By Judy Newman
Business Reporter

   If your car's windshield cracks, you may be directed toward a specific company to get the glass replaced if your vehicle is insured by American Family Insurance Group.

    But several state legislators are raising questions about the program American Family initiated this summer with Safelite Class Corp., of Columbus, Ohio, making Safelite the auto glass program administrator for the Madison insurance firm.

   The state insurance commissioner's office says although it's seeking more information, the arrangement appears legal.

   "They can have a preferred program as long as they don't require people to go there," said Susan Ezalarab, director of the bureau of market regulation.

   But another auto glass company is irked.

   "It's a competitive business. We don't want to lose business," said Paul Spira, director of marketing, for Auto Glass Specialists, of' Madison.

   Since August, when a Wisconsin policyholder calls an American Family agent to report a broken windshield, the customer is connected to Safelite's toll-free number. A customer who does not request a specific glass company will be referred to a Safelite store or one of' its "approved installation stores."

   Under the deal, customers pay only their policy's deductible, said Fred Zweifel, American Family physical damage claim director.

   If other glass shops do the work and it costs more than the price determined by a company survey, customers may be asked to pay the difference, he said.

   American Family, the largest auto insurer in Wisconsin, wanted to reduce the cost of glass claims, Zweifel said. "What we eventually hope will be the case is, it may have a positive effect on premiums customers pay."

   But Rep. Mary Hubler, D-Rice Lake, has written a letter to the insurance commissioner's office saying she is concerned that the deal shifts business to an out-of-state firm and does not always offer closer, local alternatives in northern Wisconsin.

   Safelite has four stores in Wisconsin, including one opened this month in Madison. It also has 12 mobile repair technicians stationed around the state, said Bill McCormack, market manager in Pewaukee.

   "And there's going to be more," he said.

   That's where Auto Glass Specialists is concerned, Spira said. While his company's 28 Wisconsin shops are among Safelite's 6,000 approved installation centers nationwide, "the opportunity to steer business is there, so, of course, we're concerned about it," he said.

   American Family chose Safelite to provide nationwide service for its policyholders, Zweifel said. And a survey showed more than 80 percent of the company's customers already were using Safelite's network.

   The state's No. 2 auto insurer, State Farm Mutual Insurance, uses a different system for auto glass claims. It offers a price structure to glass shops; if they agree, their names go on a list of' companies offered to customers, spokesman Dave Hurst said in Bloomington, Ill.

   For policyholders who want to use a shop that's not on the list, the company gets a competing bid from a nearby shop and the customer is asked to patronize the low bidder or pay the difference.