Money-losing ICBC seeks savings by ranking auto repair shops
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2020 20:24:47 +0000
Auto collision and glass repair shops will soon be subject to an ICBC ranking system, an initiative that B.C.’s public auto insurance agency says will “generate savings and promote high-performing shops to serve drivers better.”
ICBC says repair shops will be ranked by performance based on various metrics and the rankings will placed on ICBC’s shop-locator webpage.
The new collision program will take effect Feb. 3, 2020, and the new glass program will take effect March 2, 2020.
Attorney general David Eby says the rankings will enable drivers to make informed decisions and encourage shops to be top performers.
“After consulting with industry leaders, the redesign of the collision and glass repair programs will improve transparency and accountability of repair shops for drivers who get into accidents and need to choose which repair shop they go to,” Eby said in a release.. “By publicly ranking the repair shops by performance, where repair shops strive to be the top performers, we expect that this will help curb some of the rising claims costs and pressures that ICBC is facing.”
ICBC, which has last almost $2.5 billion over the past two years, largely due to rising claims costs and legal fees, says the savings will be found from improved performance along with faster processing of claims, faster repair cycle times and greater autonomy for high-performing suppliers.
Glass repair shops will be encouraged to repair windshields instead of replacing them, when possible.
“In many cases, a small crack or chip in a windshield can be repaired instead of replacing the entire windshield. ICBC’s comprehensive coverage for private passenger vehicles allows customers to have their windshield chip repaired for free with no deductible,” ICBC said in a release.
ICBC says the changes to the glass and collision repair programs were developed after more than a year of consultation with industry and come after government launched an operational audit of ICBC, which resulted in recommendations on ways to improve management of material damage vendors.