The latest data from ARC360 Associate Partner Trend Tracker has revealed that repair costs in April were up 4.7% on the same month last year, while repair volumes showed a 13% increase – although they remain just below levels seen in April 2019 (97%).
The data also found that cycle times in April were 14% down on April 2023, with lead times and key-to-key times down by 12%.
Paul Sell, Trend Tracker Director, said, “In March there was much debate across the industry about the fall in repair estimate volumes, raising many questions about the price of insurance, higher excess levels, increase in retail repairs under excess levels, increased write-off thresholds and the number of new sites in the sector since the start of the year.
“Despite all this, April has seen an increase in repair estimate volumes. This could be as a result of how the bank holidays fell at the end of March so not something to react to but promising for all those operating in the sector and pointing more to excess capacity than reducing demand impacting the market.”
The report also highlighted the lack of availability of skilled staff, and suggested that the one per cent growth in new car sales in April combined with stable volumes around used car sales could be an indicator that the market is getting ‘back to normal’.
Meanwhile, the sharp increase in insurance premiums recorded during 2023, which led to higher excesses, has slowed into 2024 and in some cases retreated.
ARC360-Trendtracker-May24
