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Editor's note: Steve Wurtz, president of Blue Ash Auto Body Inc. in the Cincinnati, Ohio, suburb of Blue Ash, wrote an open letter to the industry to call for action to fight what he describes as "the perfect storm."
As a body shop owner in southwest Ohio, I am sure my experiences are similar to everyone else's. In the last two years, we have had to deal with a lot of issues: the COVID pandemic, lockdowns, political turmoil, angry customers, photo claims, parts issues, employment shortages, and insurance companies reducing staff, causing delays in settlements and claims payments.
The biggest problem we have today is inflation. Ten years ago, the so-called prevailing rate in my area for labor was $48 an hour, and paint and material was $28 a refinish hour. In looking back at my refinish costs, they have doubled in 10 years, and my allied products have risen 65 percent. Our area is now at $50 a labor hour and $32 a refinish hour, instead of being paid $73/$56 per hour, respectively. Everything around us is constantly rising in cost!
Do you want to know why we are losing money on everything? It is because we have allowed the insurance industry to dominate us. We all have carriers that are impossible to deal with, and in my opinion, we need to stop doing repairs for those unrealistic carriers. And while we are all busier than ever, let the shops that want to work for nothing have all the low-paying work.
Don't take it out on the local appraiser and adjusters; write to the heads of claims for all the insurance companies in your state and let them know we are demanding our just compensation. If we don't take a stand now, we will never be able to correct these injustices. The time to take action for our perfect storm is now!
Just one body shop owner's thoughts
Steve Wurtz/Blue Ash Auto Body Inc.
