Third-party administrators have nearly always been a part of the playing field during the 18 years Seminole Auto Glass in Tallahassee, FL, has been in business.

“We’ve seen the third-party administrators get changed around throughout those 18 years. When we first started, there were a handful of them,” said Sarah Seymour, who owns the business with her husband, Larry Seymour. “It was an equal playing field. You would get referrals. You would get work from the third-party administrators that were in existence. The discounts ran off of the National Auto Glass specifications, which is kind of like suggested retail price — that’s how we all do our invoicing.”

But since one company began employing what she and the Independent Glass Association call a monopoly via its insurance claims management service, Seymour says pricing has become untenable. The situation led the IGA to file an antitrust claim against Safelite Solutions earlier this year with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition Office of Policy and Coordination.

What the Claim Alleges

In the event of an automotive glass claim, consumers will typically report claims to their insurance companies via website or app. Other times, they call a claim number.

“When that occurs, what happens in our industry is you’re actually not talking to your insurance company,” IGA Executive Director Gary Hart explained. “You are talking to a third-party administrator that is acting on behalf of your insurance company. And this is where the lines get a little blurred.”

Gary Hart.

The Safelite group comprises two companies: Safelite Auto Glass, a provider of glass replacement and repair, and Safelite Solutions, which manages insurance claims. Hart asserts that Safelite Solutions will soon have a monopoly in the auto glass industry as there are few other third-party administrators, and most insurance providers use Safelite.

The IGA alleges Safelite’s monopolistic hold alongside the idea that its dual role as a third party administrator and a provider of services is a conflict of interest. The IGA is also alleging that steering — the practice of an insurance company directing potential customers toward a specific provider — occurs through insurance company apps and also through three-way calls that include Safelite Solutions, automotive glass shops and potential customers.

“They’ve already prepped the insured on what to expect, and once they call, if they’re not a network shop, or even if they are a network shop, the customer service representatives will use language that intimidates or coerces the customer in a certain direction,” Hart told Autobody News.

How Steering Starts

Safelite steering, Hart alleges, has occurred in relation to warranties and vehicle recalibration. A shop owner, he said, may be on the line with an insured individual who has selected the shop to do their repair or replacement work and has received information about the shop’s warranty program. The shop owner has likely advised them of warranty information at that point.

The scripted call, Hart said, often results in the representative saying the glass shop the customer has selected isn’t part of the Safelite network and the rep isn’t sure what the shop’s warranty program is like. The rep, Hart said, will then suggest if the insured uses a Safelite shop, their vehicle will be covered under warranty, and if calibration is required, the vehicle will be calibrated to dealer specifications at an authorized service center.

All of this will be possible, Hart said the reps tell insured callers, if they choose a Safelite preferred shop.

Other scenarios have to do with claims, Hart said. In these situations, the claim number is authorized and the glass shop of the insured’s choosing gets a dispatch for the job.

“There magically appears a call or an email that says, ‘Hey, we’ve actually got your glass in stock, and we can come out and take care of it this afternoon,’” he said.

The customer has no reason to ask which glass shop is coming, and Safelite replaces their glass. The original shop then receives a dispatch saying the job has been canceled.

“They’ll say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ And all Safelite Solutions will say is, ‘The customer cancelled and chose another shop,’ when the customer wasn’t even aware that this is what was going to happen,” Hart said.

Steering can also occur via insurance companies’ apps and websites, he said. In reporting a glass claim himself, Hart said he’s encountered a generic button on an insurance company app or site. A small text window let him know he was being redirected to Safelite Solutions when he clicked the button, but the window blinked briefly, he said. The ensuing claim form contained the insurance company’s logo, and he found himself steered toward Safelite for services via follow up emails and text messages after he entered his contact information and stated he wanted to use an independent shop.

There was also no opt-out capability in the emails, Hart said, which violates the Federal CAN-SPAM Act. The IGA continues to file complaints with the FTC over instances like this.

Real-Life Experience

Sarah Seymour said she’s experienced some of these scenarios as a shop owner. She felt pressured to join the Safelite network, which Seminole has been part of on and off over a period of years; the shop has remained off of it for the past decade.

Sarah Seymour.

The shop joined initially, she said, with an understanding that Safelite would send work, but the deep discounts required were prohibitive. Seymour said she saw Safelite draw insurance companies away from platforms that allowed shops to bid jobs by geographic range and parts with discounts of their choosing.

Although being on the network wasn’t fruitful, finding jobs outside of it has been difficult, she said.

“It’s very hard, because we have to advertise, we have to brand ourselves. We have to solicit ourselves. We do not have salespeople. We rely solely on our customers calling us,” Seymour explained.

The shop maintains lots of fleet work, and the community knows about Seminole, but insurance work is slim, Seymour said, because the lion’s share goes to Safelite. She said she’s witnessed steering when she’s gotten on the phone with customers to file claims with insurance companies. Calls to Safelite Solutions, she said, have resulted in customer representatives attempting to schedule her potential customers with Safelite.

“They’ll forget that you’re on the phone, and the representative will say, ‘And I can go ahead and get you scheduled with Safelite Auto Glass,’” Seymour said. “And I’m like, ‘Hello! I’m right here.’”

It’s difficult to know, she said, how much business Seminole and similar independently owned shops have lost to these practices, and taking time out to track those numbers isn’t easy.

“The hard part, too, is you’re an owner, and you’re trying to run your business, and you’re also having to defend it at the same time,” Seymour said. “It’s very difficult.”

What Can Shops and the Public Do?

Shop owners concerned about possible steering can educate customers on the subject. The IGA, Hart said, has a program called Don’t Get Steered, accessible at found@iga.org/steering.

“It’s a legacy program that was started back in 2008, and it’s accompanied with a comic book,” he explained. “It was actually co-authored by Ralph Nader at the time, and it encouraged shops to educate their customers on these steering tactics because this is nothing new in our industry. It’s built momentum as the Safelite group has gained power.”

The IGA has a portal for the Don’t Get Steered program, and it’s open to the public. The organization also lists all complaints shops make.

“In doing so, shops are providing the evidence directly, and we follow up with whoever the third-party administrator is. It doesn’t have to be Safelite. There have been others, but predominantly, if you go and look at the data that’s on there, it’s the Safelite SGC network,” Hart said.

Shops are providing customer affidavits and recorded calls that demonstrate steering.

“They’re providing the actual dispatches,” Hart said. “That’s our direct way of consolidating the evidence. The secondary way is they send it to info@iga.org. Either way, it makes it into the IGA steering evidence locker.”

Seymour said she’s also thought about contacting local insurance agents and making sure they know about the prevalence of steering practices. She said she’d like to ask if they’ve heard about it from their policyholders and if she can reach out to insured customers for their side of the story regarding steering.

DOJ Examination

The antitrust claim is currently under review by a Federal Department of Justice (DOJ) committee.

“The DOJ is looking at this definitely from the antitrust aspect of it. And a majority of their focus … appears to be centered around the harm to consumers,” Hart said. “Proving it on a shop basis is a much more intensive thing to do because we’re dealing with pricing manipulation in addition to the steering of the consumer. And then, obviously, how does that harm the policyholder?”

The DOJ, he said, likely has interest in this antitrust case because of recently settled whistleblower lawsuits on behalf of California and Illinois in which Safelite was accused of using aftermarket moulding and billing insurers for OEM parts. The result of those suits were settlements in which Safelite paid millions of dollars to the states and to whistleblower Brian Williams.

At this point, Hart said he’s expecting the DOJ to get back with IGA for additional evidentiary review and then began to create its own review process.

Safelite did not respond to requests for comment from Autobody News.