LOMBARD, IL — In an effort to improve the industry’s warranty claims processing, appliance manufacturers, parts distributors, and service companies have formed the Major Appliance Service Coalition (MASC). The North American Retail Dealers Association (NARDA) will support the group’s goals by administering MASC’s activities and providing communi-cations services.

MASC first met in February 2001 to identify opportunities and challenges faced by the industry.

According to NARDA, an industry-standard PPV electronic file format would eliminate the majority of the paperwork and reduce administrative expenses for manufacturers, parts dis-tributors, and services by streamlining the process of issuing credits for parts used in warranty repairs.

MASC has asked NARDA to lead a project to establish an industry-standard, Web-based warranty claim form that would provide one online format for filing claims. The goal is to have a website NARDA form that could forward claims to any manufacturer or to the agencies that process claims for manufacturers. NARDA also says this would give the industry a single front end to the process of filing claims electronically.

Publication date: 10/22/2001