Automotive repairs have been a hassle for consumers for many decades now, with most seeing the collision repair process as a timely and costly one. In recent years, the repair industry has experienced significant shifts and increases when it comes to costs. In the last decade alone, auto repair costs have surged by 49%, far outpacing the 31.7% increase observed in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) during the same time period.
Seeing the jump that’s occurred in recent years is putting pressure on auto body shops and insurance companies to take action and streamline workflows and collaboration by adopting innovative technologies -- enter AI.
Following an accident, the current claims and repair process has repairers and insurers spending significant amounts of time and money researching damage assessments and calculating estimates. Alleviating costly and complex processes is easier than you think with AI in the picture.
As the auto industry shifts towards a more tech-forward future, AI is essential for keeping up with such dramatic operational shifts and the pace of innovation. AI goes beyond updating your organization's tech stack but can make each step of a customer’s journey relatively seamless. From the moment an accident occurs to the vehicle return, AI can save time and money every step of the way.
AI’s Impact at Every Step of the Customer Journey
Every vehicle owner knows that accidents can happen and is aware of the lengthy process that comes when they do occur. What drivers aren’t aware of is how AI can revolutionize the entire workflow at each touchpoint, from the moment an incident needs to be reported to their carrier.
In a situation where policyholders are used to waiting extended time periods for an adjuster or a tow truck to arrive, AI can help kickstart the process with only a mobile device. A natural first instinct following accidents is assessing the damage and taking photographs for the claims process. By uploading the images into a mobile app or through a browser, customers can get a highly accurate result on the total loss or repairable car decision within 30 seconds. Mobile apps and responsive platforms developed for claims purposes leverage cutting-edge AI and machine learning models to pull insights from a global database of more than 1.5 billion images to identify the type and severity of the damage in a precise and timely manner.
Allowing AI to do the heavy lifting and make initial assessments before anyone arrives on the scene can help avoid delays and put customers at ease with a seamless start to the claims intake.
Following the on-scene damage assessment comes the detailed repair estimate from the shop. In this capacity, technicians can use AI-driven solutions on mobile apps to conduct detailed inspections and provide accurate estimates on damage repair.
Before using technology, customers were used to waiting for hours for a full inspection and days for an estimate to come through. With AI, body shops can have this completed in even minutes, allowing customers to schedule repairs on the same day and alleviating the stress of having to make multiple trips to the shop before the repair process begins.
While this is a significant win for customers, body shops shouldn’t overlook its impact on them as well. Assessing claims more effectively allows technicians to process more vehicles per day, with the non-drivable claims processing time being cut down hours to minutes thanks to AI. Improved operations are leading to increased productivity, which means customers having rentals for shorter time periods, lowering costs for the repair shops at the end of the day.
Looking beyond the assessment, AI tools bring advanced capabilities to the repair process as well. As experts have become familiar with generative AI following its boom last year, they’re now starting to see its impact on repairers’ floors. Technicians and mechanics are able to use ChatGPT-like tools to their advantage when it comes to gathering and sharing information. Using these types of technologies as assistants allows workers to quickly access repair data, parts availability and diagnostics, all of which result in making more well-informed decisions faster.
From a customer’s perspective, speeding up the decision-making process provides them with improved timeline accuracy, resulting in enhanced trust and satisfaction.
What’s the Catch?
The value of AI throughout the claims management process is clear, but not everyone is onboard with its full implementation just yet. Employees within the claims and repairs industry remain skeptical of using AI, as some continue to view it as taking jobs away. If properly implemented, AI tools won’t take over these jobs but will serve as a complementing tool on a repairer’s toolbelt. Using AI to increase speed of assessments and repair operations is simply viewing it as an effective assistant to increase productivity.
Even for those who see AI’s positive impacts, getting it can still seem daunting, timely and costly. To this, you aren’t wrong. Adopting AI properly isn’t an easy or cheap task. It can take months of investing time and money to update the current flow of operations to include AI technology.
However, not adapting to the quick pace of technology in the industry is a risk much larger than not. Companies who aren’t adopting AI tools risk falling behind in a rapidly evolving landscape and losing to those who have a competitive advantage. AI is no longer a future prospect, but a reality transforming how the industry operates. While it may not be clear to customers on the surface who is using AI versus who isn’t, it’ll be clear where efficiency and customer satisfaction is being prioritized.
Thinking About Advancing Your Technology? The Time is Now
Following the customer journey in the age of AI, the way to an efficient future is clear. A process that has been riddled with complexities and inconveniences can be much simpler with the addition of AI. Each step of the claims and repair process is valuable, and with the help of AI, more thoughtful decisions can be made in a quicker timeframe, getting rid of so many stressors customers can have while waiting throughout the process.
Incorporating AI into your operations isn’t just an option anymore but is absolutely crucial to drive success in a rapidly changing environment. If you haven’t already begun the adoption process, what are you waiting for? The time to invest in AI solutions is now to prove you value putting your customers first at the forefront of innovation.
Bill Brower is senior vice president of Global Industry Relations & North America Claims for Solera.
