Because Audatex allows slightly more for paint and sundries on some, but by no means all estimated jobs, it appears that many insurers have now made it their policy to take a discount of up to 25% off the calculated paint and material cost.

 

The paint and materials calculations contained in Audatex are arrived at using the AZT paint calculation system, which has become the leading international standard for manufacturer independent calculation of paint jobs. This provides a definitive guide to the actual amount of paint and other materials needed to complete the job to an acceptable quality standard.

 

By applying an arbitrary discount, of say 25%, an insurer is effectively asking the repairer to do a job with only 75% of the paint and material actually required, something that clearly has to impact on repair quality and would bring into question many paint guarantees.

 

The worrying issue is that bodyshops are reporting that insurers are applying this discount across the board, even on third party jobs. If a bodyshop has agreed to offer a discount to an insurer as part of an approved repair agreement, that is a separate issue. Otherwise bodyshops are under absolutely no obligation to offer any paint and material discounts at all.

 

It appears that these discounts have slipped under the radar of some bodyshops in their haste to secure work and it might not be until they review job profitability that they realise they have a serious issue.

 

Going forward, bodyshops need to take a stand, be ultra-vigilant when it comes to agreeing paint and material allowances for jobs and avoid giving away unnecessary discount, especially on third party jobs. They should also make customers aware of such tactics, when required, as it appears in some instances that insurers have been more than a little underhand in implying that the customer’s choice of bodyshop is being "uncooperative”.

 

Insurers are certainly not flavour of the month with drivers at present, so it is perhaps up to bodyshops to get the driver onside. To do this is really just a question of stating the basic facts. You have an insurance company that is already putting up a customer’s premium, insisting that their car is repaired with only three quarters of the paint that it actually needs. There is simply no reason why a driver should accept this.