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DEPARTMENTS
VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
6 | Through Hardship to Greatness (Per Angusta Ad Augusta) by Douglas Begin
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
8 | They Are Counting on You! by Evangelos “Lucky” Papageorg
LOCAL NEWS
12 | ADALB: Labor Rates, Regulations and Complaints – Oh My! by Chasidy Rae Sisk
16 | Collision Repairers and Insurers Clash Over Labor Rate Survey Details by Alana Quartuccio
AASP/MA GOLF OUTING
18 | September 10, 2025 Heritage Country Club, Charlton
VENDOR AFFINITY PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
20 | Sentric ADAS by Alana Quartuccio
LOCAL FEATURE
24 | She Knows Collision: Meeting the Ladies of Body and Paint Center by Chasidy Rae Sisk
LEGAL PERSPECTIVE
36 | The People’s Billion-Dollar Bully (Part One): How Insurers Took the Little Guy’s Side to Beat Him Down by Sean Preston, Coverall Law
28 | CAUTION: Shielding Shops from Contaminated Cars by Alana Quartuccio
32 | Former MABA President Ed Nalewanski Recalls Tons of Fun as an Association Leader by Chasidy Rae Sisk
7 | AASP/MA MEMBER APPLICATION
21 | AASP/MA VENDOR AFFINITY PROGRAM SPONSORS
Through Hardship to Greatness (Per Angusta Ad Augusta)
The collision repair industry is not for the faint of heart. If you’re doing it right, not one aspect of this work is easy. Precision repairs? Tough. Investing in the latest equipment and training to ensure those repairs meet the highest standards? Even tougher. Removing your shop from insurance contracts and referral programs, standing firm against short-pays and navigating difficult conversations with customers who may not understand why their insurer isn’t covering the full cost? That’s an entirely different level of challenge.
But as the saying goes, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” And doing this work well – properly repairing, inspecting and calibrating today’s complex vehicles – is not just important. It is critical. It is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
The Reality of Collision Repair Today
Modern vehicles are engineering marvels, equipped with sophisticated sensors, ADAS and intricate structural designs intended to protect occupants in a crash. While these innovations enhance safety, they also make the repair process exponentially more difficult. The days of simply pulling a dent and matching paint are long gone. Every repair must be executed with precision, backed by manufacturer procedures and verified with post-repair scans and calibrations.
Yet, in an industry where quick turnaround and cost-
cutting tactics often overshadow proper processes, repairers are under relentless pressure. Appraisers may doubt your expertise, customers may question your pricing, and insurers may refuse to pay for crucial operations. Standing your ground can feel like an uphill battle, leaving even the most skilled professionals secondguessing themselves.
The Hard Conversations We Must Have
One of the greatest challenges shop owners and technicians face today isn’t just mastering repairs – it’s educating customers. These conversations can be uncomfortable. No one wants to tell a customer that their insurance company isn’t covering necessary procedures, leaving them financially responsible for ensuring their vehicle is repaired correctly.
However, avoiding these tough discussions does a disservice, not only to your business, but to the customer’s safety. Transparency is paramount. Customers need to understand that their insurer’s estimate may not align with the real cost of repairing their vehicle according to OEM guidelines. Cutting corners to meet insurance constraints is simply not an option. It may feel easier to comply with an insurance estimate and move on, but easier doesn’t mean right. If a vehicle isn’t repaired to exact specifications, its safety features may not function
continued on pg. 26
Membership Application 2025-2026
P.O. BOX 850210
Braintree, MA 02185
Phone: 617-574-0741
Email: admin@aaspma.org
Please complete this form and return to our office via mail or email with your dues payment. Thank You!
As a member in good standing, your shop WILL BE listed on our website Click here � if you do not want your shop listed on our website map for potential customers to find you. If you have any questions about this benefit, call (617) 574-0741, ext. 1.
Yes � Please send me information regarding the following MONEY SAVING BENEFITS: � Healthcare plan � Dental, Vision plan � PFML savings program � Credit card processing � Grant writing/training � Google presence optimization � All benefits
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Check here � to opt out of auto renewal using this credit card information for future renewal
Note: A 4 percent convenience fee will be charged for membership renewal via credit card transaction I hereby make this application for membership with the Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of MA (AASP/ MA) for membership dues 2025-2026 as provided for in this contract. *Membership Dues are for a twelve-month period commencing on your anniversary month of membership
REV 12/24 REFERRED BY _________________________ COMPANY_______________________________
SCAN TO JOIN!
They Are Counting on You!
One thing has become abundantly and blatantly clear to anyone observing the Auto Body Labor Rate Advisory Board (ABLRAB): the insurance representatives will go to extraordinary lengths to protect their own self-interests and profits – even at the expense of policyholders and vehicle owners involved in an insurance-covered loss. They are like a “dog with a bone” when it comes to insisting certain labor rates be included in the labor rate survey for Massachusetts. They are counting on you to provide the very ammunition they need to undermine your business.
Ignoring the true definition of a “prevailing rate,” insurers are demanding that contractual rates from referral, program and fleet accounts be included in the survey. They conveniently ignore the quid pro quo involved (“we’ll send you work if you accept this rate”) and fail to acknowledge the intimidation and fear that shops face if they remain independent. Independent shops are often unfairly steered against and treated as second-class – while consumers, many of whom distrust their insurers, still feel pressured into using “preferred” shops.
Unless a vehicle owner is well-informed, it’s easy to be misled. Insurers often say, “If you use one of our shops, we’ll guarantee the work.” But the guarantee usually hides the fact that the shop indemnifies the insurer just to stay on the list. Would you return to the same surgeon who botched your surgery? That’s exactly what insurers ask of vehicle owners: to return to the shop that already delivered poor-quality repairs. Often, these shops lack the training or equipment to repair today’s complex vehicles properly – or choose not to invest. If you’re one of those shops, the insurers are counting on you to help set the bar for “prevailing” rates and standards. If you can’t perform all proper repairs, consider stepping aside – your work puts public safety and the industry’s reputation at risk.
It has become clear in ABLRAB meetings that the insurer representatives have a well-defined agenda: to mislead Board members unfamiliar with the collision repair industry. They want to build a fantasy narrative, urging everyone to “ignore the man
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behind the curtain” – the one pulling the strings to keep labor rates suppressed. They are counting on you to be the flying monkeys who obediently follow their lead, convinced change is impossible.
