Third-party administrators have nearly always been a part of the playing field during the 18 years Seminole Auto Glass in Tallahassee, FL, has been in business.
“We’ve seen the third-party administrators get changed around throughout those 18 years. When we first started, there were a handful of them,” said Sarah Seymour, who owns the business with her husband, Larry Seymour. “It was an equal playing field. You would get referrals. You would get work from the third-party administrators that were in existence. The discounts ran off of the National Auto Glass specifications, which is kind of like suggested retail price — that’s how we all do our invoicing.”
But since one company began employing what she and the Independent Glass Association call a monopoly via its insurance claims management service, Seymour says pricing has become untenable. The situation led the IGA to file an antitrust claim against Safelite Solutions earlier this year with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition Office of Policy and Coordination.
What the Claim Alleges
In the event of an automotive glass claim, consumers will typically report claims to their insurance companies via website or app. Other times, they call a claim number…