To celebrate Paint & Panel's 40th anniversary we're delving into the archives to look at what was making the news way back when - this time from 2005 when Sydney's repair community stood together and refused to repair cars for IAG.
News Extra 1 September 2005
Repairers and IAG clash head to head
While the partial strike by NSW IAG repairers has bruised both NRMA Insurance and their preferred smash repairers(PSRs),there is far more to the conflict than a dispute over new PSR contracts.
Repairers in NSW have been spoiling for a fight with IAG for some time. After they lost the case mounted against NRMA Insurance by the Australian Automotive Repairers Association (AARA) which was funded from the repairers own pockets at considerable sacrifice, and an appeal has since failed to materialise, the repairers were ready to take direct action. All they needed was a catalyst ? and the combination of NRMA Insurance online tendering and the new PSR contracts provided it.
The movement against NRMA Insurance has been given additional impetus by the formation of the NSW 'Country North Vehicle Repairers Association Inc'(CNVRA) which, under the leadership of militant repairer John Jackson, has come out of left field like a steam train. The Newcastle and Wollongong areas have always been known for standing up for repairers' rights and this time they have organised themselves into a fighting force second to none. The reason the CNVRA was formed was that the local repairers wanted more action than the normally quiet Motor Traders Association (MTA) was giving them.
Seeing the CNVRA coming over the hill like a tribe of Indian war braves, the MTA leaders were in danger of losing control of the war. Now the two forces have joined, and have set about hammering NRMA Insurance not only with mounting refusal to carry out NRMA repair work but with public rallies, newspaper advertisements and an electronic media barrage.
Sydney radio's number one stirrer, Alan Jones, has come out on the side of the repairers and has given NRMA's Rick Jackson plenty of on-air stick, supported by leading repairer Richard Nathan and Victoria's Gerry Raleigh. To give him his due, Jackson was not given a chance by Jones to put NRMA's side of the story but was shouted down by Jones when ever he began to talk.
Apart from the public shows of defiance, the MTA has been busy galvanising support from repairers to block NRMA insurance repairs. Both sides are presenting figures claiming a growing advantage. And there is disagreement over what market share IAG has in NSW. The insurer says 52 per cent and the repairers say over 70 per cent.
While the CNVRA has been holding gatherings of its supporting repairers in its geographical territory, the MTA has been doing the same thing in Sydney suburbs.
Both bodies have concentrated on two areas: to discredit NRMA Insurance in the eyes of the public and to choke the repair line from NRMA Insurance to its PSRs.
THE REASON
Unfortunately for the repairers, it is difficult to explain the issues of the dispute to members of the public in terms they can easily understand. Holding a public rally and shouting through a megaphone about the onerous clauses of the PSR contract or why online tendering is unacceptable is just not practical. Even Alan Jones made the mistake of decrying the 'funny money' rate of $30.90, thinking it was a real hourly rate. He made a fool of himself on that point, but catching him out was, itself, too complex to get across.
So the repairers find themselves in the position of trying to force IAG to the negotiating table. The MTA says it will settle for nothing less than a meeting with the full IAG board. Until then, the protestors are not revealing their 'log of claims'. However, it appears that the repairers do not want to work under any kind of IAG contract; that they want the online tendering scheme dropped; that they want total freedom of choice of repairer for every policy holder; that they don't want their times judged on the NRMA times manual; that they want to separate labour costs from consumables costs; that they want all quotes to allow for a two per cent environmental levy; that they want to be paid for storing vehicles that turn out to be total losses; that they don't want to allow IAG sub-contractors in their panel shops; and they want a code of conduct to be agreed by all parties.
IAG'S COMMENT
David Brown, IAG's head of claims and assessing, said that no cars are being sent interstate for repair from Sydney, and denied reports of extensive delays during the repair process.
He said that only a handful of cars from Newcastle and the Central Coast had been sent to other parts of NSW and Melbourne to clear a backlog of damage compounded
by the severe storms earlier this year. He added that, after a major insured event like a severe hailstorm, it's not unusual for NRMA Insurance to utilise its
repair network to help get cars repaired quickly and safely.
"The amount of misinformation being distributed to the public is extremely concerning and it is hoped that positive discussions between NRMA Insurance and repairers would resume," Brown said.
"We are happy to meet at anytime with the MTA and repairers. We briefed the MTA NSW some months ago on the new system. Our last invitation to the MTA NSW was declined, however we remain open to future discussions."