With more than three decades of experience spanning the body shop, the insurance claims department, corporate training, catastrophe operations, litigation support and industry media, Felder brings an unusually complete perspective to the issues shaping modern automotive claims and repair. Her work examines not only how vehicles should be repaired and claims should be handled, but how people, organizations and systems arrive at the decisions that determine those outcomes.
She is the founder and CEO of Collision Hub, an automotive education and media organization created to connect the many sectors involved in collision repair and insurance claims. Through Collision Hub, Felder develops professional training, books, research papers, consumer resources, industry analysis and multimedia programming for collision repair businesses, insurance professionals, attorneys, educators and automotive organizations.
Her work has been read, viewed and used by professionals around the world. Collision Hub’s educational and media content has reached audiences in more than 48 countries and currently reaches more than one million unique users per month.
Felder is also the creator and host of Collision Coffee Talk, a weekly collision repair and auto insurance claims program that connects current events, court cases, insurer practices, repair decisions, emerging technology and business trends to the realities faced by shops, claims professionals and consumers. The program is distributed through YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major platforms.
Experience From Both Sides of the Claim
Felder’s understanding of collision repair began long before she entered the corporate insurance world.
She grew up in her family’s body shop, where she learned the business through direct participation in vehicle repair, refinishing, estimating and shop operations. Before completing high school, she had already worked inside the practical environment where repair decisions, customer expectations, insurer demands and financial realities collide.
That foundation later distinguished her throughout a long insurance career. Her insurance experience included claims handling, salvage, training, management, corporate consulting and field leadership. She also participated in catastrophe operations, including work associated with national disaster response.
This combination of repair-floor experience and insurance-company leadership allows Felder to evaluate disputes from perspectives that are often treated as opposing sides. She understands how a repairer builds a repair plan, how an adjuster evaluates a claim, how management systems influence employee behavior, how policy and procedure shape negotiations, and how those decisions may later be examined by regulators, attorneys, judges or juries.
Rather than reducing complex claim conflicts to simple arguments about who is right or wrong, her work looks at the architecture behind the outcome: what information was available, how it was presented, which assumptions influenced the decision, what procedures governed the process and whether the resulting judgment can be defended.
Education in Communication, Crisis Response and Human Behavior
Felder graduated with honors from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and an emphasis in crisis communications.
Her early professional experience included crisis-communications work involving Entergy Corporation and the United States Air Force. Her accomplishments during that period included an Armed Forces News Service Award and a letter of commendation from the Pentagon.
Her formal education in communication has been expanded by decades of applied study in claims behavior, persuasive communication, adult learning, workforce training and organizational decision-making. She has conducted extensive research into how employees learn, how claims professionals process information, how workplace systems influence behavior, and why technically knowledgeable people may still make incomplete or poorly supported decisions.
This work has led Felder to focus on a problem that is increasingly important across insurance and collision repair: the difference between having access to an answer and possessing the judgment necessary to apply it correctly.
Her training models are designed around comprehension, reasoning and practical application rather than passive information delivery. She teaches professionals to identify the real question, investigate the controlling facts, distinguish evidence from assumption, test their reasoning and communicate a conclusion that can withstand challenge.
Author and Industry Researcher
Felder writes extensively about automotive insurance claims, collision repair, professional judgment, consumer protection, negotiation and the changing nature of work.
Her books, manuals, papers and educational resources translate complex operational and legal concepts into systems that professionals can use in real files and real conversations. Her work is written for a broad audience that includes body shop owners, estimators, technicians, front-office personnel, adjusters, appraisers, managers, attorneys, expert witnesses, educators and consumers.
Among her published works is Argue Like a Lawyer, Think Like a Judge: How to Build Arguments for Insurance Claims That Get Results. The book teaches readers to separate advocacy from evaluation: to build a strong argument while also examining it from the perspective of the person responsible for making the decision. It draws on Felder’s experience in claims, communication, training and dispute resolution to help professionals present evidence more effectively, anticipate objections and improve the quality of their reasoning.
She is also the author of Total Loss Claim Handling: File Process & Standard Operating Procedures, a practical manual that helps collision repair businesses establish defensible processes for managing total-loss vehicles. The manual addresses documentation, insurer communications, fees, workflow control, vehicle release and the operational risks created when total-loss files are not managed consistently.
