Laura Bertolli

What is CAA? California Autobody Association is our industry's leading association. Across the nation, California is looked to for help in regulations and laws relating to the autobody industry. We are lucky that our own CAA is actively lobbying for the autobody industry. They are in constant communication with the Department of Insurance (DOI), the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) and our elected officials, especially Senator Jackie Speier. Our local chapter, Golden Gate, is being revived with the help of Blake Andros (Blake's Auto Body) and myself. I'm excited to have the opportunity to get local shops involved in such an important group. We held an introductory meeting on Friday and had several shops commit to joining. We will have bimonthly meetings and hopefully take back our industry from those trying to take it away from us. For more info, please contact me and I'll be glad to fill you in on what we're doing.

Can't live without it, can't live with it! Insurance is a necessary part of our lives; life, auto, home, umbrella, liability, uninsured motorist, health, dental, mortgage, accident, earthquake, flood and the list goes on. If a profit can be made, insurance will be created to cover any loss. My wish is for insurance to stick to what they sell - monetary relief for a covered loss. I wish they would stop trying to control the manner in which the covered loss is taken care of. Let the policyholder decide how they want their medical, dental, home, auto, etc problem solved (under the terms of the policy purchased, of course). Any attempt by the insurance to control the remedies further is not the insurance specialty and ought to be left to the professionals providing the service. This is my conviction and my vision.