Mi. - January 30, 2007 State Farm® Auto Insurance Group has recently introduced a program throughout many regions of the United States. As part of their paintless dent repair program State Farm has generated an agreement for their (direct repair facilities/body shops) to perform this process on all applicable damage estimates. As written in this agreement these facilities can either perform the PDR work with an employee or can outsource the work to a vendor. “This is the beginning of one the greatest opportunities for Paintless Dent Repair Technicians”, states Jason Zimostrad, President of Paint Bull. “For many years our repair processes have been considered non-acceptable compared to traditional methods of auto body repair. I am most excited about the consumer marketing that State Farm is beginning to do on Paintless Dent Repair, this will hold a lot of weight and really help the technicians in the field” , states Zimostrad.

Recently, Paint Bull Automotive of Michigan presented an educational seminar and demonstrations to fifteen of State Farm’s Michigan based adjustors and top management. They came to us for a couple of reasons. Insurance adjustors need to be educated on the “possibilities” and limitations with PDR. In addition they are very keen on providing a convenient method of solving their customer’s claim issues. As we know, PDR can be much faster and certainly more cost effective. State Farm has introduced a pricing matrix which appears to be very fair for the technician involved. The first ding/dent begins at $75.00.

In further discussion with the State Farm representatives there was mention of the beginning of National “lists” of PDR companies and also the beginning of “local” lists so the adjustors know who is reputable and can provide the best service to their valued customers.

The Paint Bull suggests that you might speak with local State Farm direct repair facilities called State Farm Service First® or Select Service® centers. You might speak with the Body Shop manager and introduce your PDR business. He/she might be very likely to use your skills when the time arises with a claim. According to the SF agreement the work needs to be completed at a State Farm represented body shop if there are also conventional repairs needing to be completed on the vehicle. Otherwise if the damage is strictly PDR work it appears you might have some flexibility on where the repair is completed. The key again is to make the customer happy.

The Paint Bull staff is quite confident this is just the beginning for the insurance providers considering all types of our repairs including MicroPatch® Paint Repair and Interior Repair.

If you have additional questions regarding the new opportunities you can contact Jason Zimostrad, at jasonz@paintbull.com