More than 1 in 5 shops now say they have billed insurers for the labor time required to set up and use a spectrophotometer, or color match camera, according to the quarterly “Who Pays for What?” survey completed earlier this year, and a higher percentage of them say they are being paid regularly for it by eight large national insurance companies.
“We only started asking this question two years ago,” said shop consultant Mike Anderson of Collision Advice, who conducts the quarterly surveys with CRASH Network. “In that time, the percentage of shops who believe that insurers ‘never’ pay for this procedure has dropped from 71% to 65%, while the number of shops saying they are paid for it ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’ has grown.”
In response to inquiries submitted through the Database Enhancement Gateway, all three major estimating system providers have confirmed that use of the camera to determine a color code formulation is not included in the published refinish labor times.
“As automakers come out with more variations of colors, the use of a camera can become even more critical,” Anderson said. “It can be a not-inconsiderable amount of time in that you may have to buff or clean the panel prior to using the camera, and ensure you have the vehicle or panel placed in certain lighting conditions.”
The latest quarterly “Who Pays for What?” survey is now open through the month of April. It focuses on not-included frame and mechanical labor operations. Shops can take the survey here.
Survey participants receive a free report with complete survey findings along with analysis and resources to help shops better understand and use the information presented.
The survey can be completed in about 15 minutes by anyone familiar with their shop's billing practices and the payment practices of at least some of the largest national insurers. Each shop’s individual responses are held in the strictest confidence; only aggregated data is released.
The results of previous surveys are also available online.
