-Ohio is the largest organization in the state representing collision repair owners and OII is a trade and public information association representing Ohio's property and casualty insurance industry.

The joint task force, formed in 1994, agreed at the outset that it shared the same customer: people in need of vehicle repair quickly, conveniently and fairly. Yet, the relationship between the collision repair and insurance industries is often cast in negative terms. Much of this friction is born out of changes in the processes for both insurance claims and auto repair, which have been dramatically impacted by technology and government regulations.

The task force recently arranged a field trip of sorts that allowed an Ohio body shop owner/operator to observe two experienced claims adjusters at work inspecting and estimating damaged vehicles. To help the claims adjusters understand the other side of the business, they then had the opportunity to observe the body shop owner at work.

It was an eye-opening experience for all involved.

The parties involved were John Sanders, owner/operator of Fleet Autobody with locations in Powell and Dublin, Ohio, and claims professionals Richard Watts of Progressive Insurance and Bob Vidd of Allstate.

"The successful auto insurance claims professional is a master at interpersonal communication," said Sanders. "He or she needs to make the customer, the repair shop and the company happy. That can be something of a juggling act. The customers all want the same thing - they want their vehicle back in the condition it was in before the accident. Then there's the body shops. Nearly all have different pricing structures, job completion time and processes."

Sanders gained a new respect for how claims professionals do their jobs and gained insight into the claims process that will lead to changes in his own shop's operations. "There are ways I can change the way I do my work that will make it easier for claims representatives and customers," said Sanders.

When it was Watts' and Vidd's turn to observe Sanders in action, they too found it to be a learning experience.

"Body shop owners and operators are dealing with all aspects of the business," said Watts.

"While we are very focused on the estimate of damage and repair of the car, Sanders is involved in many other aspects of his business, including payroll, hiring and training, and regulatory compliance. These are busy people ... we need to do everything we can to make their jobs easier."

Progressive and Allstate do many things to make the transaction between company and body shop a "win-win." One of the first things the companies did was to recognize that the term "adjuster" implied negotiation and an antagonistic relationship. These people are now referred to as "claims representatives."

"Progressive and Allstate also provide their claims representatives with the estimating systems programmed with up-to-date parts costs and labor charges that are agreed upon by the companies and local body shops," said Watts. "This requires relationship-building with the body shops and it requires that we keep our technology up-to-date by making changes to parts and labor costs as they occur."

According to Watts, the Progressive claim representative follows the vehicle all the way through the repair process, working closely with the shop to be certain the estimate was correct and the car is being repaired to everyone's satisfaction.

In addition to the challenges of operating a business, body shop owners/operators are also challenged with having to learn to work with many insurance companies. Vidd said, "The body shop people need to work with many different personalities, working styles and estimating systems - from the very sophisticated to pencil - and - paper systems. Insurance companies tend not to think about how confusing and difficult it is for the body shop - I have first-hand appreciation for it now."

To help bridge the gap between the insurance company and body shops, Allstate recently instituted a new program that attempts to keep the customer totally informed of each step in the process and gets the repair facility moving in a more timely manner.

Vidd said this new program, called Claim Core Process Redesign, starts with direct communication to all the parties involved. "Our claim representatives contact the repair facility, schedule an appointment to review a damaged vehicle and, at the same time, authorize a tear-down of the vehicle, unless of course it's a total loss. This allows the claim representative to provide as detailed an estimate as possible to the repair facility in just one visit," he said.

Vidd said this program eliminates guesswork for both the claim representative and the body shop. In addition, he said when there is additional damage found after an estimate has been agreed upon, Allstate has a toll-free hot line for body shops to call for a re-inspection. This has eliminated the hassles body shops experience in tracking down a particular claim representative and keeps repairs moving in a timely fashion.

"Throughout this entire process, Allstate attempts to keep the customer totally informed on the repair of their vehicle," Vidd said.

It is fair to say that, thanks in part to efforts like these, body shops and insurance companies are working together better today than they have in the past. The joint task force continues to look for ways to bring together both parties to continue to improve that relationship. And that's good news for customers. As long as the lines of communication are open between all parties involved in the vehicle repair process, all will be better served.

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