State Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), who carried the bill that launched the study, praised BAR's efforts and said she would urge the Legislature to step in and take further action on the problem.
"It's chilling to think 42% of the auto body repair work done in this state may have some level of fraud associated with it," she said. "It underscores the system that exists today is inadequate."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday September 11, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 64 words Type of Material: Correction
Body shops -- A headline in Wednesday's California section referred to "rampant" fraud in California body shops. In the state study discussed in the story, vehicles were inspected only if owners requested a check through a toll-free hotline. So, while 42% of those checks revealed fraud, the study did not contain any finding about the prevalence of fraud in the industry as a whole.
Kevin Meadow of Encino agreed. After an accident left his 1999 Ford Explorer severely damaged, he took it in for major repairs that totaled an estimated $9,000.
"After they put the car back together, it was never right," Meadow recalled. He requested an inspection by BAR, and investigators found hinges coming off doors, peeling paint, a roof that wasn't repaired properly and a front fender that was not a factory-supplied part.
In all, inspectors found that Meadow had been overcharged about $3,300 for parts or repairs that were not provided.
Regulators and insurers estimate that auto body fraud in California totals about $500 million annually, but industry representatives deny charges of widespread abuse. Marty Keller, executive director of the Automotive Repair Coalition, called the BAR report "skewed to people who have self-identified as having a problem."
"It's a terrible thing if anyone gets ripped off," Keller said. But out of the huge number of repair jobs performed in California, he argued, the amount of fraud detected seems small.
Others, including state Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside), attacked BAR as overly aggressive in its enforcement efforts -- in his words, "an out-of-control bureaucracy." Morrow last week requested a legislative hearing on what he called BAR's "reckless disregard for the due process rights of businesses in California."
Specifically, Morrow criticized BAR for joining with the attorney general to take legal action against a Caliber Collision Center in San Marcos, a city he represents. BAR investigators say that center, along with two other Caliber outlets in Los Angeles and San Bernardino, charged more than $4,500 for parts or services that were not provided.
Morrow said BAR's move against the company amounts to a "public pillorying" based on unfounded allegations: "There is no innocent until proven guilty," he said.
Mike Luery, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, said the evidence against the San Marcos shop is clear and that the attorney general "would not act based on something he thinks is frivolous or without merit."
