FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE

Contacts:

Tony Lombardozzi (CCRE president)  email: tony@acrsnetwork.com  phone: 603-886-1800

Lou Russo (CCRE office) email: ccreoffice@aol.com  phone: 877-700-7743

Dick Strom (CCRE member) email: moderncol@qwest.net  phone:  206-310-2008

Coalition for  Collision Repair Excellence (theCCRE) Condemns Silencing of Study That Finds  Insurers Defraud Consumers and States, Placing Motorists at  Risk

In a press conference scheduled  for October 31, 2006, the Anti-Fraud Committee of the Collision Industry  Conference (CIC) was to release the findings of their study which concludes that  insurers cheat consumers and states out of millions of dollars by systematically  underwriting insurance estimates.

After months of good work  collecting and reviewing hundreds of estimates from various insurers in 10  states, the Anti-Fraud Committee was prepared to expose the routine practice of  insurer underwriting of estimates by over 100%, thus resulting in thousands of  less-than-adequately repaired vehicles being returned to our highways. However, insurance-related forces within  the CIC itself put a stop to the release of this vital information that could  have benefited consumers, states, and collision repairers, and would have  brought scrutiny to the manner in which insurers control the collision repair  process, potentially putting consumers’ lives in danger.

The Coalition for Collision  Repair Excellence (CCRE) publicly condemns this deliberate suppression of  evidence concerning fraud “ or at best, gross ineptitude “ on the part of  insurance companies, and demands that they immediately stop this practice. The CCRE also calls on state officials  to investigate the practice of insurers’ systematic underwriting of estimates,  which was substantiated by the findings of the CIC Anti-Fraud Committee, and  establish whether certain consumers are driving unsafely repaired vehicles  because of this insurer practice.

“In many states, it is a crime to  allow an unsafe vehicle back out on the highways, ”said Erica L. Eversman, J.D., Chief Counsel for Vehicle  Information Services, Inc.” I  expect to see states take action on the Anti-Fraud Committee findings.  People’s lives are at risk, and that  should be every state’s primary concern.”

“Insurers have no business in the  collision repair business,” states Tony Lombardozzi, President of the CCRE. “Collision repair is a profession that  takes knowledge, skill, and integrity.” At the CCRE, we expect every one of our members to follow a code of  professional conduct that requires each member to deliver a safe, proper repair  as requested by the vehicle owner, not some slipshod repair as is often dictated  by insurers.”

Mr. Lombardozzi continues, “The CCRE is a peer network for  collision repairers, and does not allow insurers to join their ranks or  otherwise influence their decisions.”  The suppression of the CIC Anti-Fraud Committee findings is an  unfortunate example of how once well-intentioned organizations often become  influenced, corrupted and controlled by those with competing interests. For this reason membership in the CCRE  is open only to repairers.