Nationwide Adds Customer Acknowledgement Factor to OEM Endorsement

by Penny Stacey

Nationwide Insurance is requesting that auto glass shops now require its policyholders who have purchased an OEM endorsement for their vehicles to acknowledge on paper as to whether OEM glass was used in their vehicle, and, if not, that they understand why it wasn't used. The OEM endorsement, which requires that, whenever available, new glass furnished by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) be used when replacing glass in the vehicle of an insured who has purchased the endorsement, is not a new offering, according to Elizabeth Stelzer, communications consultant for Nationwide.

"The only change is that we are asking shops to acquire an acknowledgement from the policyholder that OEM parts were either placed on the vehicle or that OEM parts were not readily available and the policyholder chose to have non-OEM parts placed on their vehicle," she says.

Likewise, Stelzer says this change is part of the company's efforts to make certain the policyholder receives the products to which he is entitled under the policy purchased.

"Nationwide has not changed [its] process or procedures regarding OEM glass," she says. "We are ensuring our policyholders are receiving the goods and services as entitled to them under their polic[ies]."

In addition, Nationwide says in order to work closely with glass shops on this endorsement, it will notify the shop when the job is scheduled via phone that the customer holds the endorsement, and then again on the written work order, issued by the SGC Network, which administers Nationwide's glass claims. Then, the glass shop will need to ask the customer to acknowledge whether OEM glass was used by initialing the appropriate space on the work order.

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Penny Stacey is the editor of glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine.