Page 6 - Australasian Paint & Panel magazine Jul-Aug 2021
P. 6

                                       Editorial
      6
                                                                                                  PAINT&PANEL
JULY / AUGUST 2021
WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
    EDITOR
Sam Street (02) 9213 8334 samstreet@yaffa.com.au
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
JUST
  Lynette Rochford (02) 9213 8331 0407 241 554 lynetterochford@yaffa.com.au
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
     Michelle Carniero (02) 9213 8219 michellecarneiro@yaffa.com.au
PUBLISHER
Tracy Yaffa
MARKETING MANAGER
Lucy Yaffa
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Matthew Gunn
ART DIRECTOR
Ana Heraud
STUDIO MANAGER
Lauren Esdaile
DESIGNER
Stéphanie Blandin de Chalain
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Member Circulations Audit Board
SAY NO
     I
 T HAS BEEN AN INTERESTING
 few months in terms of what is happening in the industry and out on the roads. Recent lockdowns aside, people are driving more, and avoiding public transport. Unable to hol- iday overseas, and reluctant to fly, they are driving to their domestic holiday destinations. Throw in the skills short- age - which is blowing out cycle times - complexity of repairs, ADAS-equipped cars, parts prices and the troubled sup- ply chain - and we have a capacity issue
as well as a sustainability issue.
What I’m suggesting is that there hasn’t been a better time in recent years to politely say no to insurers. If AMA Group with all its economies of scale and immense buying power can’t make a profit - and in fact makes a staggering loss - on the fixed price agreement con- tracts, then independents will find it that much harder. I know that some do make it work, but it surely is tricky and it takes some serious juggling to make
any money.
Cars cost a lot more to repair than
when those now prehistoric agreements were conceived. Sophisticated parts like intelligent headlights are increasingly fitted to mass market cars and the cost of replacing them could be enough for insurers to have to total loss a brand new car. What is the answer? Well, it seems blindingly obvious to me - insur- ance premiums have to go up. I know it’s a cut throat, competitive market for the insurers but we hit rock bottom on how much they can squeeze repairers to do more for less, and that was a while ago. And then they started to dig.
An insurance assessor says you don’t need to carry out an aspect of the repair that you know is necessary? Just politely say no, that you are unable to undertake
that repair and perhaps they could take the vehicle elsewhere. An insurance as- sessor cuts your quote back to where you barely break even on the repair - just politely say no thank you. What is the point of your opening your doors and investing in all the training and equipment needed to safely repair vehi- cles if you don’t make a fair profit? I hear so many stories repair shops being pun- ished if they do say no by not sending them any work, and it is this stick that has given insurers such immense influ- ence over the industry. On the other hand, I have heard of many good repair- ers who have said no and then the in- surer has come back to them because the other repairer who agreed to do it cheaper doesn’t carry out the repairs to the same quality and offers an inferior customer experience. They end up with a bunch of very unhappy policy holders who will vote with their feet at renewal time.
If Australia can’t holiday overseas and current behaviours continue, the capac- ity issue is only going to get worse. If you won’t do the repair, can the shop up the road who might be booked out for two months in advance do it in the time frame a policy holder would expect?
With all of the accident avoidance systems fitted to cars we are looking at fewer accidents and where there are ac- cidents, decreased severity (excluding ’roo hits). Insurers need to educate drivers about why ADAS-equipped cars cost more to repair, because their poli- cies towards repairers stopped being sustainable quite some time ago.
Sam Street – Editor
      Find out more about the creation of North Shore Bodyshop in partnership with Lowbake on page 44.
    












































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