So, what can you do? You can:
• Do what’s best for the vehicle owner, your business, your employees and their families.
• Stop drinking the “Kool-Aid.” Perform all required repairs to return vehicles to safe, pre-loss condition.
• Charge a fair, reasonable rate for the services and liability you take on.
• Take steps to ensure that the insurance industry can no longer profit off your work at your and the customer’s expense.
If you’re unwilling to do what’s right for the right reasons, please step aside. They are counting on you to complain, but not take action.
In the short term, one important action is to complete the labor rate survey developed by the ABLRAB. This survey will be sent to every business on the Division of Standards’ (DOS) registered shop list. While the survey is flawed, it allows shops to report their posted labor rates and the rates charged for noninsurance, customer-pay work – which is the true measure of a prevailing market rate.
It is essential that you answer this survey:
• Promptly and truthfully.
• Based on actual transactions, not wishful thinking.
• NOT based on what an insurer reimburses or what you hope to be paid.
• DO NOT fall into the trap of lowballing your rate hoping for referrals – this survey is not about gaining work
• DO NOT present what might be viewed as an inflate-therate to “make up for years of loss” unless you can back it up with documentation
Unrealistic figures will, in all likelihood, be dismissed, just like the false narratives insurers are already pushing should be.
Be on the lookout for the survey from the ABLRAB and related materials from the Alliance. The results will be critical as the data is analyzed and presented.
They are counting on you to reinforce their claim that all is fair and equitable under current reimbursement practices.
WE are counting on YOU to prove them wrong!
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ADALB: Labor Rates, Regulations and Complaints – Oh My!
Follow the yellow brick road! Follow the yellow brick road!
The May 13 meeting of the Auto Damage Appraiser Licensing Board (ADALB) mirrored a trip to Oz as the whirlwind discussion left many attendees feeling as though they had encountered the various characters from the renowned film. Although the collision repair industry has become increasingly complex, not everyone on the Board seems to realize “we’re not in Kansas anymore” where everything is simply black and white.
Attorney Michael Powers provided an update on the Auto Body Labor Rate Advisory Board (ABLRAB), which is charged with conducting a survey on body shop labor rates. He indicated the ABLRAB is open to third-party surveys being presented for its consideration, and he also issued a call for testimony to be given in person and virtually during the next public hearing, scheduled June 12. (Don’t fall asleep amid the poppy fields – AASP/MA encourages members to stay tuned for detailed information on how they can participate in this public hearing to make sure the industry’s concerns are addressed!)
The Board’s review of proposed amendments to 212 CMR 2.03 (1) and (2) resulted in a need for additional research and discussion at a future meeting, while the conversation about needed updates to the equipment listed in 2.02(9) brought to mind the words of the Scarecrow: “Some people without brains do an awful amount of talking, don’t they?”
When Board member Carl Garcia (Carl’s Collision Center; Fall River) suggested adding OEM procedures to the list, Board member Peter Smith (MAPFRE) asked, “How does that requirement play in with the fact that it’s the appraiser’s obligation to specify the damage attributable to the accident or theft? How is that damage?” as he insisted, “I just don’t see where that’s necessary.”
“You don’t see where it’s necessary to have the knowledge on how to repair a vehicle properly?” Board member Bill Johnson (Pleasant Street Auto; South Hadley/Belchertown) expressed incredulously.
As Attorney Powers promised at the March ADALB meeting, the Board had plenty of complaints to review this time around, eliciting appearances from a couple more Wizard of Oz favorites as discussions and voting revealed an absence of heart and courage. Meanwhile, the question “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” was clearly answered with the tie-breaking votes that clearly screamed, “I’ll get you my pretty…and your little dog too!”
Due to insufficient or unclear documentation, six complaints were unanimously dismissed without prejudice, allowing the complainants to resubmit with the appropriate evidence of the allegations. (One complaint elicited an explosion – and quite a bit of profanity – on the part of one Board member!)
The Board also unanimously voted to move forward on Complaint 2025-18, agreeing to seek the appraiser’s side of the story in regard to steering allegations; however, these were the only agreements reached during the review of complaints.
Eleven complaints revealed divided opinions with the two automotive representatives squaring off against the Board members from the insurance industry. In every case, Chairman Michael Donovan cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the insurers.
AASP/MA Executive Director Lucky Papageorg oiced his frustration. “Why are these being dismissed if someone isn’t following the regulation?” he asked. “We’re two votes, you know; we’re outnumbered,” Garcia claimed, indicating his exasperation with the clear bias repeatedly exhibited by the Board’s leader. (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”)
The ADALB is scheduled to reconvene on July 22 at 10am. Information pertaining to the ADALB’s meeting schedule and planned agenda is typically posted by the Friday prior to the meeting at bit.ly/ADALBagendas.
AASP/MA members are strongly encouraged to listen to the recording of the May 13 meeting in the Members Only section of aaspma.org for a glimpse into the inner workings of the ADALB. View the meeting agenda at bit.ly/ADALB051325. More detailed coverage of this meeting appears in the June issue of Damage Report, AASP/MA’s members-only newsletter.
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by Alana
Collision Repairers and Insurers Clash Over Labor Rate Survey Details
Attention all Massachusetts collision repair shops! Be sure to look out for the labor rate survey being conducted by the Auto Body Labor Rate Advisory Board (ABLRAB) this month as the information collected will play a pivotal role in the hopes of bringing much needed change to labor rate suppression in Massachusetts.
Because data collection will play such an important role in what the Board will ultimately recommend to the Division of Insurance later this year, collision repair Board members Brian Bernard (Total Care Accident Repair; Raynam), Matthew Ciaschini (Full Tilt Auto Body; Hatfield) and Rick Starbard (Rick’s Auto Collision; Revere) pushed hard to eliminate the collection of data related to contractual relationships to ensure the survey would truly represent a competitive market rate.
Board members deliberated the survey questions over a span of two virtual meetings held at the end of May and beginning of June. The bulk of the conversation surrounded whether or not to include language in reference to contractual labor rates with insurance companies as well as fleet and government contracts, which the majority of the Board ultimately voted to include. Bernard, Ciaschini and Starbard were joined by Dave Brown (Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association) in voting against including questions about contract rates, which the rest of the Board, sans business community representative JC
Burton (Maven Construction), who was not in attendance, voted to include.
