SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 4, 2014) - 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 2014. The latest ITR starts 2014 by providing crucial data to insurance carriers and payers, collision repair shops and other key constituents in the P&C market. Mitchell highlights its own proprietary data, along with JD Power data, to give insights into market drivers that affect how shops work and interact with customers, and outline how insurers can reduce inefficiencies within various business processes.
The Auto Physical Damage edition
Greg Horn, vice president of industry relations, examines labor rates in his feature article titled 'Do Lower Labor Rates Lead to More Repair?' He derives three main conclusions from all repairable first-party collision estimates on passenger cars in 2013 for all 50 states:
- Lower labor rates do not mean additional operations written on the estimate
- Lower labor rates do mean more panel repairing occurs
- Lower labor rates does not translate into additional refinish hours
"The discussion of disparity in labor rates is always very lively, and the analysis of data and my fact-based conclusions draws many responses from collision repairers," said Horn. "The data we look at represents labor rates from shops that do and do not participate in Direct Repair Programs, so it provides a thorough glance at rates in various states."
Labor rates are valuable for shop billing and the statements are just one aspect of a shop's interactions with its customers. The overall experience, which typically encompasses service delivery, shop quality and service, and communications regarding a repair, has an impact on a shop's overall reputation. The bonus article, by Brian Doyle, customer experience product manager for Mitchell's Auto Physical Damage Solutions, discusses the importance of a shop's Net Promoter Score and how to effectively gauge customer loyalty.
The Casualty edition
"A new year tends to bring renewed focus on improved processes, ensuring property and casualty insurers are set up for success, and all possible inefficiencies are reduced," said Shahin Hatamian, vice president of product management and strategy for Mitchell's Casualty Solutions. "Our feature article hones in on the benefits of an integrated Claims system, which combines the needed point solutions with a core system. It's a crucial, yet often overlooked, aspect of a company's business processes."
The Casualty feature article dives deeper into Claims integration, looking at the benefits of an end-to-end solution that follows the claim from First Notice of Loss (FNOL) to resolution and closure. Integrating vital point solutions, such as medical bill review, with the core claims system helps address any inefficiencies and brings expertise found in point solutions in alignment with the larger claims system. This gives an adjuster insight into the entire claim at a single glance. Specific benefits discussed include improved customer experience, decreased IT maintenance cost from managing multiple systems and improved business workflow.
To further assist insurers, the ITR's Casualty Compliance Corner highlights recent changes in the regulatory compliance needs, across specific states and market changes. One key transformation outlined in the report is the switch to Claim Adjustment Reason Codes (CARC), which went into effect November 1, 2013. The new codes bring consistency across the P&C industry, so that payers and insurers can accurately bill claim adjustments.
Mitchell's quarterly publication has served the auto physical damage and casualty industries for more than a decade and provides deep visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C market. The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report. First published in April 2001, Mitchell's ITR now reaches more than 33,000 collision and casualty industry professionals.
Mitchell also offers a webinar, Industry Trends Live, on the Auto Physical Damage edition of the report. Greg Horn will provide a deeper look into the trends, information and studies highlighted in this quarter's ITR on Wednesday, February 5th. To sign up for webinar, visit http://go.mitchell.com/register.
For continuous collision repair and property casualty industry updates and perspectives, follow Mitchell on Twitter @MitchellClaims and @MitchellRepair.
About Mitchell
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 2,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.mitchell.com.