GEICO has expanded its standardized pricing agreement for scanning and calibrations to include services by Protech Automotive Solutions, a Caliber company, according to an email sent to Auto Repair Xpress (ARX) shops recently. 

The insurance company announced the agreement it first made with asTech to ARX shops in July. The recent email says Protech Solutions will be an additional option for ARX shops starting Jan. 6.

Two industry providers will improve efficiency and provide faster service, the email says. It also announces pricing changes to calibrations including onboard/programming, dynamic calibrations, and static calibrations. 

“Following our announcement surrounding pricing for scanning and calibrations, we have continuously been working to ensure that the pricing is consistent with prevailing competitive market prices and conditions,” GEICO’s recent emails say. 

Repairer Driven News readers, and members of industry facebook groups have shared examples where GEICO has presented the agreed pricing, despite repair facilities having differing charges.

The email notes that a maximum of three calibrations per repair order will be billed by Protech or asTech. It adds that there are no longer any price differences between the first and up to the third calibration. 

Prices are also set for other additional operations including seat weight sensors. However, it adds that the seat weight sensor price is included with remote scan pricing if an OEM scan is completed. 

Other operations added to the pricing include all sensor reset and steering angle sensors, yaw sensors, and headrest reset. 

Protech serves customers in 41 states with more than 1,200 technicians trained to scan, calibrate, and diagnose vehicles, according to the GEICO email. The company’s services include 100 static stations. 

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) sent questions to GEICO and asTech in August after members raised concerns about the standardized pricing agreement. 

Both companies declined to directly answer the questions submitted by SCRS, a news release said. 

“We believe that the questions that have been posed are important for the industry to receive answers,” stated SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg, in the release. “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.” 

Some of the questions asked of GEICO by SCRS include: 

• • Does GEICO intend to pursue similar Agreements with other diagnostic scanning and
    calibration vendors?
  • When GEICO says all claims will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, what factors are being considered?
  • How is GEICO assured the Rules Engine results account for current OEM updates or changes in rules and requirements? 
  • Does GEICO recognize recommendations made by automakers for repair procedures and/or scanning, diagnostic, and calibration needs? 
  • How will GEICO handle situations in which the Rules Engine results conflict with OEM documentation, recommendations, or published repair procedures? 
  • Has GEICO requested to add any rules to the Rules Engine?
  • Are there any specific settings an ARX facility must use in the Rules Engine to be compliant with GEICO’s program?

To read the full letter and questions to GEICO, click here. 

According to the SCRS release, Tyson Miller, GEICO senior director of physical damage, responded on Aug. 21 to say, “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 responded noting that GEICO “made it clear” claims would be handled individually. It added, GEICO also said it reached an “overarching agreement” with asTech to standardize pricing and reduce friction for diagnostic, programing, and calibration operations. 

Miller responded to SCRS saying, “At this time, we have no further details to share beyond the initial messages that I sent to GEICO’s ARX partner shops.”

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