It amazes me that the farm is now trying to write estimate from pictures. The body shops end up doing the work for our estimators in providing pictures while terrible estimates are being written. Geico and Progressive physically inspect every car and write their estimates. The farm doesnt have enough estimators in key locations..aka major metro areas to do this. The customef is the one who gets screwed.
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Because they got rid of a majority of Staff Estimators with thinking it will save money.. SF does not want to pay for Staff estimators because it is more expensive but in reality from what I have seen it actually costs more money and work in the end. You think that photo estimate is going to be a final bill or near it? Create more work and yes other OICs even smaller compaies do send out estimators unlike SF wants to do.
Oh dont even get me started on the billions shops make off us for storage fees as our car earns them more than a nice hotel room rate for sitting on their yard, waiting for multiple claims/estimatic departments kick the can on needing some arbitrary thing to happen before they can complete their work and get the car moved.
Bodily Injury fraud, and shop storage fees are legit costing this company insane amounts of money, and enriching criminals.
I dont envy estimatics. Shops hate you and are hostile, and are overworked and short staffed as much as you are. No shop wants to take your call as you explain that you want them to devote more time to bargain shopping to save your company money.
Also many areas where they need a live estimator, the pay is basically poverty levels, on top of the traffic and congestion that will make your job a total nightmare.
Its another job role that use to be a career in insurance, however, they have cost saved away everything decent about the role, and condensed it into a very unpleasant role few want to do for the money, and are now struggling because of it, just like claims.
Estimatics is a hot mess, and has been so since 2018. Can't retain nor attract people. California alone sections are in desperately need of help. The shops estimators used to want to come to SF for work life balance amd a pension. Now that those incentives are no longer available, - crickets...
@1ryg+1hLhNfdQ I’ve paid down payments on houses amounts of storage in my time, when I took the extra time to try my best to me a VE accurate or a vehicle move, I’d get ridiculed on metrics or being in a claim too long. A55 backwards lol.
This is very much a problem w/ SF. A virtual staff estimate is written for minimal damages, the vehicle sits at a non-program shop for weeks accruing storage, a supp pushes it to a total loss, but the aea doesn't write a VIR. Total Loss inherits the mess, pays out hundreds in charges to secure the vehicle, and apologizes to the customer for the sh-t experience. Every fu----g day.
Progressive uses same photo estimatics as SF. You can read about it on their website.
No way! Close the door the horse got out.