CRASH Network’s editor shares how 3 minutes could better industry

Instead of telling industry war stories, John Yoswick, CRASH Network’s editor, says to take 3 minutes to help consumers make a more informed insurance choice by filling out the “Insurer Report Card.”

He made the recommendation to a crowd during the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ IDEAS Collide Showcase at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas last week. Watch the video here. 

Yoswick said, “All that’s involved is thinking about the insurance coverage you interact with at your business and assigning them a grade, from A+ to F, based on one question: ‘How well does that company’s claims practices help lead to quality repairs and customer service for policyholders or claimants?’” 

The report card grades active insurance companies in each state — approximately 80 to 90 nationwide, he said. This includes smaller and regional carriers that consumers may not be familiar with. 

“In fact, it’s often those smaller insurers that are among the companies receiving the highest rates from shops,” Yoswick said. 

The results can be downloaded for free and are easily shareable with consumers, he said. 

Yoswick said thousands of consumers download the survey each year, as do insurance regulators and carriers. The survey is currently in its ninth year.

Insurance carriers reach out and ask for more details about the grades, he said. Those that get the best grade often use it for marketing, he added. 

“We see consumer reporters and consumer advocates pointing to it when they’re talking about auto insurance,” Yoswick said. “There are also other publications and organizations that now incorporate our Insurer Report Card findings into their own ratings of insurers.” 

He said this includes Forbes, CNN Money, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone. 

“By participating, you help give the insurers that you grade more highly another way to compete for customers,” he said. “It also provides you, as shops, a tool to help convey to consumers that there’s something other than just price and brand recognition to consider when choosing an auto insurer.”

It can also be used to provide a message to insurers, he said. With this, he added that no one outside of his organization knows who participates in the survey. 

Insurers often think that it’s non-DRP shops that grade them low, Yoswick said. He said sometimes that is true, 

He showed an example of how one unnamed insurer received a B- from DRP shops but a D from shops not in their program. 

Yet another insurer received a C- from their DRP shops and a D+ from shops not in their program. 

Insurers can also learn from how they got the grade. 

“Insurers often think it’s just based on what they pay for repairs, and there are some payment-related reasons,” he said. 

However, he said low grades can also be driven by insurance companies’ claim processes or administrative costs. He added that personnel could be more experienced and better trained, or more responsive.

The 2026 Insurer Report Card survey is now open. Click here to request a link. 

“But here’s my larger suggestion to you for the week, and maybe for the year ahead, when you’re about to spend a few minutes sharing a war story with a colleague, stop and ask yourself, could you spend that time doing something else to help improve the industry? A DEG inquiry, a CAPA complaint, or in this case, just 3 minutes on the Insurer Report Card? Because if every collision repairer spent just a few minutes each month doing that, it can make a difference for consumers, and it will make a real difference for the industry,” Yoswick said.

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John Yoswick, CRASH Network’s editor, speaks during the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ IDEAS Collide Showcase at the 2025 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.