Provider Fees for Windshield Repair and Paintless Dent Repair Service Contracts

A provider who sells windshield repair service contracts or paintless dent repair service contracts is required to file the amount of the provider fee (the total amount of money and other consideration charged to the consumer for the service contract) for these contracts with the Superintendent at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the initial fee, or at least 30 days before the effective date of a change in the provider fee.  The provider fee charged to a consumer for a windshield repair service contract or a paintless dent repair service contract may not exceed the amount filed with the Superintendent. Providers are not required to file their provider fees with the Superintendent for any other type of service contract.

A provider fee filing is not required for such a service contract where an authorized insurer is the service contract holder and the service contract is being utilized by the insurer as the mechanism providing for the repair of a damaged vehicle that is insured by the insurer.  However, a provider whose service contract obligations are insured under a service contract reimbursement insurance policy is not exempt from the provider fee filing on that basis alone.

The provider fee is the total purchase price or consideration that is paid by the service contract holder for the service contract and every service contract must specify the “total purchase price.”  The total purchase price is the actual total purchase price or consideration that the holder pays for the service contract; not the amount of money that the seller of the service contract remits to the provider for the provider’s windshield repair or paintless dent repair service contracts.  These types of service contracts may not be sold to holders, either by the provider or anyone else who sells the service contract on the provider’s behalf, for any price other than for the amount of the provider fee that has been filed with the Superintendent.

A service contract provider that includes windshield repair or paintless dent repair services in a service contract that also provides other services (i.e. vehicle service or residential appliances and systems) must file the total purchase price for the entire service contract with the Superintendent unless the windshield repair or paintless dent repair services in the service contract are sold for a separately stated charge as an optional addition to the contract, in which case the provider may file the amount of that separately stated charge instead.

A registered provider that is required to file the amount of the provider fee with the Superintendent, or file a change in the filed provider fee, must do so electronically using the NAIC’s System for Electronic Rate and Form Filings (SERFF) system.  Information on how to proceed using SERFF is available at: http://www.serff.com/. 

When making service contract provider fee filing submissions in SERFF, a provider should utilize the Type of Insurance code (TOI) 33.0004 (Service Contracts).  A provider must specify in its filing, for each service contract form, the name of the service contract form that appears on the service contract, a brief description of the services that are provided under the service contract and the amount of the provider fee for each service contract that they sell in New York.