January 2021 Crash Repair: the Relationship between Insurers and Repair Channels Webinar

This webinar reported on the next phase of our research into the crash repair sector, focusing on the critical role played by motor insurers, and how this varies between different markets.  This included the extent to which they determine repairer choice, the selection of repair parts, and the setting of labour hour pricing.  The quality of the insurer-repairer relationship also varies widely within and between markets.  Customers tend to choose motor insurance largely on price, but here again there are significant variations between markets, influenced by the role of traditional brokers and the influence of price comparison websites.  As a result, in most markets, motor insurance is only marginally profitable, often a loss leader for other insurance classes.

We have spoken to a number of major insurers in European markets to better understand their perspective on topics such as their response to the market decline that we project over the next decade, their attitudes to the technology change in vehicles and repairers, and how they are responding as a business to the pressures and competition within the sector.  Their responses include the leverage of connected cars, introducing more digitalisation into their own processes with customers and repairers, and changing the nature of the relationship with their partners in the repair supply chain.  We have also explored their views on the possible relationship between the structure of the motor insurance market and the structure of body repairers in each market in order to update our Insurer Influence Index.

The presentation shown can be downloaded below, speaking notes have been added; there is also a video of the webinar.