Leif Hansen
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Leif Christopher Hansen (b.1957) is the founder and owner of a chain of auto body shops, Leif's Auto Collision Centers, one of Oregon's largest and fastest growing automotive businesses.
Hansen was born in Hawaii where he worked as a full time auto body repair man since the age of fifteen. By his early 20's Hansen admits he was involved in drugs and in the late 1980's he was charged with auto theft. In 1990, Hansen moved to Oregon with his wife and child, where he started an auto body repair business, Leif's Auto Collision Centers, while successfully serving five years probation.
To many, Hansen is a pro-consumer crusader who never backs down from a fight. For many of those in the insurance industry, Hansen remains an enigma, but a serious threat to their Direct Repair Programs (DRP's) and insurer's pattern of illegal steering, encouraging shoddy repairs and the required use of cheap replacement or aftermarket parts.[citation needed]
Today Hansen is one of Oregon's best known media personalities, driven by his ~$1,000,000 per year advertising budget which include familiar television and radio commercials. He made his fortune by appealing directly to the customer through self narrated advertisements, where he promises first rate service, unencumbered by price fixing agreements with the insurance industry.
As of 2005, Hansen has maintained a 20% annual growth rate of his business for more than a dozen years. He relies on a combination of anti-insurance company advertising and, according to Willamette Week, lawsuits. Hansen's employees constantly gather new evidence for potential lawsuits against insurance companies, who he says are using illegal means to harm his business and others in the auto repair industry. Leif's Auto is the only auto body repair company in the nation to have a full time lawyer on staff. Several of the lawsuits filed by Hansen alleged defamation by various insurance companies.
In recent years, Hansen has gone directly to Oregon Legislature to protect consumers from illegal steering practices. In 2005 Hansen founded a consumer-focused political action committee, Oregonians for Safe Auto Repair (OSAR) to push for legislative changes. In June 2007, OSAR was successful in passing Oregon Senate Bill 523-A. On June 20, 2007 Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, signed the bill. On January 1. 2008, Senate Bill 523-A will officially become Oregon law. [1] The law requires insurance companies to inform consumers that they have the legal right to choose where their vehicle is repaired. Under the law, insurance companies must inform consumers of their rights prior to making a recommendation for a repair provider. The law also prevents insurance companies from limiting reimbursement when consumers choose a repair provider without a referral from the insurance company.[[2]] The law gained the support of Oregon's Attorney General, the State's Consumer Fraud Protection Department and The Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. OSAR members are planning future legislative efforts in 2008 and 2009 in an effort to combat industry-wide anti-steering practices on the part of many auto insurance providers doing business in Oregon.
