I have read and understood the Motor Vehicle Insurance and Repair Industry Code of Conduct commencing 1 May 2017 and wish to lodge a Complaint in relation to the insurer’s failure to comply with its obligations under Clause 4.2 (c) in non-Event periods, consider estimates and commence assessor communication with the Repairer within (for the period commencing 1 July 2017, an average of five (5) working days per repairer from the system receipt of the repairer’s estimate subject to 4.2(d) and the reasonable availability of the vehicle and /or the customer’s availability.
The insurer is also breaching their obligations to section 6.1(a) of the code which states that insurers will ensure the estimation process is fair and transparent, but not assessing the vehicle and/or my estimate the process is not transparent or fair
The insurer caused delays by refusing or neglecting to assess my customer’s vehicle in a timely fashion because the assessor (i.e., the insurer) failed to conduct a motor vehicle assessment in less than 5 business days from the time I submitted the estimate and/or quote to the insurer, and the breach is that they failed to communicate with me on this matter within the 5 days stipulated within the Code.
I say the insurer should meet current industry practice for timeliness of vehicle assessments and the responsibility to communicate with me on all matters relevant to the timely assessment of the vehicle and critically feedback on their assessment of my estimate so the customer who selected me as their repairer are not disadvantage compared to the customer that may have selected the insurer's network repairer. I argue the five days is very generous from the time the estimate is submitted to the insurer and the time to assess and provide me with feedback so they job can proceed in an efficient manner (i.e., reasonable expectation for the insured/customer).
I am also concerned about the knock-on effects of assessment delays one being is that the customer now has a lower opinion regarding the quality, timeliness and efficiency of my repair work and repairers because of the delays. They are also becoming more discontent when they become aware that they are forced to wait so much longer than others that cave into pressure for them to have one of the insurers preferred repairers do the work.
I also wish to make the insurer aware that time is money and the extra administration incurred because of negotiating and following up on assessment delays outside the current industry practice period can cost me more than $45.00 per day. More concerning is the frustration the customer experiences and then vent on our business. Which, incidentally, also impacts adversely on their business brand.
The insurer needs to fufill it obligations to the code in reagards to current industry practice as per clause 4.2(a)(iv) and 6.1(a) of the code.