Sharing Information

Our feature article this month lays out the facts currently available about non-deployed airbags from salvage vehicles. This is definitely a topic that will continue to come up, and one from which insurers and shop owners will continue to shy away.

Information sharing is expected at every CIC, and topics for discussion often come from the Industry Discussions Committee. At the next CIC, scheduled for July 23 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the Industry Discussions Committee is planning a presentation on the issue of consumer notification and consent regarding the types of parts (OEM, non-OEM, used) to be used in a repair.

Several other committees will be facing the issues raised by the increasing use of desk or remote audits by third parties.

CIECA’s efforts to get everyone on the same page, electronic-communication-speaking, continue to be praiseworthy. The INSIGHT staff is eagerly awaiting the results of CIECA’s new logo contest and the news out of CIECA’s inaugural conference in Orlando this month.

INSIGHT would very much like to get some more detailed information from Progressive Insurance about the national rollout of its Concierge program. The company’s announce-ment brought several questions to mind here at the office. For one thing, the word Concierge was missing from the announcement, and the program had no alternative name. Unfortunately, nobody at Progressive’s headquarters, just down the road from our office, seemed eager to share any further information.

While the press release stated that “The customer is kept informed about the status of the repair throughout the process,” one may well ponder the need for more information sharing with shop owners up front.

Sharing information on an international level is the mission of the International Bodyshop Industry Symposium (IBIS), the brainchild of Chris Mann, publisher of Bodyshop Magazine in the UK. If staying in a palace in Switzerland in June AND hearing from industry experts from twenty key world markets sounds appealing, read how to register for the meeting on the back page of this issue.