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Opus IVS announced Thursday that the AAA affiliate insurer CSAA had declared the scan tool manufacturer “their preferred collision scanning solution for its Direct Repair Network.” Opus, formerly referred to as Drew Technologies, said the nation’s 16th largest auto carrier had endorsed its ScanSafe and DriveSafe devices. “The Opus IVS...

California Bureau of Automotive Repair Executive Director Patrick Dorais on Thursday discussed topics like customer communication, vehicle technology and teardowns throughout a VeriFacts Guild 21 webinar appearance. Communication Dorais’ agency regulates about 5,000 auto body shops in what’s arguably America’s most significant collision market. He said the California collision market...

About 46 percent of repairable vehicle estimates in the fourth quarter of 2021 contained at least one line item for any vehicle diagnostic scan, according to the 2021 CCC “Crash Course” released last month. Fifty-eight percent of current-year or newer repairable vehicle appraisals included a scan charge, and 55 percent...

Audatex: Weld-through primer on ‘little brackets’ not included The DEG in January drew focus on a current clarification by Audatex on when weld-through primer wasn’t included in a labor time. A DEG user in December 2021 cited Audatex’s Database Reference Manual Section 4-2, which lists “Restoration of corrosion-protective coatings ”...

WIRED magazine on Monday took phone insurance industry’s change to photo-based estimating and photo estimating artificial intelligence — as well as body shops’ criticism of the concepts. The article presents the broader trends featuring multiple collision industry voices highlighting discrepancies between photo-based estimates and just what the businesses actually detect:This...

A bill amending New York’s shop choice law to preserve collision repairer autonomy on part selection has returned for any fifth legislative try. Assembly Bill 6902 would append Insurance Law 2610 to report that first-party collision and comprehensive insurers could not “require a repair facility to utilize a specific vendor...

Despite overwhelming support from lawmakers in 2021, a bill promoting paint and materials guidelines and scanning and calibration OEM repair procedures was shot down by a New Hampshire House committee this month. The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee deemed House Bill 310 “Inexpedient to Legislate” within an 18-0 vote...

The Collision Industry Conference on Wednesday reiterated that it is April 21-22 meeting in Arizona would offer the option of attending personally or virtually over Zoom. “Due to Arizona COVID restrictions, the in-person is restricted to active 2021 Gold Pin participants,” the CIC wrote in a news release. “Those unable...

Estimators, managers and all sorts of other Blueprint Optimization Tool users now can track their success adding operations flagged by the “BOT” as potentially overlooked repair labor. The BOT software allows an accident repairer to automatically apply the "SCRS Help guide to Complete Repair Planning" to an estimate and identify...

The telematics company Arity on Friday announced companies could leverage its Core Driving Risk Audiences service and market themselves to drivers of numerous skill levels. For example, an insurer could pitch premium discounts to blocs of excellent drivers and entice them to switch carriers. This may be hugely lucrative for...