The last several years have not been easy for the industry: vehicles are increasingly difficult to service, costs continue to skyrocket and retaining high-quality employees is a challenge.
The last thing you want to deal with is a liability claim and the associated costs from inadvertent damage caused during a routine service event. After all, any vehicle damaged while in your care and custody is your responsibility.
Consider these statistics:
Effectively managing service events Is The Key to avoiding damage risks
Hiring the right drivers, extensive training and the right equipment can help to avoid damage situations. Understanding which damages happen most frequently and how to effectively control your service environment are two additional steps towards protecting your business and making the service process easier for all involved.
Most frequent damage-causing situations by service type and vehicle feature
- Lockouts. Causing damage to a vehicle door during a lockout service can often be unavoidable. But, if you have the right lockout kit and avoid opening the car door before deflating any devices, if used, damage can be less severe, resulting in less liability and cost for you.
- Tire changes with a spare. Many customers may be unaware of how to properly drive on their spare tire. It is best practice to inform the customer to not drive the vehicle over 50 MPH and to change the spare out for a full tire as soon as possible to avoid tire damage or potential falloff. It is possible you could be held responsible by the driver and their insurance if the spare falls off or fails, even if you serviced the replacement correctly. Additionally, if the spare tire is expired or showing signs of dry rot, cracking or other issues, do not put it on the customer’s vehicle. Contact us to report an unsuccessful service or service change.
- Tire changes without a spare. A growing number of vehicles, particularly EVs, no longer come with a full spare tire. Deflated or collapsable spares can be damaged when instructions are not followed properly or they are inflated without enough air. These spares can cost upwards of $1,000 and improper inflation and installation could cause further damage to the vehicle.
- Vehicles with no wheels or tires. In these situations, the risk of scraping underneath the vehicle and causing damage to the rotors is high. In these cases, request a signed damage waiver from the customer, as we would accept this type of documentation. It is also in your best interest to contact Agero dispatch to inform an agent and have this information properly added to the job records.
- Rear brake lights/sunroofs. These features can easily be broken or further damaged when the vehicle is towed or transported backwards. Turn the vehicle around to load it front first onto the flatbed. Similarly, if you are using a wheel lift, the front of the customer’s vehicle should be facing your truck, with the rear wheels on the dollies.
- Tonneau covers. If the vehicle you are towing has a tonneau or a retractable bed cover, attempt to load the vehicle onto the flatbed front-end first. Towing the vehicle while it is facing backward can risk the cover detaching and flying off.
Best ways to keep control over the service event
As a provider, there are service types that you won’t ever be able to avoid. There will always be trucks with caps needing a tow or customers needing a spare tire assist. Beyond knowing that these services and features are the most likely to result in a claim and should be handling cautiously, there are ways you - as the professional - can manage the service situation to keep you, the customer, their vehicle and yours as safe and damage free as possible.
- Be in control. Customers should never be allowed to enter your workspace, whether that is to provide help, supervise or participate in vehicle handling in some other way. Allowing a customer to enter your workspace beside the vehicle poses serious safety risks to you, the customer, their vehicle and potentially others. You can be held liable for issues that arise throughout the service. Should customer behavior prevent you from doing your job correctly or to completion, alert Agero Dispatch immediately via chat or phone and mark the job as GOA or Unsuccessful. Be sure to include specific, detailed notes on what happened, as well as the name of the dispatcher, if you spoke to one live.
- Follow dispatch instructions. Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to fix a customer’s vehicle during the disablement service - this includes trying to jump a vehicle when a tow is the requested service or attempting to patch a damaged tire. Even if the customer asks, never try to work on or repair the car for them.
- Utilize Blueprint. Blueprint is Agero’s one-of-a-kind vehicle training library designed to enhance your teams’ make- and model-specific skills and knowledge. The site is available 24/7, is 100% free, and does not require any form of login or sign up. It’s easily accessible on mobile or desktop and, most importantly, because the information comes directly from our clients or our network trainer, the information is reliable.
- Take Pictures. Not only are photos required for every job and many additional charge requests, they can make the damage review process quicker and can potentially protect you from fraudulent customer claims. We require at least 10 pictures of the vehicle from various angles, including four at the disablement location and another four at the drop-off location, as well as images of any pre-existing vehicle damage. These should be attached to the job information in your dispatch software.
- Communicate. Any pre-existing markings or damage should also be identified to the customer. If a customer is not present, please contact Agero to report the damage at 800-541-2262, option 1.
- Consider waivers. In no way does a liability waiver signed by the customer automatically release you from liability due to negligence; however, we may take it into consideration during the review process. If your business has any of their own damage forms, those could be helpful, too.
- Inspections. During tow events, drivers should have the dealership or service facility inspect the vehicle and sign an acknowledgment of receipt when possible upon arriving at the tow-to destination.
Questions about our damage process? We’re making updates to our Insights Dashboard in Swoop to outline your account-specific damages data. In the meantime, review our information in the Swoop Resource Center, navigate to Resources in the main menu and enter “Damage Claims FAQ” in the search bar.
As always, stay safe out there.