July 2026 Collision Corner
Trained technicians: Collision repair shops are short on trained technicians, and new data shows how deep the problem runs: the training pipeline for collision and autobody programs fills just 42% of annual collision demand, according to TechForce Foundation. The report projects that the collision repair industry will need 73,354 new entrant technicians between 2025 and 2029. The report's projected average annual supply of 6,327 collision completions through 2029 would cover fewer than half of annual demand over that period, according to TechForce's IPEDS based projections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 14,600 annual openings for collision repair technicians through 2034. Against that figure, postsecondary collision programs produced 5,462 completions in the academic year 2023-24, a 14.2% year-over-year gain that was the strongest growth rate of any sector in the report.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance has agreed to pay $8.8 million to resolve claims it failed to pay diminished value on vehicles involved in accidents. The settlement will benefit insureds with Washington policies issued in Washington state between Jan. 13, 2019, and the date of preliminary approval of the settlement where the insured’s vehicle damages were covered under the policy’s underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage. Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance in January 2025, alleging the insurer failed to pay diminished value on vehicles involved in accidents.
Collision Claims: The number of personal auto collision and comprehensive claims incurred by insurers nationwide in 2025 may have fallen by more than six million since 2019, according to a new analysis by CRASH Network. Data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) shows that insurers incurred more than 23.8 million collision and comprehensive claims in 2019. By 2022, the most recent year for which NAIC data is available, that number had fallen to 20.5 million, a decline of 3.3 million claims.
