I write the estimate. You file the claim.

Comprehensive claims (hail, falling branches, acorn clusters, vandalism) shouldn't move your rate — that's industry-standard treatment, not a Pennsylvania-specific statute. Of the carriers Mike works with — Erie, State Farm, Geico, Progressive — none has raised a customer's rate on a single comp hail claim he's seen. The known exception is multiple comp claims in a short window, which a few carriers surcharge for. If you're worried, call your agent before filing — most will tell you the same thing. Don't take a website's word over your own agent's.

Not today. The real workflow is: you file the comprehensive claim with your carrier, the carrier sends you a check minus your deductible, Mike writes the estimate so the carrier has the right number, repairs the car, and you pay Mike with the carrier check plus your deductible. Your out-of-pocket is just the deductible. Mike is actively working toward Direct Repair Provider (DRP) status with Erie first — when that lands, this workflow gets shorter.

No. Pennsylvania law (and federal law in most states) gives you the right to choose your own repair shop. Direct Repair Programs (DRPs) are convenient but optional — you don't owe your carrier any specific shop. Mike isn't on a DRP today, but the workflow above runs the same whether a shop is DRP or not.

Yes — that's the right order. Text year/make/model and one photo from a distance so Mike can see the panel. He'll come back within 24–48 hours with an honest read: whether the damage is worth filing for, what PDR can recover, and a realistic dollar range. If the damage is small enough that your deductible swallows the repair, he'll just quote you direct and skip insurance entirely.

Your deductible is your entire out-of-pocket on an approved comp claim. If your deductible is $500 and the carrier's check is $2,700 against a $3,200 repair, you pay Mike $500 + the carrier's $2,700 check — total $3,200 to Mike, $500 of which came out of your pocket. Typical PA comp deductibles run $500–$1,000.

An adjuster writes the initial estimate from a quick walk-around — they routinely miss dents because lighting matters. A supplement is the formal request to add what the initial estimate missed: extra dents, matrix work, aluminum line items, R&I labor. Mike keeps his supplement rate near zero by design — he quotes off the original photo set and honors the price. When a supplement is needed, he writes it under shop light and the carrier comes back out to approve.

From your first photo to driving away: typically 5–10 business days for a hail claim. The bottleneck is the adjuster's response time, not the repair. Most carriers respond within a week; Progressive runs roughly 5 adjusters for the entire Lehigh Valley so it can take longer. The actual repair at the Bethlehem shop is usually 1–2 days for single-vehicle hail work.

Erie (biggest in the Lehigh Valley and Mike's explicit DRP target), State Farm, Geico, and Progressive. These are the four carriers whose adjusters Mike has written estimates for in the last 12 months. If your carrier isn't on that list, the workflow is identical — file the comp claim, send Mike the claim number and photo, he writes the estimate.

Call Mike directly at 610-533-7531 or email. He answers personally — there's no service-writer triangle. He's actively interested in a Direct Repair Provider conversation, especially with Erie. Adjuster brief is at /insurance/for-adjusters.