SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 5, 2015) - Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) claims and Collision Repair industries, today announced the availability of its Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the first quarter of 2015. The report identifies and examines the latest trends in the industry, while comparing current market data to old figures to assist P&C insurance carriers and payers, bill reviewers, and auto body repair shops make better business decisions in 2015.
The ITR is delivered in two editions to address timely concerns for the auto physical damage and casualty industries.
The Auto Physical Damage edition
The recent economic growth in the U.S. has had an impact on a variety of areas within the industry, most notable in the increase of auto sales from each region. However, in this report, Greg Horn, VP of industry relations at Mitchell, outlines other areas that have seen the effects of a shifting economic status.
"There were a significant number of events in 2014 capable of affecting the prices of both OEM and alternate parts," said Greg Horn. "Interestingly, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the Taiwan New Dollar (the key currency for most aftermarket parts) did not have the same impact. In this instance, the index rose at the same time the U.S. dollar strengthened. I believe this is due to the increase in the selection of 'premium' aftermarket parts by insurers and collision repairers."
In addition to this analysis and trends discussion, readers will also find data concerning the average length of vehicle rental, as well as new privacy principles for personal vehicle data.
The Casualty edition
The Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industry faces many challenges, ranging from rising operating costs to an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Additionally, Bodily Injury (BI) claims payments are increasing faster than other lines of coverage, particularly for third party claims.
In this edition of the ITR, Chris Williamson, product manager for the Auto Casualty Solutions division at Mitchell, dives into these challenges and addresses the evolution of BI payments and claims. "Over the past few years, BI payments have increased at a significantly higher rate than Personal Injury Protection claims," said Williamson. "Third party claims also impact adjusters, who may struggle with the volume of claims, along with performing negotiations. Across the industry, adjusters rely on a number of tools in addition to their own experience in negotiating bodily injury settlements."
First published in April 2001, Mitchell's ITR now reaches more than 33,000 collision and casualty industry professionals and provides meaningful visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C market. The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.
For further collision repair and property casualty industry updates and perspectives, follow Mitchell on Twitter @MitchellClaims and @MitchellRepair.
About Mitchell International
Mitchell is uniquely positioned to simplify, enhance and accelerate claims handling processes across the P&C industry through deep workflow solutions that include unparalleled access to data, advanced analytics and decision support tools. Our expert workflow and adjusting solutions advance the claims management process by enabling automotive physical damage, bodily injury and workers' compensation clients to process claims more accurately, consistently, and cost-effectively.
Mitchell's solutions provide an expert level of decision support and connectivity within the claims organization and with industry partners to achieve optimal outcomes. Mitchell's comprehensive solution portfolio and robust SaaS infrastructure enables tens of millions of electronic transactions to be processed each month for over 300 insurance companies, including the majority of the top 25 insurance carriers, and over 30,000 collision repair facilities. With an expanding global footprint, Mitchell products are currently utilized in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Mitchell is headquartered in San Diego, California, and has approximately 2,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.mitchell.com.