Insurance survey shows there's much work to do

A survey undertaken by Australasian Paint & Panel looking at repairers' relationships with insurers has revealed that there is much to be done to improve the way the two groups work together.

Quoting and tendering, along with steering, ranked as large concerns from repairers when asked about their dealings with insurance companies.

In terms of working with insurers, NRMA Insurance and AAMI fared worst while Allianz, Lumley & General and Zurich appeared to be the easiest insurers to work with.

However, AAMI fares best of the insurers when it came to satisfaction with payment times. Two thirds of repairers who responded to the question were positive about AAMI's payment regime.

NRMA also fared well with satisfaction on payments with almost half the respondents feeling positive about the way the insurer makes its payments.

When asked about the satisfaction regarding the lodgment of claims, 55 per cent of repairers were dissatisfied with NRMA Insurance, 49 per cent with Just Car, 46 per cent with APIA and 44 per cent unhappy with AAMI.

When dealing face to face with insurers, NRMA Insurance again fared poorly with 57 per cent of respondents unhappy with their dealings with the insurers' representatives. The same applied for AAMI with 49 per cent of repairers not happy with their face to face dealings.

When looking at realistic times and rates, the ledger was in the negative for almost all the insurers. Lumley & General and Zurich were the only companies to post a positive response when it comes to dealing with repairers in RTAR.

The survey also showed that repairers believe assessors for NRMA, AAMI, CGU, Just Car, APIA, Bingle and Budget lacked knowledge on returning vehicles to pre-accident condition and lacked knowledge on the actual times taken to repair a vehicle.

A diverse range of comments was provided by some respondents to the survey which included:

"Two quote/tendering is sending me broke. Aftermarket parts are now commonplace with IAG tendering with assessors turning blind eye, averting responsibility by not placing anything in writing. I am now hating the daily struggle to stay in business whilst the insurers drive down the cost of repairs."

"Working with the insurance industry can be painful. Their aim is to get as much as possible in and give as little as possible out, that's what their business comes down to. This mentality can put pressure on your business and quality of work which is unfortunate as this is basically what the whole business should be about, returning the customer's car to them in the same condition as it was prior to the accident - and nothing less - and being paid accordingly."

"At present, it is a logistical balancing act to try and satisfy the insurers request for exchange/aftermarket and secondhand inferior parts. Most of these parts are returned costing the repairer and the customer time and money. Most of these requests do not take into consideration the age or condition of the vehicle and are only based on the cost saving to the insurer."

"There should be one, across the board time and rate for all insurance comanies - for the ease of paperwork for us (repairers). Too many people know so little about claims processes."

"When all insurance companies have real time and rates they will use this against us and lower the cost and quality of repairs, which will see more panel shops go to the wall."

A full analysis and all the comments can be viewed on the Paint & Panel web site www.paintandpanel.com.au