What’s Behind the Increase in Total Loss Market Values?
Auto insurance carriers are not only facing increasing cost of repairs due to the rise in vehicle complexity but also are seeing increased costs when it comes to settling total losses. Average total loss market values have increased 6.55% in the first half of 2019 compared to the same time period last year, and the frequency of total loss outcomes has increased slightly as well to 17.53% in the first half of 2019 compared to 17.49% in the same time period last year.
Average Length of Rental for Repairable Vehicles: Q2 2019
Average Length of Rental (LOR) for Q2 2019 landed at 11.8 days in the United States, an increase of 0.2 days compared to Q2 2018. Once again, there was very little consistency between regions and states, although every region was either flat or up. The Mountain, Northwest and California regions produced the largest increases at 1.0, 0.4 and 0.4 days respectively. The average LOR ranged from a high of 12.8 days in the Mountain region to a low of 10.8 in the Midwest.
Premiums Written - Q3 2019 Quarterly Must Read Round-Up
Each quarter, I round up and highlight some of my favorite articles written by Mitchell experts and let you know where we have been published outside of our mPower thought leadership website. This quarter, I’m excited to highlight a Work Comp Pulse podcast interview with Rebecca Morgan, Senior Director of Product Management at Mitchell.
How (Humane) Claims Automation Leverages Technology for Better Outcomes
From business rules engines to artificial intelligence, both existing and new technologies yield opportunities for better, more strategic decision-making throughout the claims process. Shortly after World War II, as the Ford Motor Company returned to making cars, one of its more innovative executives, Del Harder, mechanized entire segments of the production line with built-in, electronic controls to ensure that work was meeting the appropriate standards.
Economic Trends Impacting the Collision Repair Industry in 2019
While new vehicle sales numbers have cooled from the records of the previous couple of years, the strength of the US economy continues to have an impact on consumer behaviors, driving patterns, and thus, the trajectory of the auto claims and collision repair industries. The adoption of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in a larger percentage of the car parc has been predicted to decrease accident frequency, but Mitchell data shows an increase of 4.4% in non-comprehensive claims in the first half of 2019 compared to the previous year.
Current Used Vehicle Market Conditions: Q2 2019
Average wholesale prices in July were flat relative to June and remained up on a year-over-year basis largely on the price strength and growing share of truck-segment sales. CPO sales continue to buoy off-lease vehicle prices.
Dashboard Cameras Go Beyond Recording the Road Ahead
With three times more Google searches for “dash cam” related terms versus “autonomous driving” terms, online trends confirm that the demand for onboard cameras is quickly rising. Maybe you’ve never ridden in a car with a dashboard camera, but chances are you’ve seen a video or two from one. In the United States, dash cam shipments are up twenty percent from 2017.