Records of Meeting3December 2, 1998
Automobile Damage Appraisers Licensing Board Subcommittee
RECORDS OF MEETING
CLAIMS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
AUTOMOBILE DAMAGE APPRAISERS LICENSING BOARD SUBCOMMITTEE
A meeting of the Automobile Damage Appraisers Licensing Board Subcommittee was held at the offices of Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers, 100 Summer Street, Boston on –
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1998 AT 10:00 A.M.
The following members were present -
Mr. Robert Woods, Jr. – Chairman
CNA Insurance Companies
Mr. Fran DelageHanover Insurance Company
Mr. James DohertyDoherty Insurance Agency
Mr. Michael DoranPremier Insurance Company
Mr. Ciro FeiSentry Insurance Company
Mr. Dave KrupaSafety Insurance Company
Mr. Denis LaFleur *Commerce Insurance Company
Mr. Steve TagueMetropolitan Property & Casualty
*Substitution for Mr. Dave Antocci
Also present were –
Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers
Mr. Joseph MaherVice President & General Counsel
Ms. Valerie GedziunVice President – Claims
Mr. Robert BellClaims Manager
Ms. Susie Almonte WintersClaims Analyst
Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers
Mr. Richard DaltonSenior Claims Examiner
Mr. Robert McNamaraClaims Examiner
Also present were –
Mr. James A. CastlemanMABA Legal Counsel
Mr. Dave CastroCGU Insurance Company
Mr. Ed ClemensSentry Insurance Company
Ms. Colleen CochraneHanover Insurance Company
Mr. Robert CorreiaLiberty Mutual Insurance Company
Dr. Richard DerrigAIB
Ms. Kathleen DevericksPremier Insurance Company
Mr. Victor FanikosADALB - DOI
Mr. Gary GagnePremier Insurance Company
Mr. Kevin McCarronArbella Mutual Insurance Company
Ms. Joyce RichardsAmica Mutual Insurance Company
Mr. Don SpinelliADALB - Hanover Insurance Company
Mr. Walter ThomasADALB
Mr. Glen TonnessenUSAA
Mr. James J. TorneyMGDA Legal Counsel
Mr. Joseph ValariotiADALB
Mr. Stephen VeigaADALB – DOI
Mr. Stephen WellsPlymouth Rock Assurance Corporation
Automobile Damage Appraisers Licensing Board Subcommittee Chairman Mr. Robert Woods, Jr. called the meeting to order at 10:00 A.M..
98.0Records of Meeting
Mr. Doherty made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 7, 1998 meeting. Mr. Doran seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
98.41Automobile Damage Appraisers Licensing Board Subcommittee
Mr. Woods opened the meeting and said that the topic of potential fraud in glass claims arose due to a request from a member of the ADALB for this subcommittee to discuss fraud in glass claims. The request was made through a letter from the Board’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Stephen Veiga.
At the request of Mr. Woods, Ms. Gedziun reviewed the requirements of the Performance Standards as they pertained to the handling of glass claims. Mr. Bell then reviewed some preliminary findings of the Claim Department of the sampling of glass claims they had taken from the Servicing Carrier Claim Reviews. The glass claim review, Mr. Bell explained, was to determine the most commonly applied discounts and to see what cost containment methods were being taken on glass claims. Mr. Bell said some companies used software programs, others reinspections, photographs, or individuals manually screening submitted claims. Mr. Bell said the industry has addressed fraud in glass claims when it occurs. He then pointed out two investigations into glass fraud that the Fraud Bureau had reported.
Mr. Delage said the Performance Standards already specifically requires companies to do a representative number of inspections or reinspections of glass claims.
Richard Derrig of AIB in response to questions from the Committee stated that in 1997 a total of $102,157,402 was paid on 254,000 glass claims. He also stated that AIB had not seen a change in glass claim frequency that would suggest an increase in the level of fraud in regard to such claims or coverage.
Mr. Woods asked Mr. Krupa if the Attorney General’s task force had any conclusions on glass claims. Mr. Krupa said there are standard red flags that can be identified on glass claims. However none of the carriers reported a higher incident of fraud than for other coverages.
Mr. Valarioti said that in 1985 the ADALB issued a mandate that glass losses should be handled like a first party loss and appraisals should be done on glass claims. The mandate was suspended however.
Mr. Torney of the Massachusetts Glass Dealers Association supported the industry’s position that fraud in glass claims was not unusually high and there would be little benefit to appraising each glass claim. He pointed that there have been 4 glass fraud prosecutions in the past 15 years and 2 of those occurred in the past year. Mr. Torney concluded that the MGDA was opposed to any requirement of appraisals on glass claims.
Messrs. Woods, Spinelli, and Gagne said they were aware of no state that requires appraisals on glass claims.
There being no further business, a motion was made by Mr. Doherty and duly seconded by Mr. Delage to adjourn the meeting.
The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
The meeting adjourned at 11:40 A.M..
ROBERT W. BELL, CPCU
CLAIMS MANAGER
Boston, Massachusetts
December 11, 1998
Note:These Records have not been approved. They will be considered for approval at the next Automobile Damage Appraisers Licensing Board Subcommittee meeting.