The latest Trend Tracker monthly report has revealed that repair volumes in September were six per cent down on the same month last year and 11% below 2019 levels.
Although slightly up on August volumes, there were still more than 8,000 fewer repair jobs carried out in the month compared to 12 months ago.
Possible contributing factors, which will be examined further in the upcoming Annual Trend Tracker report, include higher excesses reducing low damage claims, an older car parc which has a lower frequency statistically, and the impact of lower car sales in previous years playing through.
The report also suggested that higher total loss ratios have negatively impacted repair claims volumes, as well an increasing number of BEV’s in the UK car par, which are written off at a younger age than ICE models.
Meanwhile, the report found that repair costs increased during the month at a rate higher than inflation, while capacity was up as a result of a combination of factors. These include cycle times improving to their best rate in three years, a number of industry acquisitions through the year as well as new sites and expansions.
