Mechanicsville, Virginia, October 4, 2024 – In July, during the open microphone portion of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), audience members expressed concern over the GEICO Auto Repair Xpress (ARX) network announcement of an agreement reached between GEICO and Repairify, a diagnostics and calibrations service provider, to standardize pricing.
After collecting feedback and inquiries from industry members over the weeks that followed, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) provided a series of questions to both companies, seeking further response.
A letter sent on August 14th to GEICO posed questions to a Director, Claims Training and Senior Director, Physical Damage Claims at GEICO.
On August 21st, Tyson Miller, Senior Director Physical Damage responded.
“GEICO is confident that asTech is an industry recognized and trusted source for diagnostic, programming and calibration services. Specific repair needs and scenarios are handled on a claim by claim basis to ensure we have addressed the individual needs of a repair. We welcome continued dialogue with repairers as we handle claims for our mutual customers.”
SCRS acknowledged that GEICO’s prior email communications made it clear that claims will be handled individually, but that GEICO established that they reached an overarching agreement with asTech to standardize pricing and reduce friction for diagnostic, programming, and calibration operations.
Miller replied on behalf of GEICO, “at this time, we have no further details to share beyond the initial messages that I sent to GEICO’s ARX partner shops.”
A letter sent on August 14th to Repairify posed questions to the Vice President of Training & Organizational Development, Vice President of Insurance and Estimatics Relations, and Executive Chairman of asTech.
Jason Vilardi, VP Sales, Insurance and Estimatics responded.
“In lieu of answering the questions you sent we would like to bring you in to our office (Plano, Texas) and we can talk in depth on our testing, what the rules engine means and doesn’t mean, go over the results and answer any additional questions you may have.”
SCRS acknowledged that visiting the asTech facility in lieu of a response puts SCRS in the position to either answer industry questions for asTech, or for the questions to remain unanswered. The associations established believe it would be helpful to bring clarity to these questions for many in the industry who would not be able to attend such a meeting.
Vilardi confirmed on behalf of asTech, “we’re currently sharing details about the Rules Engine and our testing process on our social media channels, which should address many of your questions. Additionally, we’re speaking directly with our customers to provide personalized answers. For now, we’ll be focusing on these channels.”
Repairify posted to their Facebook account on August 19th, pointing followers to The Rules Engine FAQ.
“We believe that the questions that have been posed are important for the industry to receive answers,” stated SCRS Executive Director, Aaron Schulenburg. “While both companies have indicated they will speak directly with their ‘partners’ and customers, the decisions they’ve reached together around their customer to standardize pricing and process are introducing new challenges in the claims process. We continue to receive communications from collision repair businesses around the country that are not asTech users, and are not GEICO ARX network shops, but who are being told that claim reimbursement is restricted to the pricing secured by GEICO through asTech.
It is our hope that by sharing the collection of questions with the broader industry, it opens the door for more transparent and thorough responses.”
In September, asTech issued a customer communication updating pricing for OEM scans.
“As costs have increased, this adjustment is necessary for us to continue providing the high-quality service, support, and innovations you expect.
On October 1st, we will be increasing our pricing for both OEM pre- and post-scans.”
