Mitchell Releases Q4 2013 Industry Trends Report

Mitchell, a provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the property/casualty (P&C) claims and collision repair industries, announced the availability of its Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the fourth quarter of 2013. Providing analysis of alternate parts use and actual cash value trends in auto physical damage, along with education on eBilling and ePayment trends, technology solutions and implementation strategies, the latest ITR offers valuable data to insurance carriers and payers, collision repair centers and key constituents in the P&C market.

Mitchell Vice President of Industry Relations Greg Horn builds on the last ITR article that looked at the drivers of severity for repairable estimates. The Auto Physical Damage edition of the report dives deeper into the model-specific data, analyzing whether vehicle age and the correlating increase of alternate parts availability affects repairable estimate cost.

“A look at the average repairable estimate cost for a three-year-old Camry shows a spike in the cost of the overall repair from 2010 onwards,” said Horn. “My first assumption was that the cost of the repair would be driven by more complex vehicles that have more expensive components.” Detailed analysis revealed that alternate parts use was found to keep costs down but continued to fluctuate while labor cost increased.

For the first time, the Mitchell ITR includes a section from J.D. Power that analyzes actual cash value trends for vehicles in the United States and Canada. They report that more lease trade-ins and gently used vehicles will enter the market, providing some relief to the high values seen in the used car market.

Healthcare regulations, at the federal and the state level, drive change in many areas including the electronic exchange of health information. As such, the newest casualty edition of the ITR focuses on beneficial technologies such as eBilling and ePayment, two solutions that allow P&C payers to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs. The feature article provides background on the regulatory landscape affecting eBilling, the benefits to P&C carriers and payers, and proper methods for electronic payment preparation and implementation.

A bonus article by Ryan North, senior director of Information Systems, highlights DevOps, emphasizing the importance of internal collaboration between product delivery and operations teams to ensure customers receive the best possible experience.

“DevOps breaks down barriers between DEV and OPS teams, reduces the friction between them and helps to ensure that the right value is delivered to customer quickly, sustainably and with the least amount of risk. Embracing mindsets like DevOps will lead to measurably better outcomes and customer delight – a goal that everyone can align with,” said North.

Mitchell’s quarterly publication has served the auto physical damage and casualty industries for more than a decade and provides visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C market.

The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.

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 December 4, 2013. To sign up for webinar, visit http://go.mitchell.com/register.

Source: Mitchell