How can clever insurers save up to 50 percent on field estimating costs and at the same time have bodyshops paying over $3 million towards this savings? Read on.

The answer is by persuading over 100 bodyshops in the UK to purchase the new British Telecom Infomotion System which allows insurers to inspect and assess accident damage without ever leaving the office via digital TV.

I have mentioned this hi-tech system before, but now that I have seen it in operation I have actually ordered it for each of my bodyshops. Let me tell you about the concept as well as the system itself.

Firstly, it is a very high quality piece of digitized TV gear with a clarity of visual reproduction that allows the remote assessor to even see if the filament is broken in a headlamp bulb! Not to mention the smallest spot of rust! It is certainly as good as a physical inspection with the added benefit of zoom lenses that can blow up a picture way beyond the normal human eye.

Secondly, it can allow the "home office" adjuster to view from 14 to 20 vehicles per day, thus increasing his productivity by 100 or even 200 percent with the same high level of control over claims cost. Insurers using the system feel that 10 percent of accident damage might be better to have actual physical assessment - resulting in a very real cost savings.

Thirdly, it allows for a car to be inspected by the insurance carrier within minutes of its arriving at the bodyshop, while the owner is still present. This will be most impressive to the average punter who still thinks that bodyshops have just about risen to the technology of the crank telephone! The bodyshop operator is instructed by the remote adjuster/engineer exactly what to point his camera at, and on-the-spot decisions can be made regarding method of repair and cost.

Now the bad news: All this "improvement" is achieved NOT at the insurer’s expense but once again by the bodyshop. Clever, is it not? Insurers have conceded that they will pay the time cost of the calls over three expensive and special ISDN phone lines. This is very generous, but at $30,000 per unit plus installation and phone line rental costs this is still one of the most expensive pieces in the bodyshop.

Knowing then over these last many years just how tight a Scotsman I am, what made me lose my marbles and be first in the Scottish queue to order the system? Well, my gut feeling is that this is the one piece of new hi-tech equipment that will separate the men from the boys, and I feel that insurers will not be long in following the two or three front runners already committed to Infomotion.

This is once again a big risk, and it may not be the first time that I have got it wrong, but already there are signs of a division between those with and those without - Major League and Minor League. It is light years ahead of our existing video and fixed picture systems that we use with various estimating packages both in image quality and the ability to interact with the insurer.

The suppliers British Telecom talk about some savings to the bodyshop through faster go-ahead times and better courtesy car utilisation, but the real savings is that our investment aids the insurer in his cost reduction, which we feel will result in new business.