Because the point of the survey is to see what the true competitive market rate is in the state, Starbard stressed the market rate is vastly different than the insurance rate, which is a dictated rate based on both parties getting something out of the agreement. “That is why we are against the language in those questions. Our charge isn’t to find out what contracted rates are; our charge is to find out what the market rate is – what the customer is willing to pay.”
Bernard also stressed that for these rates to “have any validity and understand what it means, we’d literally have to look at the terms and conditions of each document because there is a lot of subtext that could be written into the words that could affect what that contracted rate would be, and I don’t think we have the ability to share these contracts.”
“No contract rate can ever be included to identify a competitive rate,” Bernard stressed. “As the creator of the survey, our group really needs to know exactly why we’re asking a particular question. If we don’t know what problem we’re trying to solve, what we’re trying to understand, we shouldn’t be asking the question because we’re just going to get a variety of bad data.” Labor rates determined by insurance companies and embedded in their policy forces a low rate onto non-contract shops, he pointed out. “So, if the insurance rate is
less than my rate, it’s not accurate because my rate is still my rate on 100 percent of my jobs.”
Contrarily, Christopher Stark (Massachusetts Insurance Federation) defended his position, stating, “These contract rates are absolutely part and parcel to this unique market that is almost entirely done in some way, shape or form based off of contracted negotiated rates, whether that’s with an insurance company, a consumer, a rental car company or a municipality. We’re just trying to collect all of that data from each of the angles, so we know exactly what we’re looking at with these surveys.”
Although the contract rate concerns raised by the auto body voices at the table went largely unheard, the Board did unanimously agree to include a question that specifically asked if the business performs collision repair work as a result of Bernard pointing out that a large portion of the 1,600 registered repair shops in the state “may be a registered repair shop but not necessarily engaged in the business of repairing cars.” The Board also agreed it would be beneficial to add aluminum rate to the list of rates they sought from body shops via the survey.
While some on the Board contended there was not a need for an actual insurance survey as “insurance labor rates are available from verified sources,” as Stark indicated, the Board agreed to poll the insurance companies for their unique prevailing rate structure to ensure the data was available to the public.
The body shop survey was expected to be shared electronically with registered shops via the Division of Standards with weekly reminders in order to encourage as many responses as possible. The ABLRAB planned to reconvene virtually on July 29 at 2pm to discuss survey analysis and following the June 12 public hearing.
Visit bit.ly/ABLRAB for more information on the ABLRAB or to view past meetings.
September 10, 2025
Heritage Country Club, Charlton
Stay tuned for more information
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by Alana Quartuccio
Like the name suggests, Sentric ADAS truly is centered on OE calibrations. The 18-month old OE-centric company, with a national footprint spanning from as south as Fort Lauderdale, FL and San Antonio, TX to as northeast as Boston, MA, focuses on complying with nothing less than manufacturer specifications.
The company is a joint venture between two OEM-tier one equipment suppliers – Dealer Tire, a wholesale tire supplier to OEMs and Burke Porter, which supplies the calibration technology for OEMs and saw an opportunity to grow their equipment business outside of the OEM sphere to bring ADAS calibration equipment and services to the collision repair industry.
“One of the challenges for the collision industry is the way the cars develop,” comments David Ricketts, Boston market sales manager. “It’s not about replacing a windshield anymore. It’s about replacing a windshield and calibrating the camera, which may be controlling your automatic emergency braking, lane departure, lane keep assist, pedestrian collision avoidance and that kind of stuff. Realistically, prevention can be a matter of life and death for the driver, passengers or someone else on the road. It’s a huge liability for a body shop to have on their hands, so we sought to become a single-source partner for mobile and in-lab calibration.”
The company opened its first location in Indianapolis, IN and now has eight locations in the US with locations in Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts.
Sentric ADAS has the means to provide calibration services at their all-purpose facility. “We have all the manufacturer camera targets, radar targets and all of the calibration equipment necessary to deliver accurate and precise results repeatedly, each and every time,” Ricketts promises. They can also send a mobile technician to the body shop equipped with the OEM scan tool for the specific manufacturer. They serve shops within a 30-minute distance from their Boston location as they strive to stick to a six-hour turnaround time between picking up a vehicle and delivering it.
“We want to be OE-centric. That was one of the reasons for the name,” confirms Ricketts about their commitment to doing no less than “providing an OE-equivalent calibration. When we are finished with a calibration, it is going to be the same specs as it was when it left the factory or as close as we can possibly make it. We won’t use an aftermarket rig; we use OE scan tools and the OEM service
information to verify what and how it is to be done.”
Collision repair shops who work with Sentric ADAS can rest assured they will get all the documentation to support the work that was done. After the work is complete, the customer will receive an invoice that details and cross references the OE position statement, service bulletins and updates that were used to find the calibrations that had to be done based on the damage to the vehicle and the repairs that were undertaken. For example, suspension damage would require a vehicle alignment, and based on OE specifications, change in alignment will require calibrations to the camera and radars. Ricketts stressed, “When we quote something, it’s not a recommendation; it’s required by the OEM, so we will detail that in our invoice and also detail how we did it and what tool we used along with pictures to prove we did it. It’s not just an invoice. We include the justification and documentation for it. In the event an insurer wants to nitpick, we provide the OE documentation to support our argument for why that calibration was required. That tends to end those arguments pretty quickly.”
Sentric ADAS recently showed its support for AASP/MA by becoming a Bronze-level sponsor in the Alliance’s Vendor Affinity Program. Ricketts believes it’s important for the company to surround itself with those who take the industry seriously, like the members of AASP/MA.
“The members of AASP/MA understand the importance of doing the job right. Those are the people we are excited to do business with.”
The collision repair industry is at a crossroads, according to Ricketts, who notes that repair business has slowed down somewhat and it is likely that the industry is starting to see the early impact of ADAS’ implementation across models.. Meanwhile, the insurance industry claims that ADAS is quite like the “wild wild west” because there are no regulations on how or when calibrations are done. “Businesses have bills to pay, and they’ve got to get the next car in and that car out. There’s pressure to get it done as cheaply as possible from insurers, and we know that these systems can and will save someone’s life if they’re operating to spec, so we’re trying to make the industry safer one car at a time and thereby the roads safer, one car at a time.”
