15 insurers agree to Gunder's labor rate increase

nder, owner of Gunder's Auto Center in Lakeland, Fla., said 15 insurers have agreed to pay his revised labor rates rather than challenge the 14.3 percent increase in court.Like this article? Sign up to receive our weekly news blasts here.

“It’s been a busy few weeks, and while 14 of the 15 insurers conceded without so much as a whimper, Infinity Insurance needed a bit of persuasion," Gunder said. "With the help of our legal counsel, Attorney Brent Geohagan’s representation of Gunder’s Auto Center, Inc., they too came to the right conclusion and are paying our new labor rates for body and refinishing as well as an elevated labor rate for frame/unibody repair. Of course they are also paying applicable legal fees and costs for the lawsuit as well."

Gunder has 12 lawsuits pending against State Farm, Allstate, USAA and GEICO for their failure to pay "reasonable and necessary" allowances for labor and materials and five lawsuits against them for labor rates alone. He raised his hourly rate from $42 to $48 in June.

“I can’t express what a feeling of freedom and an incredible sense of independence it gives me to once again have control over my business and its destiny” says the founder of the 44-year-old collision repair shop. “For the first time in a long time, I'm able to offer my employees a pay raise. They have stuck with me through thick and thin and it’s time they were rewarded for their loyalty and support. Like many I suppose, I’d forgotten what it was like to operate my business without other’s telling me what I could and couldn’t do.”