Page 16 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine July-August 2022

NEWS
16
PAINT&PANEL
JULY / AUGUST 2022
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
GOLD ACHIEVEMENTS
BRIEFS
LEFT:
SMART Repair Australia Rocklea team.
BELOW: Barry James Auto Body Repair Centre team.
BARRY JAMES AUTO BODY REPAIR
Centre, Ballarat, Paddington Prestige Smash Repairs in NSW and SMART Repair Australia, Rocklea, have been awarded the prestigious I-CAR Gold Class Collision status.
"I-CAR’s online Virtual Classroom sessions have allowed our team mem- bers to participate in regular training, which has resulted our company achiev- ing our Gold Class status in such a short period of time. The training was flexible
and self-paced, allowing our company to take advantage of COVID-19 lockdown periods,” said Glen James, owner of Bar- ry James Auto Body Repair Centre.
Greg Elliott, general manager of Smart Repair Australia said: “We have always been a big supporter of I-CAR training and with the constant increase in vehicle technology and value gained from professional development, it was an easy decision to join the Road to Gold Program.”
CONSUMER WIN
AN INSURER HAS UNSUCCESSFULLY
tried to write off a customer’s vehicle rather than pay the considerably larger fee to rectify the faulty repair work that they themselves appointed.
In 2013, a woman’s vehicle was dam- aged by hail which her motor vehicle insurer repaired in 2014. The substand- ard repair work done on the car caused the car damage and subsequent work is still needed to rectify it.
The insurer asserted that the car was worth far less than the cost of rectifying the faulty work. However, the insurer’s value of the vehicle was based on its market value in 2020 including the prob- lems it had endured, rather than market
value of the car as it was in 2014 and prior to the subsequent damage.
The owner of the vehicle refuted the insurer’s claims and placed a com- plaint.
A determination was made by the Australian Financial Complaints Au- thority that the insurer (IAG) should ac- cept the quoted amount from the policy holder’s choice of repairer and pay her $14,000 for the car plus $4000 as com- pensation for her and her advocate and expert witness, all as a cash settlement.
In the determination paper AFCA stated it felt the insurer has not acted fairly or reasonably in writing off the vehicle.
SUNCORP EXITS BANKING
It looks like Suncorp Bank could come up for sale.
David Berthon-Jones, of Aequitas Investment Partners, which has a shareholding in Suncorp, said several reasons existed for Suncorp to leave banking. “Banking is a scale game ... and Suncorp is just too small,” he said.
A review is underway for the sale which has been talked about for decades.
“Suncorp, from time to time, reviews its strategic alternatives in relation to all of its businesses and is currently doing so in respect of its banking operations,” a statement read.
Suncorp is said to be in talks with Bendigo and Adelaide Banks.
INSURERS WELCOME MVIS
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has welcomed the introduction of the Motor Vehicle Information Scheme (MVIS), which came into effect on July 1.
The MVIS will level the playing field for the automotive repair sector and promote fair competition says ICA.
ICA CEO Andrew Hall said: “As an industry that authorises around 1.4 million repairs annually, the vast majority of which are conducted by independent repairers, insurers are pleased to see the MVIS come into effect. It is critical that repairers have fair access to repair information to ensure a competitive repair sector.”
FLOOD COSTS SURGE
The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says more than $2 billon has already been paid to insurance customers impacted by the February-March floods.
This makes this year’s flood the second costliest extreme weather event in Australia’s history, passing 1974’s Cyclone Tracy and sitting only behind 1999’s Sydney Hailstorm, which caused insured losses of $5.57 billion (normalised to 2017 values).