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She Knows Collision: Meeting the Ladies of Body and Paint Center
Women are a force to be reckoned with – especially in the workforce!
Yet, despite the fact that women make up nearly 47 percent of the workforce in the US, only 4.9 percent of employees in the auto body repair industry in 2024 were women, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, it’s not uncommon to walk in a shop and see nothing but men.
That’s not the case at Body and Paint Center (Hudson), where 25 percent of employees are female. Owner Tom Ricci doesn’t go out of his way to hire women; he simply seeks out the best person for the role, regardless of gender. “We’ll hire anyone who can do the job right. The fact that we have so many women in the shop is simply a sign of the times.”
More shops than ever before boast women in the front office, and three of Ricci’s female employees work as administrative staff; however, he also employs three ladies whose hands-on skills in the shop have earned his respect and admiration. “Their attention to detail exceeds that of most men I’ve employed in the past, plus women offer different perspectives than men. There are a lot of benefits to breaking with ‘tradition.’”
Gabby Aguiriano has been working in the collision repair industry for nearly a decade, starting when she was just 22 years old. She “fell into” her automotive journey when a previous manager bought an auto repair shop and hired her as a receptionist. “I was looking for a new job, so when he called, I figured ‘why not?’ I honestly had no plans to work in the automotive industry, but you never know where life will take you. That simple job became more than I ever expected. I like to learn a lot, so I started to get more involved in the shop’s operations without even trying.”
Many have never been in a collision before and have no idea how the process works. They may think their car will never be the same. Guiding them through everything and seeing how happy they are when we return their car after restoring it to its pre-accident condition feels great. I do everything I can to ensure we provide every customer with an excellent experience.”
Of course, every job has some drawbacks. “Problems are going to arise, but I don’t let it get to me. I know that when something unexpected comes up, we just have to work around it and go with the flow.”
Juliana Jardini joined the team at Body Paint and Center while she was still a senior at Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School (Marlborough) through the school’s co-op program and just began her second year in the shop, working as a prepper and painter. Growing up, she enjoyed working on her mother’s car with her father, who was a mechanic. “That definitely influenced me, but I had no idea I’d want to pursue an automotive career until my freshman year when I entered the shop and realized how much I enjoy it. I guess the interest was always in the back of my head, but it wasn’t really a path anyone expected me to take.”
Fortunately, Jardini’s instructors were very encouraging and promoted an environment that helped her develop her skills. The ability to constantly learn something new is her favorite thing about the collision repair industry. “I learn something every single day. This industry is always changing and evolving. You can learn something this year, but by next year, it’s completely different. Now, we’ve got the addition of EVs and the specifics related to certain manufacturers’ vehicles.”
Aguiriano advanced her knowledge, becoming an auto damage appraiser in 2019. She joined Ricci’s team four years ago. “The more knowledge I gained, the more I enjoyed what I was doing…and being able to increase my income certainly didn’t hurt! Learning a trade means that I’ve gained experience which I can carry with me wherever I go.”
She particularly loves the fact that her job allows her to help people. “When someone gets in an accident, they’re stressed out.
She also loves that “there’s opportunity for growth. There’s so many different aspects of this trade. I enjoy painting, but I’m not confined to this one thing. In the future, I may decide to learn to appraise or do bodywork. The options are limitless!”
Ashley Carmona is the newest female addition to Ricci’s team, though she’s been working in the industry for five years. After studying collision refinish at a local technical high school and college, Carmona started painting professionally two years
ago; Body and Paint Center is the third shop she’s worked at. Like Aguiriano, she didn’t necessarily intend to become a collision professional. “My school required me to pick a shop, so I haphazardly chose auto collision and started to really like it. It may not have been my original career goal, but I absolutely fell in love with the painting side of the industry; being able to restore someone’s car and seeing how beautiful it looks once it comes out of the booth is fulfilling.”
Prepping vehicles is Carmona’s least favorite part of the process. “I don’t really enjoy sanding and prepping the car, but it has to be done before I can get to the fun part. I love mixing the colors and seeing what I can create. I definitely plan to continue painting for a long time!”
So, what’s it like working in a shop with so many other women? Just as Ricci believes it’s about who is best for the job, Aguiriano believes it depends on the individual. “There are advantages and disadvantages to working with men and women. Each person is different, so it doesn’t really matter what gender they are. Some people are more easygoing, and that’s who I prefer to work with.”
Carmona is accustomed to being around a lot of women since her tech school class consisted primarily of other female collision professionals. She has noticed that women tend to be more
[VICE PRESIDENT’S] MESSAGE
continued from pg. 6
properly in the next collision. The difference between a proper repair and a compromised one could be the difference between life and death.
Why We Must Keep Fighting
The decision to step away from referral programs, hold insurers accountable and invest in continuous education requires resilience. It means enduring skepticism, frustration and financial hurdles. It means risking negative reviews from customers who don’t understand why their insurance company isn’t covering necessary operations. It means losing out on easy referral work.
But it also means doing things the right way.
Those who choose the harder path – the one paved with integrity and expertise – are the ones shaping the future of this industry. Collision repair is not just a trade; it is a responsibility. As professionals, we hold the safety of countless drivers in our hands. Our work ensures that when a mother drives her children to school, when a father commutes home after a long day, when a teenager takes the wheel for the first time – their vehicles will perform as designed in the moments that matter most.
organized than their male counterparts. “With men, things are all over the place, but women seem to keep things orderly and tidy, which makes the whole process go more smoothly.”
Jardini finds it “encouraging to see other women in the field. You don’t see women in the shop as much as in the front office, so being around other women who enjoy working with their hands is very inspiring because it shows that this field is truly evolving.”
Ricci agrees that evolution is necessary. “The landscape of our industry is changing, and the best thing shop owners can do is embrace it,” he insists. “The male-dominated culture in many shops works to their detriment; if you’re only willing to hire men, you’re missing out on a lot of talent. At the SkillsUSA Massachusetts State Competition this year, nine of the 24 competitors in collision repair and refinish were women! We have to update our mindset and accept that skills are not genderspecific. A well-trained woman can repair or paint a car just as well as a well-trained man.”
