Erie Insurance Takes On "Glass Harvesters"

Motorists insured by Erie Insurance recently received their copy of InSync, the insurer's quarterly newsletter, and it might interest the industry to know that the insurance company is introducing the phrase "glass harvester."

In the summer issue, the insurance company defines the phrase as "people who position themselves at gas stations, car washes and even county fairs and try to convince motorists to have windshield repair work performed."

The newsletter does tell its readership that these "glass harvesters" could be genuinely pointing out a legitimate repair, but advises insureds to be careful, as "there have been harvesters who have misrepresented themselves to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud."

Insureds are warned to look for indications of potential scams such as "the replacement of undamaged windshields, inflation of real damages and charges for phantom damages."

The company states that it will waive an insured's deductible and cover the expenses of a windshield repair if that is what is needed, but that the insured must pay the deductible for a windshield replacement.