Farmers Insurance Wins NABC Award �����������

creasing the severity of an impact, in terms of impact force, increases the amount of damage to a vehicle, and increasing the severity of an impact, also in terms of impact force, increases the risk of injury to the vehicle’s occupants.

According to a survey by Workplace.com, 37% of U.S. employees will be working remotely in 2022, according to Gotsch’s data, with between 29% to 39% of the time spent working in the U.S. possibly done remotely, with 22% of employees able to work remotely three to five days per week without affecting productivity.

With potentially fewer people on the road during rush hour, congestion levels may remain lower, and some of the auto claim trends experienced during the pandemic may become more permanent. Overall miles driven and trips taken might not see a significant decline, but more telework would still lead to fewer rush-hour trips, less congestion in urban areas and freer movement of remaining traffic.

This is important because the variable shown to be most highly correlated to vehicle accident frequency is a large number of vehicles on the same road at the same time— i.e., congestion typical of morning and evening rush hour traffic.

So, with miles driven recovering, but fewer during historic peak rush hour times, does automotive claims data suggest different driving patterns will continue in 2022 and beyond? Overall claim counts including comprehensive losses were up 9.6% in 2021 versus 2020, while non-comprehensive losses were up 10.2%.

The acceleration of repair costs is always a major issue for body shops nationwide. Gotsch’s report said in 2021, the industry experienced a much larger increase in repairable claim costs than in prior years. The average total cost of repairs overall for all repairable appraisals was $3,708, up 8% from 2020 and up 14% from 2019.

Growth in the average number of parts replaced per claim as well as more labor hours per claim largely account for the rise in repair costs. Increasing vehicle complexity—both in terms of the materials used in the construction of the vehicles, as well as an increased number of standard options—are helping to lift costs.

The distribution of repair cost dollars has changed little over the last 20+ years, the timeframe in which CCC tracked this information. In 2021, the increase in both the share of overall dollars spent on replacement parts and sublet/miscellaneous operations continued. The average price paid per replacement part had historically experienced only moderate increases at an aggregate level. However, supply chain issues in 2021 drove prices up sharply.

At the close of 2021, the industry’s share of replacement part dollars was split at 64.4% OEM versus 35.6% non-OEM. Between 2001 and 2021, the average number of replacement parts per non-comprehensive appraisals increased from 5.1 parts to 9.1 parts for driveable vehicles; from 18 parts to 22.3 parts for non-driveable vehicles; and from 8.0 parts to 12.1 parts for the combined driveable and non-driveable claims.

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The National Auto Body Council (NABC) President’s Award is designed to honor the NABC member company that supports the vision of the NABC through donation of its time and resources. For 2021, the NABC President’s Award was presented to Farmers Insurance, selected by a vote of the NABC Board members.

The Farmers Insurance nomination received overwhelming support from the NABC Board based on Farmers strong commitment to the NABC. Throughout 2021, Farmers Insurance assisted with the gifting of nearly 30 NABC Recycled Rides vehicles, and provided its staff with the time and resources to act as chairman of the NABC Fundraising committee and support NABC activities.In addition to presenting Farmers with the NABC Presidents Award, the NABC will make contributions to two organizations in the recipient’s honor— one selected by NABC and one by Farmers.

Source: NABC

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