Her consumer-focused work includes I’ve Got a Problem with My Insurance Claim, a guide designed to help policyholders move beyond frustration and communicate a documented, actionable complaint through the appropriate insurance-regulatory process.
Felder’s broader research examines the evolution of claims departments, the behavioral design of claim workflows, the erosion of institutional knowledge, the use of artificial intelligence in professional decision-making and the widening gap between automated answers and accountable human judgment.
Her writing frequently challenges long-standing assumptions within both insurance and collision repair. Rather than repeating accepted industry positions, she examines the incentives, processes and evidence beneath them. That approach has made her work influential among professionals seeking a clearer understanding of why the claims system behaves as it does—and how it may be changing.
Media Leadership and Industry Influence
Felder was an early advocate for using digital media to expand access to collision repair education and industry information.
She founded Collision Hub in 2008 as a central network for participants throughout the collision repair ecosystem. The platform was designed to encourage communication among repairers, insurers, suppliers, educators, towing companies, glass professionals, rental companies and other stakeholders whose work affects the repair and claims process.
In 2016, Collision Hub expanded its media work through the launch of the Collision Hub News Network, described at the time as the collision repair industry’s first monthly video news magazine. Its programming covered estimating, body repair, refinishing, management, insurance claims, legal exposure and changing vehicle technology.
Today, Felder leads one of the industry’s most active independent content ecosystems. Her commentary and educational programming address include insurance claim handling, estimating, total loss, OEM repair procedures, ADAS and calibration, vehicle data, artificial intelligence, Right to Repair, diminished value, insurer-repairer relationships, shop liability, consumer protection and the business forces reshaping automotive repair.
Her weekly program, Collision Coffee Talk, is built around an ability to connect stories that may appear unrelated and reveal the larger operational or legal pattern behind them. Court filings, insurer announcements, technology developments, market changes and individual repair disputes become starting points for a deeper examination of how claims are being controlled, how liability is being transferred and how professionals should prepare.
Felder’s media style is direct, evidence-focused and intentionally independent. She is known for asking questions that organizations may prefer to avoid, challenging unsupported industry narratives and translating complicated developments into language professionals can use.
Training and Professional Education
For more than 30 years, Felder has taught claims reasoning, strategic communication, estimating, negotiation, customer interaction, leadership and business process to automotive professionals.
Her training has been delivered to collision repair businesses, insurance personnel, technical schools, associations, vendors and industry organizations.
Her courses are informed by a rare combination of disciplines:
- Hands-on collision repair and shop operations
- Insurance claims investigation and management
- Catastrophe response
- Adult learning and professional training
- Public relations and crisis communication
- Behavioral research
- Persuasive communication and negotiation
- Litigation preparation and evidentiary analysis
Felder’s educational philosophy is that professional competence cannot be measured solely by whether someone knows a rule, procedure or estimating operation. Competence is demonstrated by whether the person can recognize when the information applies, explain why it applies, document the supporting evidence and defend the resulting decision.
That philosophy has become increasingly significant as artificial intelligence and automated claim tools move deeper into estimating, valuation, workflow management and decision support. Felder’s work asks a central question: when the answer becomes easier and cheaper to obtain, who remains responsible for exercising judgment?
Litigation, Legal Strategy and Case Preparation
Felder regularly serves advisory, analytical and preparation roles for attorneys and prosecutors handling civil and criminal matters involving automobiles.
Her work may include helping legal teams understand collision repair practices, insurance claim workflows, estimating systems, repair documentation, total-loss handling, vehicle inspections, OEM procedures, post-repair liability, ADAS operations, claims-file reasoning and the professional standards that may apply to the conduct being examined.
She also assists with deposition preparation, case theory, document review, technical questioning and the translation of industry-specific processes into language that attorneys, judges and juries can understand.
Felder’s role is particularly valuable when a dispute crosses the boundaries between insurance, repair methodology, business practice and human decision-making. She can help identify the questions beneath the technical evidence:
- What did the professional know at the time?
- What should have been investigated?
- Which procedure or standard controlled the decision?
- Was the file properly documented?
