New pre-repair program could be in place by 2016: CCIF

The hope is that by next January there will be a pre-repair program in place “with a significant number of insurers that starts to simplify the process for getting the (collision) repair started,” Larry Jefferies, chairman of the Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF), said Friday during CCIF’s meeting in Toronto.

Characterizing the goal as aggressive, but achievable, Jefferies told the record crowd that “I don’t know of anywhere else in North America, for sure, maybe even the world, where this type of meeting has happened with the simple focus of how do we make things better for all stakeholders.”

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The project involves looking at improving the pre-repair process, the point from which the accident is first reported through to the point where the damage appraisal is done and repairers have the green light to move forward.

The idea is if every claim from every insurer is submitted in generally the same format – displaying the same basic information – significant improvements could be realized that would benefit all concerned. Program objectives are as follows:

• keys to cash repair time – reduce overall repair time by one day;

• non-productive labour costs as a percentage of sales (from a repairer perspective) – reduced by 10%;

• NPS (net promoter score) for insurers – improved by 10%; and

• rental cars days – reduced by one day.

Jefferies relayed that the genesis of the project was a panel discussion in Vancouver last May. Among the topics discussed were challenges with the insurer/repairer relationship relating to communication, the complexity of repair shops having to deal with multiple partners, increased overhead and the burden this places on repairers, and the importance of focusing more on the insured and his or her customer satisfaction.

Related: New View of Collision Repair

Following the Vancouver meeting, Jefferies noted the majority of insurers in Canada that sell auto insurance were invited to discuss the issues. With 11 companies (and 17 representatives) attending, he said one of the questions asked of repairers was: “‘If we do actually come together to harmonize some of our programs, especially on the pre-repair side of things, how do we know that we have the committed support of the repairers?’”

390 delegates here @ Canadian Collision Industry Forum #CCIFToronto — Larry Jefferies, CCIF Chairman opens the agenda pic.twitter.com/mYbPsn3uii

— Steve Wilson (@InsuranceMedia) January 30, 2015

Jefferies pointed out that the Automotive Industries Association of Canada’s (AIA) collision council – which supports the effort – includes membership from almost every major network or company-owned chain of collision repair stores in the country. Council members account for 800-plus repairers that produce 50% of the country’s collision damage repairs today, he added.

Related: Canadian Collision Industry Forum speakers urge insurers to reduce complexity of auto claims

With the commitment of repairers to move forward, Jefferies told attendees, the next steps will be to clearly define the scope of the program, AIA will engage a third-party facilitator to manage the product, and work will continue to have implemented the initial program with insurers and repairers in 2015.

“The other thing we told the insurance industry that attended was the cost and the heavy lifting of this program is fully funded through the Automotive Industries Association, so all we need is their support; we don’t need their money,” he said.

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