CAA gives advice on how to comment on storage fee regulations

The California Autobody Association (CAA) held a webinar last week to give collision repair shops advice on ways to respond to pending storage fee regulations. 

The Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) is collecting public comments on the changes until the end of the year. The bureau has been working on the language for years and has held multiple workshops following the passage of Assembly Bill 1263 in 2023, which granted BAR authority to address the subject. 

Andrew Batenhorst, CAA Glendale/Foothill Chapter president, led the conversation in the webinar. He started by outlining the language in the proposed regulation. 

He said in the regulation BAR defines what storage means.

“Vehicle storage means an ARD [automotive repair dealer] having possession of a customer’s vehicle upon completion of or without having performed repairs,” the proposed regulation says. 

Batenhorst says he doesn’t have an issue with the definition and adds that he sees it as bringing clarity to the issue. 

The regulation goes on to say that an ARD should set a maximum daily rate for storing a non-electric passenger vehicle. 

“This is really important to understand,” Batenhorst said. “BAR has recognized that intrinsically electric vehicles carry a lot more costs and requirements in order for them to be safely stored on your property. None of these proposed regulations have a bearing on the EV storage rates.”

The established rate also should not include negotiated rates with third parties, the regulation says. 

“They [BAR] want to make sure that when we’re calculating storage rates, that it’s the actual calculation based on doing it,” Batenhorst said. 

Batenhorst said that there are some concerns about a public search tool of storage fees that BAR is proposing in the regulations. The tool is supposed to help consumers, but Batenhorst said CAA fears that insurance companies will use this to limit rates. 

“This may not be an effective way of trying to gather that data,” Batenhorst said. 

The most recent proposed language gives details on how the data will be collected, he said. 

“Locale is defined as a geographic radius around each reporting ARD that is sufficient to identify average and median daily storage rates,” the proposed regulation says. “First locale option is within 2 miles. If there are fewer than 20 ARDs within a 2 mile radius, the locale will expand to 5 miles. If there are fewer than 10 reporting ARDs within 5 miles, the locale is expanded to 20 miles.  If there are fewer than 5 ARDs within 20 miles, the locale shall expand to the entire county.” 

The proposed regulation does say that the average and median storage rates shall not be used to establish or influence an ARD storage rate and shall not be used to limit or suppress an ARD storage rate. 

“I don’t know what would stop an insurer from setting their own cap,” Batenhorst said. “In fact, I have experienced that on my own. BAR has been involved with investigating my storage rates personally and them agreeing with my rates being reasonable for my market. There is no enforcement on their level to be able to tell an insurance company that’s what you need to pay.”

Other concerning language in the regulation revolves around the number of days a customer has to authorize repairs or remove the vehicle prior to the accrual of storage fees, he said. 

The proposed regulation allows for three days before an ARD can start charging. 

“The problem is, this is us essentially giving away free storage,” Batenhorst said.

Batenhorst said the three free days without storage costs and the public search tools are the issues he sees as the most important to address.

He provided tips for how collision shops could respond to BAR. He said shops should avoid telling war stories, or whining in letters. 

“The quickest way for the BAR to disengage and not take us seriously is when we go on a rant or we start going off on how bad everything is and the time that so and so insurance company abandoned a car for 40 days or whatever that may be,” Batenhorst said. 

Batenhorst said shops should pick their top concerns and provide data to back up why each are concerning. Most important, shops should try to provide an alternative solution to BAR, he said. 

“They are looking for effective feedback from us, and they want to hear what we have to say,” he said. 

To submit a comment to BAR, email Holly Helsing at [email protected] or Tessa Miller at [email protected]. Or send a letter to either of them at the Bureau of Automotive Repair, 10949 North Mather Blvd., Rancho Cordova, California, 95670. 

The California Autobody Association is also collecting comments to send to BAR. Any concerns can be emailed to Jack Molodanof at [email protected]

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