What about those shop owners who absolutely refuse to embrace diversification? “If some shops are unwilling to hire women solely because they’re women, that just means more qualified help for the rest of us!”
A Call to Action
The challenges in this industry are undeniable. The pressures from insurers, the rising costs of equipment, the hours spent in training – these obstacles will not disappear overnight. But we must continue to push forward. We must educate consumers, advocate for proper repairs and hold ourselves to the highest standards.
There is greatness in this struggle. There is honor in standing firm against the tide of mediocrity. And in the end, our dedication to safe, precise and ethical collision repair will be what defines us.
Per angusta ad augusta – through hardship to greatness. Let’s embrace the struggle. The industry, the customers and, most importantly, the lives we protect depend on it.
Co-celebrating decades of creating chemistry between two industry leaders
Here’s to 241 years of combined service excellence
This year, as Albert Kemperle Inc. celebrates its 83rd anniversary, BASF also celebrates its 158th anniversary. We are proud of our decades of partnership with BASF and years of serving the auto paint and body industry together. Kemperle’s founders would be proud of this relationship and the growth their company has experienced because of it.
Today, as we look forward to many more decades of service to our customers, we find ourselves filled with gratitude. The creativity, hard work, and sense of responsibility of the people working for our two companies have made us what we are today.
Thank you for your many years of loyalty.
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That statement can relate to a number of situations collision repair professionals contend with daily, from insurer battles causing high blood pressure to borderline exhaustion due to too many hours in the shop from a lack of staff, and more, but there is an underlying concern lurking about that most are not even cognizant of – and that lack of awareness is the alarming factor! It’s just as harmful as the actual dangerous substances, such as fentanyl, which could be present in a vehicle that could roll up to your shop at any time.
Many believe the industry needs to be aware of the dangers that could potentially wind up on the shop floor if repairers don’t take the time to understand the risks of these substances and, more importantly, have safety protocols in place before physically grabbing the keys.
“I’ve seen the dangers of fentanyl firsthand,” shares Mike Anderson (Collision Advice), who lost a loved one to a fentanyl overdose and is therefore passionate about educating the industry about its dangers. “It’s not like touching weed. I don’t think people realize how serious fentanyl really is, and it’s something this industry needs to be
by Alana Quartuccio
“I don’t think people realize how serious fentanyl really is, and it’s something this industry needs to be educated on. When you read the news, you see that fentanyl overdoses are at an all time high. There’s a lot more drug overdoses happening in cars than people realize. If you suspect any type of residue in a vehicle that comes in, call a professional to handle it.”
- Mike Anderson
educated on. When you read the news, you see that fentanyl overdoses are at an all time high. There’s a lot more drug overdoses happening in cars than people realize. If you suspect any type of residue in a vehicle that comes in, call a professional to handle it.”
Earlier this year, Amber Alley (Barsotti’s Body & Fender; San Rafael, CA) dealt with a stolen recovery vehicle at her shop that had been out of the vehicle owner’s possession for about a month. Its whereabouts and use during that time period brought up some alarming questions.
“The car was towed in, and the customer had expressed concern that someone had been living in the vehicle,” Alley says. “The customer didn’t feel comfortable entering the vehicle and wanted it tested.”
Alley’s shop quarantined the vehicle on the lot to prevent anyone from touching it. Not surprisingly, the insurance company did not want to pay for the testing. After much back and forth, the customer agreed to pay for the testing, and the insurance company stated they would revisit if the test results came back positive.
“We contracted a company to come in. They took swabs, and it came back positive for fentanyl. We took it back to the insurance company, and they ultimately totalled the car,” says Alley. According to the report, “a visual inspection of the vehicle was performed, and a brown-colored powder/substance was observed on the front driver seat.”
Learning that there was “a big gob of fentanyl” right on the front seat was quite alarming to Alley, who says her team has always taken cautionary steps in the past, but this situation was much different.
“It was right there on the driver’s seat. You get in, you could have a gob of it on your pants. Maybe you don’t get sick, but what if you go home and your baby gets sick?! It’s just super scary to me.”
Ron Reichen (Precision Body and Paint; Beaverton, OR) has a thorough intake process for every total loss vehicle that comes in.
“We intake vehicles by appointment only,” he explains. “So, whether it’s a recovered theft or whatever type of loss it is, the client usually reaches out to set up an appointment and make arrangements based on whether or not the vehicle is drivable. Then we ask them to tell us about the loss, so we are better prepared for when the vehicle arrives. Did it leave the road? How many people
were in it? Did you spill a mocha? If the conversion is about a theft recovery, learning about paraphernalia being present is an indication of substance abuse. We do a lot of Sprinters on our commercial side. We’ve literally had mobile meth labs come in. We identify those immediately. We quarantine the vehicles in one of our holding lots with caution tape around it, so no one can get into it, and then we reach out to an abatement company.”
Sometimes, they will put barriers up so no one can get within 10 feet of the vehicle, and they will earmark the work order that contamination is suspected.
Alley says her shop has seen some questionable items in vehicles over the years – one technician found a stun gun in a vehicle! – but it’s important to think about collision repairers as being among the first to come in contact with these vehicles which could pose certain dangers.
“Our technicians are digging under seats or trying to take the stuff out of the trunk, and they could get jabbed, cut or come in contact with bodily fluid,” she says. “If they see blood in a car, most won’t proceed. I believe blood has a certain length of time for not being contagious, but we’re not healthcare professionals, so we don’t really know what the time frame is, so it’s important to proceed with caution.”
Reichen says his shop unfortunately has dealt with biohazards as they’ve received vehicles that were involved in suicides, and in one case, a vehicle hit an elk and its remains were inside the car when the shop received it.
“Over the years, you see some things that you just don’t really want to see,” he relays. “We had a vehicle that was part of a bank robbery. It had been stolen, and a police officer shot and killed one of the criminals inside the vehicle, and we had to take possession of that vehicle. We have a biohazard suit that our people put on with rubber gloves and face masks if we’re going to deal with anything like that. And if there is any indication of drug paraphernalia, there’s an abatement company we hire.”
