History is Made – Auto Body Labor Rate Advisory Board Business Begins
by Alana Quartuccio
On April 17, history was made in the Massachusetts auto body world.
The inaugural meeting of the newly formed Auto Body Labor Rate Advisory Board (ABLRAB) took place in a virtual setting, allowing appointees the opportunity to introduce themselves, formulate timelines and determine what data sources to tap in order to obtain the information necessary to have effective communication over the next several months virtually and in person.
The event marked the very first time auto body shops had a seat at the table to discuss labor rate reimbursement, a matter that had been overlooked for far too long.
At the close of 2024, Governor Healy signed an Economic Development Bill package that included language regarding the creation of this advisory board intended to meet, study and review labor reimbursement rates in order to make recommendations to the Division of Insurance (DOI). As a result, AASP/MA was granted three appointees to the Board – Brian Bernard (Total Care Accident Repair; Raynham) who is the current Alliance legislative chairman, Rick Starbard (Rick’s Auto Collision; Revere), veteran shop owner, former local politician and former member of the Auto Damage Appraisers Licensing Board (ADALB) and Matthew Ciaschini (Full Tilt Auto Body & Collision; West Hatfield), AASP/MA’s president.
The Board is being co-chaired by attorney Michael Powers, counsel to the Commissioner of the DOI and Stacey Gotham, actuary of the Insurance and Financial Services Division. Rounding out the 13-member Board are Mark A. Merante (Division of Standards), Christopher S. Stark (Massachusetts Insurance Federation), Peter Smith (MAPFRE) and Samantha Tracy (Arbella Insurance Group) as appointed by the Automobile Insurance Bureau; Paul Burke (BayCoast Insurance Company) on behalf of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents; JC Burton (Maven Construction) on behalf of the business community; Sean Kane (Safety Research & Strategies, Inc.) as the consumer advocate; John Kwoka (Neal F. Finnegan Distinguished Professor of Economics, Northeastern University) as the economist and David Brown (Bill Diluca Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc.; Andover) on behalf of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association.
This initial meeting covered the areas of investigation the Board will set out to review. Considerable time was spent on data collection and how to obtain labor rate information from other states, auto body shop operating costs, inflation data, etc.
While addressing sources for data collection, Bernard offered up some history referring to the 1988 Insurance Reform Act when labor rates were decreased as a “big impact moment in time,” suggesting that taking a comparative look at how labor rates have changed over that period of time would be good for discussion.
When other Board members questioned the need to go back that far, Starbard contributed, “That’s where it all began. Massachusetts was bottled into cost containment at that time. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but to get to any progress, we do need to go back and look at the history of how we got to this place.”
“I don’t see a problem with attaching those reports as appendixes,” Gotham responded, adding that “it’s information to drive home the need to keep the labor rates up with the rate of inflation and premium changes,” although she doesn’t believe the legislation had that in mind. “The more information the better,” stated Powers, “but how do we get it?”
Stark implied the Massachusetts Insurance Federation has that data. “As long as we are supplying factual data, I have no problem analyzing both sides of the conversation.”
“I can understand that no one wants to pay more for insurance, but the collision repair side has done its share to subsidize that, and we are at a crisis point to no longer be able to do that,” Starbard stressed. “These cars have to be fixed, and we have to be able to train our technicians to stay current. There is no way we can do that with the current system.”
Gotham reiterated that they will take that and whatever information that can be forwarded to the Board into consideration.
Kane helped drive home the point that vehicles today are more complex and technicians are in need of specialized training by stating, “One of the things I’m seeing is that vehicle technology is so much more complex, and that complexity is adding to the great deal of costs in training and materials.” He added that he has information on this matter to share with the Board.
Discussion was also centered on what surveys to use in their research and the difference between posted labor rates versus the market rates. National AutoBody Research’s LaborRateHero.com was mentioned as a reliable source, which collects posted labor rates by shops all over the country, with 200-plus shops in Massachusetts.
“I think we need to do a bit of an education on how the labor rate is paid, collected and charged,” offered Ciaschini, about the differences in regions. “We run off a mutual database; most times, insurance uses the same information, like with CCC One estimating software, for example. Book times are set by MOTOR for every car.”
“No matter where the car is repaired, those labor times are the same, no matter what state. Labor hours don’t change per region,” Starbard added.
“I welcome you to educate the Board on that,” replied Gotham.
The Board reconvened May 5 to continue discussion about survey recommendations. Ciaschini suggested using neighboring Rhode Island’s survey as a basis to “capture a true market rate.” Bernard pointed out that “ultimately, we need a variable rate system as no two shops are exactly the same,” informing the Board, “We have to look at criteria of what the costs are for a shop to be able to pay their bills.” He cited OEM certifications, real estate, training, tooling and other factors that can vary from shop to shop.
Considerable time was spent on whether to consider program contract rates in their survey. Bernard stated that contract rates are not a fair representation as they “represent a closed market between two parties” and “to mix apples and oranges to come to a blending number would not be meaningful in any way, shape or form,” while Stark believes, “It’s important to capture the various levels from posted rates to contractual rates and vendor contracts so we can get a true snapshot of what the labor rate looks like across the board.”
Further discussion led to the agreement that the Board will work to create one single survey that both the auto body and the insurance sides agree on.
The Board planned to meet on May 29 to review the drafted survey and finalize it in preparation of a vote. The Board has scheduled a public hearing for June 12th at 2pm in Boston, at the State House.
The inaugural April 17 meeting can be viewed online at bit.ly/ABLRAB41725.
Want more? Check out the June 2025 issue of New England Automotive Report!