Gyeonggi-do Auto Repair Shop, "Did Not Receive Proper Repair Fees"... 90% of Charges Reduced

"Due to the practice of estimating repair costs through damage assessment"

[Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] It has been revealed that 9 out of 10 insurance repairs at automobile repair shops in Gyeonggi-do had their repair cost claims reduced by insurance companies.

According to the results of the "Investigation on Unfair Trade Practices by Insurance Companies Related to Automobile Insurance Repairs," conducted from June to November this year on 465 repair shops in the province, the majority of repair shops did not receive proper payment despite repairing vehicles.

This is understood to be due to the practice where repair shops perform repairs first without confirming the scope and amount of repairs with the insurance company at the time of a car accident, and the insurance company later determines the repair cost (insurance payout) through loss assessment.

In this survey, only 5.3% of repair shops received the full amount of their repair cost claims after the insurance company's loss assessment settlement.

Following that, 56.9% experienced a 10% reduction, 29.8% had a 10-50% reduction, and 8.0% had a reduction of more than 50%. Notably, 57.2% of repair shops did not receive any reason for the claim reduction.

Additionally, 89.0% of respondents perceived the automobile repair fee standards set by insurance companies as unfair.

The reasons cited included 79.5% pointing to the non-reflection of wage increases and raw material costs, followed by ▲standards not matching reality at 67.9%, and ▲incorrect standard setting at 55.8%.

When asked whether they receive loss assessment settlement details from insurance companies before repairs, 85.1% (17.8% occasionally provided, 67.3% not provided) answered that they do not receive them properly.

Examples of forced unfair practices include ▲use of specific repair cost claim programs at 30.3%, ▲reduction of usual working hours at 37.9%, ▲restriction of repair scope at 37.9%, and ▲provision of free pickup services at 31.6%.

Repair shops that had their repair costs reduced due to objections to insurance companies or failure to comply with instructions accounted for 29.5%.

Meanwhile, the province plans to deliver these survey results to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to promote fairness in consignment transactions between repair shops and insurance companies, and to discuss the introduction of a standard repair cost contract and institutional improvement measures with experts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.