Every aspect of the automotive aftermarket is being impacted by new technologies and safety systems within vehicles. Repairers need new skills and insurers need new products based on new parameters.
Here, ARC360 partners Entegral, Enterprise and Repairify share their thoughts on how the constant evolution of technology is impacting their sectors.
Entegral:
Automation within the modern vehicle is becoming more prevalent, from notifying your breakdown provider of changes to the car’s performance to understanding when an impact has occurred, where and potentially how severe.
Data collected from the car is instantly obtainable, which in turn leads to shorter claim length as the knowledge of the impact is already with the insurer. The data sent by connected cars is more accurate and more detailed;this allows insurance companies to better understand customers and their behaviour and, based on this information, offer products that are better suited to their needs, as well as more profitable.
In terms of the repair, the more information the car can give on the area impact – severity, and potential parts replacement – the better equipped the repairer is to pre-estimate and pre-order, so the customer is without their car for the shortest time possible.
Imagine if the vehicle could notify the insurer, the recovery agent (if undriveable), and the rental firm for an immediate mobility solution and the bodyshop which will carry out the repairs. Claim length and repair length would benefit from this exponentially.
The future vision is for the vehicle to notify al providers within the claim to create a repair journey that fits the customer’s needs.
Entegral provides this type of technology today and we work closely with the repair community constantly striving to improve connectivity, helping the industry work more fluently.
Enterprise:
Vehicle technology is helping to create a seamless, end-to-end digital claims experience for the customer, delivering fast and efficient service at a critical time, just after a collision.
Increasingly, new cars are built with in-vehicle technology that can detect accidents and collision damage and trigger alerts automatically. These automated notifications enable instant support for the driver, as the in-car data can be communicated through the appropriate claims routing and assists the customer in getting the service they need when they need it, be that roadside recovery, repair services or mobility.
Vehicle technology is leading to industry-wide discussions over data capture and which organisation is best placed to facilitate the first notification of loss communication with the driver; many manufacturers are keen to manage the claim directly and ensure repairs are put through their own bodyshop/dealership networks.
There’s also great interest in vehicle technology that improves the replacement car experience from all parts of the claims ecosystem, notably amongst breakdown assistance and insurance providers as well as bodyshops and dealerships.
Some bodyshops that see higher volumes of fast-repair business are supplementing their traditional daily rental or courtesy car solutions with what we term ‘automated rental’. This is where we locate a suitable vehicle at the bodyshop or on the street that customers can access with an app 24 hours a day, including out of office hours.
It means drivers can take the vehicle for just a few hours or days, which can help to avoid additional cost: for example, if someone lives in an area with resident parking restrictions. Our in-car technology enables drivers to book and access the vehicles directly 24/7 and can help provide extra mobility options at pinch points.
Naj Khan, National Sales Manager – Insurance, Manufacturer, Assistance & Dealership Division at Enterprise, said, “There is no doubt that as cars become more connected, the options available to enhance a driver’s experience will only increase.”
Repairify:
Vehicle technology is changing and changing quickly. When it comes to ADAS and autonomy, legislation is driving change in Europe and by 2025 all vehicles must have automatic braking and as such will have a camera, radar or lidar depending on the system.
As adoption of this technology accelerates, the independent aftermarket faces a significant challenge keeping up in terms of both skills and certification, and already there is a lack of awareness and understanding of what is required; less than five per cent of technicians within the automotive aftermarket are certified so it is critical that we support appropriate training.
Phil Peace, Managing Director (SVP) International, said, “We are there when the shop has a problem by guiding them through the process using 99% OE diagnostics equipment. We can log into the car remotely, scan the car, analyse fault codes and then hold the technician’s hand through the repair to make sure the car is repaired to its pre-collision state.
“For insurers, we provide the reassurance that if Repairify has been involved in the repair the vehicle scan has been completed by trained technicians using the most up-to-date OE equipment.”
Looking further ahead, Phil said, “We’re already seeing online updates on vehicles, and what we’ll see in the future is viral updates. This means that your car could automatically take updates from another vehicle of the same brand simply by parking alongside it.
“I think insurers might have to start insuring cars not just on the value but on the build specification – in other words, what has been fitted to the car and what might be added to it in the future.”
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