Alley believes safety protocols start with having a culture where ownership and management care about the safety of their employees. “You wouldn’t let your family into a car that had been outside of someone’s control and possibly had someone living in it
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Former MABA President Ed Nalewanski Recalls Tons of Fun as an Association Leader
The history of the Commonwealth’s collision repair industry is filled with not-socommon repair professionals whose devotion to proper repairs and improving the field for everyone goes above and beyond expectations, and although many have spent recent years in retirement, their legacy lives on. Continuing its mission to catch up with some of these collision repairers who have left their mark on the Massachusetts auto body world, New England Automotive Report recently caught up with Ed Nalewanski, former owner of Ed’s Auto Body in Easthampton, to get the scoop on what he’s been up to.
New England Automotive Report: When and how did you first get into the industry?
Ed Nalewanski: I enjoyed working on cars from the moment I bought my first car in high school. I was lucky enough to meet Frank Fournier, the owner of Wayside Auto Body, who gave me my very first job and mentored me. I learned a lot from him.
NEAR: Tell me about your experiences and how that led to you becoming a shop owner.
EN: Back in those days a technician would perform the repairs from start to finish –disassembly, assembly, body work, paint work and even final detail. I got proficient at all stages and decided to take the leap and start Ed’s Auto Body. Frank was a huge help in guiding me through the process. I am still in touch with him to this day. In
fact, we met him for lunch in Marathon, FL not too long ago.
NEAR: Tell us about your shop. How long did you own it?
EN: I started Ed’s Auto Body & Repair, Inc on May 1, 1978. I had $1,000 in my pocket and grew it from strictly collision repair to collision and mechanical repair with 14 employees. I operated the business for 44.5 years until it burned down on December 11, 2022.
NEAR: How did you get involved with the association (MABA at the time)? What roles did you serve within MABA and later AASP/MA?
EN: I joined MABA shortly after I started my shop in 1978. I felt the only way to be successful was to produce a quality job at a reasonable price. Repairing cars to pre-accident condition was easy for me; I took a great deal of pride in not only the quality of the repair but also in providing exceptional customer service.
I felt that joining MABA would guide me on the business side. It was very helpful to sit with other shop owners on a monthly basis and talk about the industry. At these meetings, we weren’t competitors; we were business owners helping business owners. I honestly feel that any shop owner who isn’t part of an association is missing out on some valuable information. My business would not have been as successful as it was without MABA and AASP/MA.
I was actively involved in MABA
and served as Western Chapter president, statewide president and a director for many years. During that time, I helped to spearhead the paint and materials initiative. I traveled throughout the state with our lobbyist, and together, we spoke to shop owners directly at all four chapter meetings. It was a huge success. This regulation paved the way for shop owners to be fairly compensated for paint and materials.
Once MABA merged with AASP/MA, I was a director for many years. All in all, in the 44.5 years I was in business, I was a MABA and AASP/MA member for at least 42 years.
NEAR: Is there anything memorable from your time with the association that you’d like to share or reflect on?
EN: There are so many memories. The camaraderie of the members was probably number one. Then, there were our monthly chapter meetings – between 30 and 40 shop owners gathered once a month for dinner and conversation on relevant topics. Our theme was shop owners helping shop owners.
The Annual Clambake that MABA legend Mike Beal originally organized was huge. It was a night for 300 shop owners, managers, technicians and families to come together as one unified group. Once Mike was nearing retirement, the Western Chapter stepped up and continued the tradition. It took many people to replace Mike, but that’s the way the Western Chapter rolled. Despite being extremely busy with the day-to-day events of running a business, Dan Lamontagne, Don Vermette, Mike Boucher, Andre Marcoux, Peter Langone, myself and [my wife] Joann organized 15 clambakes and introduced the infamous “goody bags” and “big checks” which our vendors really appreciated.
Developing the Tool Award was a rewarding experience. The Western Chapter recognized the need to attract more vocational students to the industry. At that time, I was the president of the Western Chapter, and with the help of my wife and several shop owners (including Dan, Mike, Andre and Peter), we started a vocational
Ed and his son Joe in their lanai
Ed and Joann at the Grand Opening of their Clubhouse
student tool award. Seven students from seven different vocational schools each received more than $2,500 in tools. This lasted seven years until we unfortunately ran out of students!
Our “fun”-raising bus trips to the casino were truly great fun! The bus sold out every year, thanks to our amazing vendors who donated prizes for the games we played enroute. Because we had the most generous vendors who supported us with sponsorships, prizes, tools – whatever we needed – it was only fitting that we organized a Vendor Appreciation Night, complete with filet mignon, stuffed shrimp, open bar and an engraved portfolio.
And who could ever forget Casino Night?! I remember sitting at a Board meeting when someone mentioned that we should do a state-wide “fun”-raising event. When I got home that evening, I mentioned it to my wife, and her eyes lit up. Within 24 hours, she had a proposal for the Board to run a Casino Night. It was instantly approved. The event ran for seven years and sold out every year. The goody bags were famous, and the prizes were plentiful, thanks to our generous vendors. We had professional dealers, amazing food and contagious camaraderie. I really miss those days!
We also enjoyed the Mike Beal Appreciation Dinner. Mike unselfishly served our industry for more than 35 years. After his retirement, he continued to support our events until he became ill. Joann and I organized an appreciation dinner in his hometown for 30-plus shop owners. It was a wonderful, emotional evening. Sadly, Mike passed away shortly after.
NEAR: When did you decide to retire, and why?
EN: The decision was made for me when my shop burned down on December 11, 2022. I was not able to rebuild due to ongoing insurance delays, supply chain issues, permitting issues, etc.
NEAR: Do you think the industry has changed since you stepped away?
EN: It’s been two years since my shop burned down, and although I read about our industry in NEAR and speak to several shop owners from time to time, I don’t think it has changed much.
NEAR: Looking back now, what comes to mind when you think about your time in the body shop industry?
EN: It was a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of satisfaction and a whole lot of aggravation, but it was 100 percent worth it. I was one of those guys who couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning – I was always first in, last out – and I truly enjoyed it, especially all the great people I met along the way.
NEAR: What do you miss most?
