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Auto Shops Uncover Farmers Insurance 'Illegal' Business Practice of 'Steering' Oregon Consumers to Inferior and Unsafe Repairs

29 November 2000

Auto Shops Uncover Farmers Insurance 'Illegal' Business Practice of 'Steering' Oregon Consumers to Inferior and Unsafe Repairs

      Complaint Lists Ample Evidence of Deceptive and Deceiving Tactics

    PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 29 The following is being released by
Leif's Auto Collision Centers and Daniel J. Gatti, Esq.

    A number of Oregon auto body shops have exposed an "illegal" but highly
accepted and encouraged practice by the auto insurance industry of "steering"
consumers toward repair work that is inferior, inadequate and unsafe. The
Oregon business owners are hoping that a jury can finally hold Farmers
Insurance accountable for it's continued use of deceptive and deceiving
business practices, aimed at keeping independent auto repair shops from
providing customers with safe, complete and full-market value for their auto
repair work.
    "Farmers Insurance has publicly stated that it controls the industry and
wants to place illegal caps on all repair work within it's preferred network
of repair shops," says Leif Hansen of Leif's Auto Collision Centers. "Farmers
Insurance has lied and manipulated to 'steer' business away from independent
auto repair shops like mine, but it's crashed it's customers into a wall of
shoddy repair work and often left them driving unsafe vehicles."
    Hansen has joined with Bill Hall Body and Frame, All in One Autobody and
Mark Odell Body Shop in taking legal action against Farmers Insurance Company
of Oregon and it's foreign subsidiaries for the "illegal" practice of
intentional interference with prospective economic relations, negligence and
interference with business. Their complaint cites numerous examples of these
"illegal" practices including specific false and malicious statements by
Farmers to it's customers who sought to take their repair work to independent
shops, not on Farmers preferred list.
    Considering the fact that Farmers is one of the nations three largest
insurance companies with annual profits in excess of $576 million dollars and
assets worth multibillions of dollars, a jury will be asked to consider
awarding punitive damages against Farmers and granting economic relief for
losses due to its "illegal" activities.