Page 18 - Australasian Paint & Panel Jul-Aug 2020

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News • In Focus
PAINT&PANEL JULY / AUGUST 2020
AUTO INDUSTRY CO-OP
AUTO INDUSTRY CO-OP IS GEARING UP TO DELIVER THE HOLY GRAIL OF PRODUCTS – AN INSURANCE CO-OPERATIVE OWNED BY THE INDUSTRY. SAM STREET MET UP WITH TWO OF THE CO-OP ARCHITECTS, REPAIRER TOD SARINA AND SOFTWARE SPECIALIST BUDDY MOWAD.
I
T’S BEEN ATTEMPTED BEFORE
but never come to fruition – an insurance product which offers consumers choice and repairers ‘realistic’ times with a fo- cus on OEM standard repairs using OEM parts. The passion that Mowad and Sa- rina have for the concept of creating a collective for anyone in the auto indus- try is obvious. The Auto Industry (AI) Co-op aims to offer motor, home and businesses insurance products in Aus-
tralia and New Zealand.
“The insurance companies are driving
processes and methods of repair and even mandating which parts to use. Re- pairers are losing control of key parts of their business. Consumer outcomes often fall short of what they should be – but what is the alternative in terms of them choosing another insurer?” Sarina says.
Mowad said: “Our industry needs to be stronger, safer and smarter. Repairers need to regain control of their customer relationships and of their business.”
Why do they think that AI will work where others have failed to get products to the starting gate? “No one has taken a co-op approach before. Each repairer who joins has a share in the co-op – they have skin in the game and, with a collective, it is in eve- ryone’s best interests for it to succeed.
“We want to bring the industry back to- gether – to reverse the ‘divide and con- quer’ strategy of the major insurers,” Sa- rina says. “We want to change the every man for himself philosophy to all the stakeholders win.”
AI has drafted a charter to ensure repair standards, fair pricing, and compliance with OH&S and other business standards such as training and upskilling. Members will be required to provide estimates that are based on real time real mon-
ey and are ‘fair and reasonable’. The estimates will be based on AI’s online OTM guide.
What if a repairer inflates the cost of repair or fails in the standards set by the co-op?
ABOVE: From left Buddy Mowad and Tod Sarina
“They would receive a warning and be ex- pected to rectify the breech of standards, if they are a second offender then they would be expelled from the Co-op and would lose the ability to repair cars cov- ered by co-op insurance products. If any- one dirties the sandpit they will have to leave.” Sarina said.
Entry into the co-op and access to one share will cost an annual fee of $1250 The AI collective will advertise the prod- uct, it will be predominantly up to the industry to recommend the policy to their customers.
What if a repairer inflates the cost of re- pair or fails in the standards set by the co- op? “They would receive a warning and be expected to rectify the breech of standards, if they are a second offender then they would be expelled from the Co-op and would lose the ability to repair cars covered by co-op insurance product,” Sarina said.
Entry into the co-op and access to one share will have an annual fee of $1250.
“This is an online only product and will have many advantages over conven- tional insurance policies. We don’t need a call centre because the customer will simply log the claim via the app or ring their co-op repairer to help them. Mem- bers can produce fair quotes, based on real times using OEM parts (where the car is under warranty) and not have the delays,” Mowad said.
“We have reached out to all the associa- tions we wish to work to collaboratively for better outcomes for the industry both in Australia and New Zealand,” Sarina
said. “We’ve had huge expressions of in- terest from dealer groups. We believe this approach to insurance and rais- ing industry standards will return pride to our craft.” The AI team is planning to launch the co-op in July. For more information visit
www.aicoop.com.au