Interview with Portland’s Director of Risk Management

Ferreting out a steering accusation

The Collision Standard (SC) received information that a tow driver, who had been called to the scene of an accident involving a City of Portland vehicle, told the citizen/owner of the damaged vehicle that the city would not pay the repair claim, unless the vehicle was towed to a shop that is a part of a major auto collision repair chain.

Since CS is always interested in following up on steering accusations, we contacted the City of Portland’s Director of Risk Management Kate Wood to find out if it was true. Is this sort of thing condoned by the City?

Wood: No. (Laughs.) No.

CS: If it were true, if it did happen, would it be legal?

Wood: If it were true, it would have to be legal, because otherwise we wouldn’t do it.

CS: So, as far as you know this sort of thing isn’t being done?

Wood: The issue is that we pay a claim when it’s city negligence. Negligence of a city employee that causes harm to a third party – the citizen. (The City of Portland self-insures.) So on a very broad statement, [negligence – who’s at fault] is the first step we look at in claims.

A lot of times, there might be a situation where the circumstances of a case might be reinterpreted differently by an individual. And that might have happened [in the case you are talking about]. So this tow truck driver may have reinterpreted as city policy what he said to the vehicle owner [even though it may have been some other organization’s policy, not the city’s.]

But from a risk management policy [perspective,] we look and see whether or not it is city negligence that caused the harm as the first step.

CS: Does the city have any deals/contracts with particular body shops in Portland to take damaged vehicles to those specific shops?

Wood: No. We have experienced claims adjusters [in the Risk Management Department]. So if we get a repair estimate that’s kind of off- the-wall, we may ask [the owner to get] another estimate [from another shop], or we’ll negotiate [the amount of the estimate]. We operate like an insurance company in that regard.

So if somebody says his 1998 Volkswagen is totaled and ‘you owe me $30,000.’ We’d say, well, maybe not. Let’s talk about that. Most repair shops are certainly honest about that. But our adjusters do adjust [the amount the city will pay].

We don’t require people [claimants] to go to a particular place [repair shop].

CS: Based on what you said, the answer to the next question seems fairly obvious. But . . . Will the City of Portland pay a negligence claim regardless of which auto collision repair facility does the repairs, as long as the price is reasonable?

Wood: Pretty much. Yeah.