EN: Helping my customers to not only get their vehicle back to pre-accident condition, but also guiding them through the insurance process. I also miss mentoring my employees; two former employees ultimately became very successful shop owners (Dan Lamontange, White Lightning – now retired and Zac Ciaschini, Full Tilt Auto Body – who is crushing it) and establishing long-term relationships with my vendors. In fact, we often meet up with our longtime MOPAR dealer, Don Cushing and his wife Penny here in Florida.
NEAR: What do you miss the least?
EN: Negotiating with the insurance companies. It was frustrating to explain to a “booksmart” appraiser (who never actually repaired a car) how to properly repair a vehicle to pre-accident condition. I always had “right” on my side, and I usually ended up with what I needed to do a job correctly.
NEAR: What is the one thing you think you got out of this industry that you would not have gotten if you didn’t pick this career?
EN: Knowledge…how to repair a car, how to negotiate with insurance companies
NEAR: Anything you want to say to your old body shop colleagues?
EN: Life is short. I retired at 70 and wish I retired sooner. Waking up to sunshine and having coffee in our lanai overlooking the water and fairway is something we will never get tired of.
NEAR: What are you doing now? Do you have any hobbies you’d like to share?
EN: We bought a new construction home on the 16th Fairway of Stillwater Golf and Country Club in northern Florida. I golf three or four times per week. (Practice makes perfect…I got my first hole-in-one here at Stillwater!) I participate in all the activities our community has to offer –swimming, bocce, men’s night out, trivia nights, birding, card games, Taco Tunesdays (musical bingo), golf cart parades, all sorts of themed parties, member mixers, and my wife even has me doing chair yoga with her! Our new clubhouse opened March 22, and when our fitness center opens in two weeks, I plan on attending the fitness classes. Joann and I are living our best lives!
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The People’s Billion-Dollar Bully (Part One): How Insurers Took the Little Guy’s Side to Beat Him Down
Introduction: The Hands That Hurt
“If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.” That line from Mad Men’s Don Draper could have been the slogan for the modern insurance industry. Over the past few decades, insurers have done more than just change the conversation –they’ve rewritten the script. While their public image leans hard on polished slogans and friendly mascots, positioning themselves as guardians of the “hardworking policyholder,” the reality inside claim centers and repair negotiations tells a different story. Behind the branding is a business model increasingly geared toward suppressing claim payouts, not facilitating fair restitution.
What began as an industry rooted in financial protection has mutated into one defined by financial engineering. Today, insurance carriers operate in a market where pricing is locked in by regulatory frameworks and public expectations. Unable to compete meaningfully on premiums, carriers have turned inward, finding profitability in the only flexible part of the equation: claim payouts. It’s no longer just about risk management – it’s about cost containment, often at the expense of the very people insurers claim to champion.
This transformation didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was shaped by pivotal court rulings, like the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s 1952 decision in Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Co. v. Commissioner of Insurance, which made clear that insurers were on their own when it came to securing profitability. It was accelerated by consulting powerhouses like McKinsey & Co., who in the 1990s armed carriers with methods to aggressively limit payouts while maintaining a veneer of customer care. And it has been allowed to calcify through tepid regulation that too often reacts to crisis rather than preventing abuse.
In this article, we’ll unpack how a combination of legal, economic and strategic forces laid the groundwork for a claims environment that is more adversarial than supportive. We’ll
explore how insurers reframed themselves as underdogs fighting against “fraud” and “inflated repairs”– only to punch down at small repairers and policyholders. And we’ll examine how commoditization in the insurance market didn’t drive innovation or service – it drove delay, denial and systemic undervaluing. The industry may talk like it’s on your side, but in the ring, insurers wear boxing gloves you never saw coming.
The Legal Foundation: Massachusetts Bonding (1952)
The story of insurers turning inward to squeeze claims costs begins not with a modern spreadsheet but with a 1952 courtroom. In Massachusetts Bonding and Insurance Co. v. Commissioner of Insurance, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts dealt insurers a foundational ruling – one that would shape how the industry calculated profit ever since. The Court affirmed that the state’s insurance commissioner was not responsible for ensuring insurer profitability. Instead, his statutory mandate was to set rates that were neither “confiscatory” nor “extortionate,” placing his duty squarely within a narrow band of fairness: “The statute imposes upon the commissioner the duty of fixing a rate that lies somewhere between the lowest rate that is not confiscatory and the highest rate that is not excessive or extortionate.”
In essence, the Court told insurers: you’re on your own. If market conditions, rising claims or increased costs make your business model unsustainable, the remedy isn’t a regulatory bailout – it’s internal adaptation. And adapt they did. With premium rates effectively capped and judicial review deferring to regulatory discretion, insurers had only one variable left to manipulate: the claims side of the ledger. Every dollar not paid on a claim became a margin-saver.
Over the next several decades, insurers increased premiums wherever they could, and by the 1980s, the results were plain:
skyrocketing insurance costs triggered consumer panic. This led to legislative upheaval across the country, most notably in Pennsylvania, where a legislative overhaul slashed basic coverages and imposed rate freezes and rollbacks. For instance, the 1990 Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law cut first-party property damage limits from $10,000 to $5,000, a measure that remains today, leaving policyholders dangerously underinsured in modern repair markets.
But here’s the difference between insurers and repairers: insurers, by virtue of scale, structure and strategy, have options. Insurers can achieve profitability in a controlled-rate environment through investment income, operational efficiencies, diversification and underwriting precision. They can weather regulatory storms through geographic and product-line hedging. Body shops, by contrast, have only one path to profitability: fix the car correctly and get paid fairly.
That’s what makes the 1952 decision so pivotal. It didn’t just limit rates – it embedded an incentive into the system. It effectively pushed insurers to become financial engineers, cost suppressors, and eventually – with help from consultants like McKinsey – claims tacticians. What began as a regulatory guardrail has now become a structural reality: insurers don’t just respond to claim costs, they design around them.
Warren Buffett’s Blueprint: Profiting from Float
Warren Buffett has long held a singular admiration for the insurance business – not because of the risk-spreading model or the noble ideal of financial protection, but because of one key advantage: float. As he once remarked, “The insurance business is the most attractive in the world if you can manage to break even on the underwriting side.” What Buffett understood – and what insurers have since mastered – is that profitability in insurance doesn’t depend solely on the quality of coverage or even the accuracy of underwriting. It hinges on the ability to hold vast sums of money, delay paying it out and invest it in the interim.
