NRMA clashes with Tow Truck Authority

News

NRMA Insurance has inadvertently stepped into the political minefield that is the NSW Tow Truck Authority's Job Allocation Scheme (JAS). In a letter to its Preferred Smash Repairers (PSRs), dated January 30, NRMA states it intends to set up a 'Preferred Towing' operation from 1 February 2002 in parts of metropolitan Sydney.
Combined Towing and Kevin Waters Towing have entered into agreements with NRMA in relation to customer service and price. At the scene of an accident, these towing companies (and presumably others, were the scheme to get off the ground) would offer to contact NRMA teleclaims operators who would recommend an NRMA Preferred Smash Repairer.
In the letter, NRMA said it expected the number of tows to PSRs to increase. It also stated that it had set up the scheme after discussions with the Tow Truck Authority and that the Preferred Towing scheme would "complement" the Job Allocation Scheme, continuing even after the JAS had commenced.
Peter Anderson, Tow Truck Authority chairman and former NSW Police Minister, claimed this was not the case. "The discussions we had with NRMA were about other issues. The TTA had no involvement with this concept [the NRMA Preferred Towing scheme]," he said. "Furthermore, this system will not alter the JAS. Whatever they are doing needs to comply with the relevant Acts and regulations, will anyway be superceded by the JAS and will not complement it," he added.
Anderson said he expected the JAS, which is a central control centre designed to allocate jobs to towing companies, to commence under test conditions by the beginning of May 2002. He would not commit to a start date for the full system, which was originally promised to start in July 1999.
The JAS was conceived to try and halt increasing violence in the industry, which culminated in the murder of Sydney tow truck driver Albert Brikha in February 1998. It is also hoped that the system will eliminate 'drop fees' paid out by bodyshops to towing firms for business.
NRMA Insurance corporate affairs manager Wayne Burns confirmed that another letter would be sent out to PSRs, but denied the company was backing down from its original plan. "Peter Anderson contacted us with concerns that our repairers might think that the letter implied that the Tow Truck Authority had endorsed this scheme. We are quite happy to tell people that it is not endorsed by the TTA, and we will be writing to our PSRs to tell them this and update them on how the scheme is going."
Contrary to Anderson, who states that any arrangements by NRMA will be superceded by the JAS, Burns said Preferred Towing would continue under the JAS. "It has been designed to work within the JAS. The price of the service is set by us at the moment, but of course when the JAS starts the price will be set by legislation and the slots will also be determined by them."
The present system is 'Phase one' of the NRMA Preferred Towing scheme. Burns said that if it is a success, it may be rolled out across the rest of New South Wales. "If other towing operators approach us with proposals on service and price levels we will be open to negotiation," he said.