The question of whether or not an insurer should pay for  frame jig rental on an auto damage estimate  is an occasional sticking point with some claims offices. There are two schools of thought.

The NO group: This group feels that an auto body repair shop should have the proper jigs on hand to complete repairs correctly and that it is the shop’s responsibility to have the right tools to do the job in the first place. Why should an insurer have to pay for the shop’s renting of equipment they should have on hand? It’s simply the cost of doing business.

The YES group: This group feels that while having the most common vehicle jigs on hand is a an expected assumption, it is not realistic for a shop to have every type of jig, especially for higher end vehicles which they don’t do a high volume of repairs for. Shops feel the cost is not out of line when their job is to put the vehicle back to pre accident condition as they are only renting the jig for the specific repair.

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The State of Massachusetts is the only one that  has law on the books regarding such issues and it reads:

CODE OF MASSACHUSETTS REGULATIONS 

TITLE 212:  AUTO DAMAGE APPRAISERS LICENSING BOARD 

CHAPTER 2.00:  THE APPRAISAL AND REPAIR OF DAMAGED MOTOR VEHICLES 

“The rental cost of frame/unibody fixtures necessary 

to effectively repair a damaged vehicle shall be shown on 

the appraisal and shall not be considered overhead costs of 

the repair shop.”

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We’d love to hear your opinion on this topic….

After busting Benny’s Auto Body in February and seven other chop shops in between, the San Bernardino Task Force busted another one at a person’s home in Phelan that had $500,000 in stolen vehicles. Click here for the details.

AIG which is now 80% owned by U.S. taxpayers, is preparing to hand out $165 million in bonuses to executives even though this Corporation disaster continues to fail. The stock was worth .50 cents a share as of this past friday.