- Did financial incentives alter the process?
- Was the stated reason for the decision consistent with the evidence?
- Could the decision be reasonably defended when it was made?
Her work in this area is grounded in professional analysis and case preparation. She is not an attorney and does not present herself as providing legal advice. Instead, she helps legal professionals understand the systems, practices, terminology and decision processes operating inside automotive claims and collision repair.
Awards and Recognition
Felder’s contributions to the automotive and collision repair industries have been recognized by numerous national organizations.
Her honors include:
- The Most Influential Women in the Collision Repair Industry Award
- The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association Impact Award
- The Society of Collision Repair Specialists Service Award
- Recognition as one of SEMA’s Top Four Executives Under 40
- The Hoskins Award
- An Armed Forces News Service Award
- Commendation from the Pentagon
Her industry service has also included board involvement with the Women’s Industry Network, support for technical education and career-development initiatives intended to introduce young people to opportunities within the automotive field.
Felder’s work has appeared through I-CAR and across numerous automotive, collision repair and OEM-related publications. She has been featured as an educator, commentator, program host and subject-matter resource on issues ranging from estimating and repair planning to customer communication, claims behavior and legal risk.
An Independent Voice in a Changing Industry
The collision repair and insurance claims professions are undergoing a fundamental transformation.
Modern vehicles are increasingly defined by sensors, software, connected data, advanced driver-assistance systems and manufacturer-specific repair requirements. Insurance claims are being influenced by automation, artificial intelligence, third-party technology platforms and increasingly centralized workflows. At the same time, experienced professionals are leaving the workforce, training time is shrinking and responsibility is becoming fragmented among people, systems and vendors.
Felder’s work is focused on what happens in that gap.
She studies the consequences created when an answer is generated without adequate investigation, when a procedure is cited without being understood, when an employee follows a workflow without recognizing an exception, or when technology influences a decision for which no individual appears willing to accept responsibility.
Her central position is that tools may change, but accountability does not disappear. Whether the decision involves an estimate, a total-loss valuation, a repair procedure, a coverage question, an inspection or the preservation of vehicle data, someone must still evaluate the evidence and exercise defensible professional judgment.
That principle connects Felder’s work as a trainer, writer, researcher, claims professional and litigation consultant.
She does not approach collision repair and insurance claims as separate industries. She treats them as parts of one decision-making system—one that ultimately affects vehicle safety, business survival, consumer trust and legal responsibility.
About Collision Hub
Collision Hub is an independent automotive education, media and professional-development organization founded by Kristen Felder.
Its work serves collision repair businesses, insurance claims professionals, appraisers, technicians, attorneys, educators, vendors and consumers. Through books, research papers, online courses, live training, consulting, podcasts, video programming and professional discussion groups, Collision Hub helps industry participants understand the forces influencing modern claims and repairs.
The organization’s mission is not simply to provide more information. It is to improve how professionals interpret information, communicate decisions and apply judgment in an increasingly complicated automotive environment.
Areas of Expertise
Kristen Felder’s principal areas of expertise include:
- Automotive insurance claims
- Collision repair operations
- Claims investigation and file handling
- Total-loss procedures
- Estimating and repair planning
- Claims behavior and decision architecture
- Adult learning and training development
- Persuasive communication
- Negotiation and dispute preparation
- Crisis communication
- Consumer claim education
- OEM repair procedures
- ADAS and calibration liability
- Repair documentation and evidence preservation
- Artificial intelligence in claims and repair workflows
- Litigation support and deposition preparation
- Organizational process and workforce performance
- Industry media, public relations and strategic communication
Professional Philosophy
Kristen Felder’s work is built around a straightforward principle:
The answer may be getting cheaper. Judgment is not.
Technology can locate a procedure, generate an estimate, calculate a value or recommend a decision. It cannot eliminate the professional responsibility to investigate the facts, understand the context, identify exceptions and explain why the final decision was reasonable.
Felder’s career has been devoted to helping professionals develop that capability—and to asking difficult questions when institutions replace judgment with process, speed or convenience.
She continues to write, teach, research and produce independent media from the position that informed professionals create safer repairs, stronger businesses, fairer claims and more accountable outcomes.