Three bills designed to bring transparency to the automotive glass industry in New York are seeing bipartisan support among legislators in both chambers. Empire State body shop owners are being urged to contact their respective senators and assembly members to help crystallize passage of the package, which is now in committee.

Under existing New York law, insurance claims for glass-only repairs are exempt from anti-steering regulations. Proponents of the measures under consideration say enactment will help clear-up the claims process while also applying national glass industry installation practices - known as AGRSS, which stands for Auto Glass Repair Safety Standards.

“This just reinforces free enterprise in the glass business,” says Ed Kizenberger, executive director of the New York State Automotive Collision Technicians Association (NYSACTA).

Currently, “Anybody who is installing window glass is at the insurers' mercy because they can direct the business to the glass provider of their choice,” he explains.

When anti-steering regulations were originally promulgated in 1983, window and windshield repairs were excluded from the provisions because legislators believed that local insurance agents were best able to make referrals to reputable glass repairers.

Over time, however, large glass companies have been able to capture much of the market through lower-cost volume pricing and arrangements with insurance carriers that combine to squeeze out independent shops.

“Ninety-five percent of the business model is that glass work is done through the networks” arranged by the various insurance companies offering coverage in the state, according to Scott E. Owens, president of Excel Auto Glass Corp. in Lake Katrine.

Insurers have contended that these listings of approved glass vendors, who are able to buy in bulk, allows them to offer the lowest pricing plus the highest levels of service.

“The large chains are buying tractor-trailer loads of glass at a time,” Owens points out.

“It has turned into a price war situation,” he says. This has left independent repairers at a disadvantage because they are hard-pressed to compete.

“They'll only pay the independent shop what a (chain) glass shop would bill. It puts independent repairers at a disadvantage unless they're willing to agree to that pricing structure. They're shying away from this work because it's not profitable.”

If a motorist experiencing glass pains wishes to have the work done at a non-approved shop, they are sometimes discouraged by being asked to pay the above-list cost themselves or told that the work will not be warranted, he notes.

“They'll call the customer back and say, 'This shop is not on the approved list.'”

And it's all legal under current New York law.

“When you call your insurance company with a glass claim they give you an 800 number that's really the number of a national glass provider-and they answer with the name of the insurance company” that carries the consumer's policy, Owens continues.

“If you can get the customer to come to your shop, we have to call the insurance company” and complete the transaction through an approved glass provider. “They fax you an authorization-to- bill” that can contain limits on the permitted payment amount. “The authorization-to-bill address is a large glass company,” he adds.

“Many auto body and mechanical repair shops don't get involved with glass if an insurance company is involved,” according to Owens. “Independent auto glass shops not affiliated with the networks must fight for every customer they get. Steering and having to bill insurance companies through our competitors are very difficult ways to do business.”

Such a scenario “has an impact on everybody,” says NYSACTA's Kizenberger. The legislation pending in Albany “is all good” for the industry, he observes.

“The bills have good support and sponsorship,” yet Kizenberger and Owens would like to see shop owners press for passage by contacting their statehouse representatives.

“It will not be the golden bullet to fix our problems in New York, but it's a start,” says Owens. If writing a letter, “You have to have your zip code on it so the legislator knows you're a constituent,” he advises.

The measures designed to end the steering exclusion are S3429 in the Senate and A07199 in the Assembly. Both bills are in the respective chambers' insurance committees. The legislation to apply AGRSS-A08374-is in the Assembly's consumer affairs and protection committee.

According to the language in A08374, passage is necessary “to ensure that New York State automotive glass replacement standards are consistent with the federal motor vehicle safety standard requirements…Some installers offer glass replacement at the consumer's home for a considerable reduction in cost. Often the glass installation occurs regardless of inclement weather which can seriously compromise the strength of the adhesive. Insurance companies will often try to encourage using the least cost installation.”

“Having someone come out (in a mobile unit) and put in a windshield in your driveway when it's 20 degrees out is not really safe,” says Owens. He goes on to contend that some of the insurers' listed glass vendors “will send out one of their own trucks after (the vehicle's owner) has already selected an independent shop” to do the work.

For the time being, the three bills under consideration will remain in committee, according to Steve Longo, legislative assistant to Assembly member RoAnn M. Destito, a Democrat who introduced A07199. (S3429 was introduced by a Republican senator.)

Longo cites 113 billion reasons why the legislation remains in temporary limbo: Both chambers are currently engrossed in formulating New York's $113 billion annual budget.

Once this fiscal task is accomplished, “we hope to see some movement” on the glass measures, he says. “I haven't received any opposition, but the insurance companies haven't weighed in yet.”

Meanwhile, Owens has been spending $60,000 a year to buy advertising on 12 radio stations throughout the Hudson River Valley. “I do a lot of public education marketing,” he says. “It's benefiting a lot of shops because it's making consumers aware that they have a choice” if they hold firm in their desire to patronize a preferred repairer.

“I have been attempting to rally support and have traveled from Long Island to Buffalo talking to glass shop owners,” Owens reports, adding that he also lobbies at collision and mechanical facilities. “Many of the shops are afraid of the networks or the insurance companies blacklisting them. I believe the only fear they should have is not supporting this effort to have the full protection of the law no matter what kind of claim is made against an insurance policy.”