AGRR - November/December 2007 - AGRR Magazine

Auto Glass Weekcontinued from page 39Carl Tompkins of SIKA Corp. updates the Standards Committee on theAuditing Committee’s progress.• Among the many questions debatedwere:• How the random sampling of annualaudits should work;• Penalties for companies that arefound to be in violation of theStandard;• How much notice should be providedin random audits; and• What type of third-party might beable to provide the audit.The most controversial questionsproved to be timing of notice (suggestionsranged from no notice to notice ofthree to five days) and penalties forthose in major violation of the Standard.Most in attendance agreed thatsome penalty needs to be provided, butthere was debate as to whether thepenalty should be a year before renewalof registration or only the fee to pay fora new audit (approximately $2,000) toprove compliance with the Standard.In addition, Levy, who chairs theAGRSS marketing committee, provideda marketing update, noting that thecommittee has developed several newbrochures and mirror tags, including amirror tag about safe drive-away times.In addition, the group has readied a testprogram for advertising AGRSS in marketsthat meet certain criteria, withhopes of launching the program in 2008.Levy ended with some words aboutthe group’s past and future on its tenthanniversary.“It’s really a pleasure for me to seeus reach ten years,” she said. “It’ll be agreat journey to see where we go inthe next ten.”AGRSS FinaleAGRSS wound up its meeting withtwo sessions in the afternoon.Silent AGRSSAGRSS topped off its first day in Las Vegas with a cocktail reception and silentauction in the early evening.Actually, the auction ended up being anything but silent as Tompkins, who moderatedthe event, built the tension as the time passed so that by the last five minutesthe room was atwitter with people pacing the floor watching the latest bid onthe item they coveted and scooping out the competition to figure out how they couldend up with the winning bid.But it was all in fun, and also made a lot of money for AGRSS, almost $5,000 accordingto Ketcherside. Pero put the auction together.The most coveted and hotly contested item in the auction also involved Tompkins.A fishing trip with him in Spokane sparked intense bidding from several attendees.When the final seconds sounded the end of the auction, Birkhauser had placed thewinning bid for the trip.Other hotly contested items in the auction included an Iphone, a set of threeclocks, and assorted gift coupons and Rocky Bleier memorabilia.While the bidding became intense, it was smiles and cheers all around as the namesof the winning bidders were announced at the end of the event.In the first, which was dubbedmany as the “Panel of the Two Pauls,”Paul McFarlane, director of programsadministration for LYNX Services, andPaul Gross, president of Harmon SolutionsGroup, participated in a paneldiscussion of claims resolutions.McFarlane explained the differencebetween claims that need pre-approvaland those that don’t.“The glass programs we administerhave a standard rate which they willpay, anything beyond that requiresprior approval,” he stated. “Youshould be paid for the service you provideto the client. What we have to decideis what portion will be paid by theinsurance company and what will bepaid by the client.”He gave the example of corrosionand pointed out that this is where thepre-inspection becomes so important(see the October 2007 issue of AGRR,page 32, for related story).“The more important informationyou can provide on the need for thisextra work, the better we can representthis to the insurance company,”he said. “Then the insurance companycan say if the procedure is coveredor not and, if it’s not, you canthen start the conversation with theclient,” he added.Gross started his segment of thediscussion by saying that when hewas asked to serve on the panel hewas told that AGRSS wanted a ‘goodPaul’ and a ‘bad Paul.’ “I asked whichone I was, but they wouldn’t tell me,”he said to general laughter.Gross spoke about the importanceof AGRSS registration but pointed outthat it needs a wider ‘footprint’ nationallybefore it could be a mandatedcondition. He also explainedthat each insurance company has inits policies what is covered by the insuranceand what is not.“In some cases of damage, the lossof glass will be covered but not bodywork,” he said. “The damage has tomeet the definition of a loss.”40 AGRR November/December 2007 www.agrrmag.com