TECHNOLOGY
The Scanning Gap OEMs say scan, but not all insurers are onboard By Jeff Sanford
A panel discussion on scanning and calibration at CCIF Toronto included representatives from OEMs, insurance, software and the repair industry. Asked about the potential consequences of not performing scans, one OEM representatives remarked that they were “Possible injury or even death.” Nevertheless, we have received reports that some insurers still refuse to pay for needed scans.
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s there a topic more pressing in the collision repair industry than that of pre- and post-scanning? Numerous OEMs have issued position statements insisting that a safe repair must include these scans, as well as calibrations. The question remains: who pays? A reader of Collision Repair magazine recently reached out to us regarding an online article published by our US-based content partner, Repairer Driven News. The article details how an appraiser in the US refused to pay for pre-scans on a 2016 Ram bedside replacement, despite the fact that FCA has issued a position statement calling such scans mandatory. The piece encouraged John Scetta of Performance Collision & Restyling to write to us, noting that this is happening in Canada as well. He noted further that he was worried about the eventual outcome of this tension between prescription and practice. “This is normal practice here as well,” he writes. “We just had an Audi in that they refused to pay us for pre-scan, and not until we did the operation for free did any of us know about the 18 hidden codes that were
stored. This is the reality. Where does the buck stop on negligence? If this continues, someone is going to die. This is no different than a structural engineer signing off on drawings and the builder deciding to use inferior materials to save a dollar.” Rising Liability Scetta is one of many repairers worried about the rising liability around scanning in the new world of complex vehicles. At the first CCIF meeting of 2017, the opening panel discussion was on scanning and similar concerns were presented. One of the panelists noted that the consequences of allowing a vehicle to leave the shop without properly calibrating various systems could be “Serious injury, or worse.” Kelly Roberts is the Business Development Manager of Fix Auto North Bay. His store has been performing scans and recalibrations on every collision damaged vehicle assignment for a couple of years now, whether it’s been an insurance claim or customer pay repair, paid or not, position statement or not. “Once you understand the level of
John Scetta of Performance Collision & Restyling.
June 2017 collision Repair 65