Olympia, Washington – The Senate committee in Washington state has given a do-pass
recommendation to a bill (SB 5721) that would require all auto insurance policies issued or
renewed in that state as of next year to include a right to appraisal clause. The vote was split,
with the five Democrats on the committee voting in favor of the do-pass recommendation and
three Republicans voting against; a fourth Republican Senator voted that the bill be moved
forward without a recommendation.
Washington DC – Three organizations – representing automakers, automotive shops and
collision repairers – that have opposed (or questioned the motivation behind) several pieces of
state or federal legislation billed as “right to repair” efforts, have now crafted their own proposal
for a federal bill on that issue. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (which represents
automakers), the Automotive Service Association (ASA) and the Society of Collision Repair
Specialists (SCRS) say their “Safety as First Emphasis (SAFE) Repair Act” enshrines into law
their existing voluntary agreement ensuring that independent repair facilities will continue to
have the same ability to perform diagnostic and repair services as franchised auto dealers. They
say it will guarantee that consumers – rather than insurers – have the right to decide where and
how they want their vehicle repaired, including having their choice of parts, and repairs in
accordance with OEM repair procedures.
Rising car insurance rates – “The rise in car insurance rates hit a four-decade high in October,
reaching nearly 20% annually, even as overall inflation cooled,” an article posted on the
insurance shopping website Jerry earlier this year stated. “There is plenty more pain ahead for
American drivers. Car insurers are still playing catch-up with rate hikes.” There is also a lot out
there talking about how much a driver can expect his or her cost of insurance to rise after a
claim. “Insurance premiums may increase by as much as 45% or more if you’ve had an at-fault
accident,” an article on the CARFAX site stated late last summer. “An at-fault accident raises
the average price of car insurance by 49% to $2,930 a year for full coverage, or $244 a month,”
an article on LendingTree stated. “For comparison, drivers with a clean record pay an average
of $164 a month.” I’ve even seen estimates of increases exceeding 50% or even 70% after a
claim.
3D-printed replacement parts coming soon – Replacement tabs for headlights are likely
among the first 3D-printed aftermarket replacement parts that collision repairers will have the
opportunity to purchase – and shops may be equipped to produce their own in-shop within a few
years – representatives of an advisory council for Auto Additive said during a CIECA webinar
last week. “We’ve already started making repair tabs for headlights,” Harold Sears, a former
technical manager for Ford who now heads the Auto Additive advisory council, said. “And what
the impact of that is that we can reduce waste to landfill. Headlights that have two or three
broken tabs off of them, as long as the rest of the housing is intact, can be repaired. These [3D
printed] materials have equivalent properties that are as good, we’re finding, as the original
properties. We are going through testing and validation on that to prove that to everyone right
now. But in the very, very near future we will start to roll some of this out.”