Float refers to the premiums collected upfront that don’t immediately need to be paid out in claims. In theory, that money is held in trust for policyholders. In practice, it becomes a powerful revenue stream. As long as the insurer can avoid catastrophic missteps on the underwriting side, it enjoys the luxury of investing those dollars – often for years – before they are paid out. And because insurers operate in a heavily regulated environment where pricing flexibility is limited, the pressure to generate returns shifts away from underwriting profit and squarely onto investment income.
That pressure is paying off. In recent years, insurers have seen some of the fastest gains in investment income in decades. In 2023, US life insurers reported that investment earnings made
up nearly 30 percent of their total income. AIG reported a 14 percent increase in net investment income in Q3 of 2024, while Cincinnati Financial saw a 24 percent jump in bond interest income in Q1 of 2025. Even State Farm, which posted a $111 million pre-tax operating loss in 2024 due to underwriting deficits, still booked $6 billion in investment and other income –enough to soften the blow and reinforce the strategy.
The power of float has been magnified by recent macroeconomic conditions, especially the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes, since 2022. Higher interest rates have made insurer bond portfolios more profitable and reinvestment opportunities more attractive. And while smaller players – such as independent repair shops – tighten belts to stay afloat in the face of delayed payments and contentious claims processes, large insurers are using those same delays to generate yield.
Float is not merely a structural advantage; it’s the foundation of the modern insurance profit model. This helps explain why insurers are so relentlessly focused on controlling payouts. Every claim deferred or underpaid means more capital left in the system – and more time for that capital to earn. What Buffett identified as the “most attractive” part of the industry has become the linchpin for a business model that treats claims not as obligations to fulfill, but as investment interruptions to manage.
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In the 1990s, insurance giant Allstate hired McKinsey & Company to help reimagine its claims operation – not to better serve policyholders, but to maximize profitability. What emerged was an industry playbook that would spread far beyond Allstate, influencing how major insurers across the country would handle claims. At the heart of McKinsey’s strategy was a disturbing duality: offer fast, small settlements to those who took the first deal and unleash aggressive, delay-heavy tactics on those who resisted. Internally, this was known as the “Good Hands or Boxing Gloves” strategy – a reference to Allstate’s iconic marketing slogan. The transformation was clear: the company that promised to protect you in your time of need was now prepared to fight you if you stood up for your rights.
McKinsey’s training materials were damning. “Hold down payments, and the customer will walk away,” one slide advised, encapsulating the philosophy that underpaid, frustrated claimants would ultimately give up. Other directives urged insurers to “align alligators” – a euphemism for weaponizing legal resources – and to “sit and wait,” leveraging time itself as a means to starve out settlements. These weren’t just theoretical frameworks. They were executed in courtrooms, through software like Colossus
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continued from pg. 38
that undervalued injuries, and by fostering a culture where resistance to legal counsel was not only encouraged, but expected. Claimants were told they were on the side of the little guy – the company “fighting fraud” – even as they were being boxed out of fair compensation.
This shift – from a service model “for the benefit of policyholders” to one “for the benefit of shareholders” – didn’t just change Allstate; it became, as Doug Quinn, executive director of the American Policyholder Association (APA), testified before Congress, “the industry standard.” Quinn, a former industry insider turned advocate, experienced firsthand the devastating effects of insurer misconduct after Superstorm Sandy. He detailed how engineering reports were falsified, adjusters silenced and policyholders systemically underpaid or denied coverage. “It’s not an isolated incident or a few bad apples,” he testified. “It’s systemic. Worse – it’s industry wide. It has been for decades.”
The results are predictably grim. Delays, denials and drawnout litigation don’t just wear down policyholders – they destroy lives. The strategy works because it’s built on psychological attrition. It counts on the average claimant being too exhausted, too intimidated or too broke to keep fighting. Even in the face of media investigations, government scrutiny and occasional legal victories, the broader machinery continues unabated – because, financially, it works. As McKinsey’s zero-sum logic suggests: “Allstate gains – others must lose.”
In this environment, what began as a consulting initiative metastasized into an ethos: that the best way to serve policyholders is to treat them as potential adversaries. And while some McKinsey alumni have since distanced themselves from the harshness of the approach, the legacy remains baked into claims operations across the industry. The boxing gloves, once metaphorical, are now standard issue. (For further reading, see From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves: The Dark Side of Insurance and From “Good Hands” to Boxing Gloves: How Allstate Changed Casualty Insurance in America by David Beradinelli.)
Be sure to check out part two next month which will dive into the advertising and branding tactics of the insurance industry.
Coverall Law Managing Attorney Sean Preston finished in the top of his law school class at the historic Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC after serving in the United States Army. He went on to excel in business and legal strategy, serving some of the world's most recognizable brands in neighboring industries. Sean recently returned from Berlin, Germany with his family (where he served in Rolls-Royce's General Counsel function) and today resides in Wareham, MA, where he helps to oversee and meaningfully lead efforts in the region for Coverall Law. He can be reached at (508) 635-5329 or via email at spreston@coveralllaw.com.
continued from pg. 29 for 30 days, so why would you let your employees enter it? I think there are certain simple things we can do to protect our team and build a culture of caring about one another.”
Alley says liability must also be considered.
“As a shop owner or manager, sometimes the cars are outside of your possession when they go to the dealership or a sublet alignment shop. So, even if you and your team have a strong understanding and protocol, you are ultimately responsible for anyone you put into contact with it, so reducing liability is important.”
Reichen agrees caution needs to be taken with all clients, not just theft recovery. There are clear signs, so being observant is key. “We open doors on cars, and you can clearly smell the stench of weed, so that’s an indication of smoking in the car. We know that when there’s an empty case of beer bottles in the back, somebody was drinking and driving. You just have to be really observant of what is going on.”
When dealing with recovered theft, Reichen advises, “Have conversation with the owner of the vehicle, and ask ‘what do you know so far?’ If it’s in an impound yard, have the police written a report? Did they catch somebody, were they arrested, and what were they arrested for? That helps us. Anything that would send us signals that there is a warning situation to proceed with caution. And when in doubt, always assume the worst. Be overly cautious and look for the little tiny indicators.”
