For nearly 10 months after a vehicle owner released a total loss 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer to Liberty Mutual, the vehicle continues to sit at Fiero Collision Inc. in Brooklyn. 

The vehicle arrived at Fiero Collision on Nov. 7, according to a complaint the shop filed with the New York Department of Financial Services. It says the vehicle was inspected on Nov. 27 by a Liberty Mutual adjuster and released by the owner Dec. 11 after it was determined the vehicle was a total loss. 

Total loss charges were sent to CoPart, which works with Liberty Mutual on Dec. 12, the complaint says. 

The complaint, filed by Al Fiero Jr., shop co-head of operations, on Dec. 20 references New York Regulation 64 which says, “Insurers shall, except where the insured is permitted to retain the automobile as part of the claim settlement, take possession of the certificate of title, properly endorsed to them, and take possession of the salvage, if any, whenever a loss is determined by the insurer to be a total loss or a constructive total loss. Insurers, in disposing of the salvage, shall fully comply with the requirements of section 429 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.”

As of Friday, the complaint remains open with no recent activity, Fiero said. The vehicle also still remains on the property and has accumulated $33,390 in storage fees at a daily storage rate of $105. Labor Rate Hero puts the average storage rate for the zip code and two miles around it at $113. 

“When it comes down to dollars and cents, they are trying to cut costs and save money and that’s the bottom line,” Fiero said. “It sets a bad precedent. Most shops can’t handle five or six abandoned cars just sitting on their lot. The state is going to have to step in and show they are going to hold these insurance companies accountable to the regulation.” 

Fiero is not the only shop in the state seeing this issue, Ed Kizenberger Jr., Long Island Autobody Repairmen’s Association executive director, said. He said he’s documented Liberty Mutual abandoning vehicles at about 10 shops. Another 30 shops have reached out to the association with similar stories. 

Kizenberger Jr. said Liberty Mutual disputes the storage costs in each of the cases. 

“I want to raise awareness that this is going on here,” Kizenberger said. “This is a systematic long term pattern of behavior.”

Earlier this year, Liberty Mutual paid K&M Collision $18,732 after a complaint was filed with the North Carolina Department of Insurance. A 2011 Ford Edge sat at the facility for more than seven months after being determined a total loss. 

Michael Bradshaw, K&M Collision vice president, said at the time that was his third complaint filed against Liberty Mutual within 18 months. 

Late last year, Repairer Driven News also reported on a totaled vehicle that sat at Haury’s Collision & Vintage in Washington State for more than a year as Safeco/Liberty Mutual refused to pay costs associated with the vehicle’s claim. 

Fiero said the entire process of the abandoned vehicle at his shop has been frustrating. 

“It has been almost a year,” Fiero said. “It takes time and effort to reply to the state and plead your argument. It needs to be done not just for us but every other shop out there.” 

The complaint process has included months of multiple back and forths between Fiero and Liberty Mutual. 

Liberty Mutual claimed the vehicle sat at the property between Nov. 7 and Nov. 22 as the insurance company waited for Fiero to send photos. Yet, Fiero told the state Liberty Mutual never requested photos from the shop and that the photos they received on 11/22 were by Liberty Mutual’s field adjuster. 

The insurance company also claimed that Fiero refused to release the shop until Dec. 11. Yet, again Fiero responded saying he didn’t have the authorization to release the vehicle from the vehicle’s owner until Dec. 8. 

Fiero’s last letter to the state on April 23 notes that Liberty Mutual previously replied that it has not abandoned the vehicle but that its unable to pay the fees that Fiero Collision is demanding. 

“FC (Fiero Collision) questions how LM is “not able to pay the fees” in question,” the letter says. “As previously stated, the fees billed by FC for this vehicle are usual and customary. On numerous previous and subsequent occasions at FC LM has paid for total loss fees that were compiled by FC using the same fee format, rates, and labor times as those that were used for the vehicle in question.”

On Friday, Fiero said Liberty Mutual picked up a total loss vehicle with the same fee structure a week after it abandoned the vehicle mentioned in the complaint. 

“It had more salvage value and they picked that car up,” Fiero said. “It is if the numbers are they going to add up or not. Will they take a loss or recoup some of their costs?” 

Fiero said this will become the regular course of business in the state, if the state doesn’t act. 

Kizenberger said it is important to tell these stories so that other shops in and out of the state know they are not alone. 

“I want to raise more awareness of what is going on,” Kizenberger said. “Other states could use this to show their states.” 

Kizenberger also said he’s hearing that shop’s in the state are receiving collection notices from Liberty Mutual, something Bradshaw said happened to his shop following the resolution of his complaint. 

Multiple repair shops reported last year that they received collection letters from Liberty Mutual following the settlement of total loss claims. 

Sean Gillette, director of collision repair operations at Rickenbaugh Cadillac Company in Colorado, previously said his shop has on multiple occasions received collection notices from Liberty Mutual/Safeco. 

He found out that the claims against him were not legit and threw the letters away. 

“As always, activities like this target the most at risk, those that are hanging on by a thread and may not fully understand their state and local laws and why this may be happening,” Gillette said. “They may be sufficiently scared enough to pay based on the wording and scare tactics employed by the collection agency.”

Kizenberger said he sees it as another “bullying tactic” by Liberty Mutual. 

“They should be going after their customer and the customer can take it up with the shop,” Kizenberger said. “They have on right to go after a body shop.”

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Feature photo of abadoned vehicle at Fiero Collision Inc./Fiero Collision