State Farm Insurance has notified members of its National Glass Program that it is changing the approval process for installing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) glass on vehicles with windshield-mounted cameras. The new procedure will go into effect for at least some shops this Monday, February 24, 2025.
Some State Farm-affiliated auto glass shops received the notice via email late Friday morning, February 21.
“Effective February 24, 2025, State Farm is requiring National Glass Program Participants to provide a recalibration failure report when requesting authorization for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) glass if the installed non-OEM windshield is unable to successfully recalibrate,” it reads.
According to the notice, third-party administrator (TPA) LYNX Services will send a “preliminary authorization confirmation” saying that businesses must provide a recalibration failure report as proof of purchase (POP) before submitting an invoice.
“Once the recalibration failure report (POP) is received, a final authorization will be issued, and your invoice can be submitted,” the notice says.
Shops can submit OEM authorization requests online or by calling or emailing LYNX, the document says. It is addressed to National Glass Program participants from State Farm’s section manager of glass claim services, Griffin Paul.
State Farm has not yet responded to glassBYTEs/AGRR’s request for comment.
what if we do not do recalibration?
Then you are not qualified to replace windshields with ADAS
will they reimburse for the time of doing the first recal and the time of pulline the aftermarket one out and reinstalling the oem? Audi rarely calibrates aftermarket.
This is precisely my question!
we should get reimbursed for the 2 calibrations and 2 labors/kits. there are several aftermarket glasses NOT calibrating correctly.
State Farm and others should pay for all procedures for as many removals and replacements and scans, clean-up, disposals and adhesive kits and required materials.
They may find that their efforts to save claim dollars may be too costly!
Aftermarket windshields are not “Like, Kind, Quality replacements and does not indemnify the consumer!
So is this stating that we cannot request OEM at all unless the calibration fails? What if the customer has a higher end car that wants OEM? Or an Audi which we all know doesn’t calibrate with OEE….
Are we getting reimbursed for 2 installs then if the OEE doesn’t work?
Or is this simply stating that if OEE doesn’t work, we can charge accordingly for OEM but it only gets approved with proof of failed calibration?
We already know the answer is no. Nobody stands in our corner to help.
What is Griffin Paul’s email address? I’d like to discuss this personally and professionally.
So… we get to do the work TWICE, but only get paid for doing it ONCE! Good way to lose money!
Not to mention the administration cost of doing the extensive extra paperwork involved. I don’t believe Lynx or State Farm would handle their own business like this if the roles were reversed!
So… we get to do the work TWICE, but only get paid to do it ONCE? Good way to lose money!
Not to mention the extra administration cost of doing the extensive paperwork/phone calling involved. I don’t believe Lynx or State Farm would handle their own business like this if the roles were reversed!
Where are all the big guys? Glass America…Safelite…AGN (Driven)??? Are you guys going to sit back and allow this to happen to you as well? Is any company out there NOT in the business to make a profit? We are NOT doing a job twice and getting paid once. I’ll let it happen one time and then I’ll jump in on the class-action lawsuit that is about to happen! What happens when a customer’s lease is up, and they try to return their Honda, Acura, Subaru, Ford or Audi without OEM glass?
There should be a clearinghouse or database of windshields that need OEM replacements, and a library of shareable failed calibration reports so shops would not have to install a known failure. State Farm seems very short-sighted on this. One commenter said that Third-Party Administrators have this information. It seem like the Auto Glass Safety Council could get involved to promote this kind of thing for the benefit of all, and protect the safety of consumers.
AGSC does have much of this info available to members.
For anyone who has fully read this procedure change, I don’t see where the big fuss is?
There’s nothing that says shops can’t use OEM when needed- only when the shop is stating OEM is needed due to a failed recalibration, they are simply asking for the failed recalibration report.
For those who are saying there’s “extra administration and time” there’s ALREADY a recalibration report on file that is showing the DTC’s present on the post scan, so really how long does it take to simply provide what you already have? And if you don’t have it, then chances are you didn’t actually do it in the first place.
We all have seen policyholders that DEMAND OEM because their “dealership said” it needs OEM- when in reality we know that your brothers’ friends’ neighbors’ kid who happens to work at a dealership is NOT an expert as to what is or is not needed.
Conversely, we’ve all encountered things that we know does need OEM for one reason or another- so simply communicate that in advance of buying the glass and doing the work.
The larger issue that I have seen is communication. If we simply say “customer request” that doesn’t indicate that it needs or doesn’t need OEM, but if we say “we know that x vehicle doesn’t recalibrate, or we’re playing roulette with which glass does and does not recalibrate” no reasonable insurer says, “tough bananas, inconvenience the customer”.
Personally, I think the larger issue in the industry is the customers who don’t take the advice and determination of the professionals into consideration and run to the dealership thinking they are some sort of God-send experts who can magically make everything better.
We talk about the need for legislation, reform, etc- the legislation/reform needs to be from bad actor dealerships that are doing nothing but trying to make extra money by telling the policyholder they need things they don’t (such as OEM).
When it comes to lease turn-in, in most instances there is no language in the lease that says the WINDSHIELD must be OEM- and when there is, I’ve never had an issue having the insurer pay for the OEM- because I simply provide the section of the customer’s lease where it says it’s required.
Whenever a dispatch, referral, assignment, work order, claim- or whatever the sending organization is calling it has parts that we know aren’t going to work on it- all we need to do is be proactive and say “hey! saw this, and here’s the issue that’s going to occur” 8 out of 10 times the insurer will say Oh, okay- thanks for this we’ll change it for you, thanks for the heads up.
I don’t think that asking for proof on anything is the insurer being ridiculous, and if you do there’s also not a single thing anywhere saying we have to bill the insurance company.
Nobody is forcing a shop to bill through insurance- we all have the right to collect from the customer and let them seek reimbursement.
Also- most insurance companies have an OEM endorsement available, so this leads me to wonder- why doesn’t an insured opt for it? I know! because they don’t want to pay premiums but expect the world when they have a claim. I can’t count how many times I’ve had a conversation with a customer who says, ” I pay my insurance, I should have this, I want this, and I’m GOING to have this” and they have a $xxxxx deductible- so, Mr. customer- how much are you REALLY paying in insurance premiums if your deductible is that high?
Oh- and no insurer out there says the customer can’t have what they want- if you want an OEM because of the sticker then go for it, you, Mr. Customer can also pay for said sticker to be on there.
Everyone complains that the insurance premiums are sky high but then turn around and gripe that insurers are trying to watch claim severity. can’t have it both ways.
Bottom line is. If we’re honest and transparent and only ask for OEM when it’s needed, then there’s not much of an issue… If there are recal issues- say so in advance, if it’s going to the dealership for recal, say so in advance, if the HUD is going to likely be distorted, say so in advance.
I think State Farm is doing exactly the right thing here to balance need vs. cost- and NO, I do not work for State Farm.
Then again- that’s just my personal opinion, and we all know what they say about opinions…