Each week, The Pulse provides insight into the buying, sourcing and brand-loyalty habits of counter personnel and professional technicians. This week, using Babcox Research, we look at a recent BodyShop Business survey asking who should decide what parts get used for a repair.
Insurance companies’ involvement in the collision repair process is a source of contention for many body shops today. Insurance companies in some cases can try to “steer” motorists to certain DRP-friendly body shops, reduce estimate times and even specify whether OE replacement parts or aftermarket crash parts should be used to repair a vehicle.
According to a recent poll of body shop owners conducted by Babcox Research, only a small percentage of shops believe it is the insurer’s responsibility to determine what type of parts are used in a collision repair. When asked if it’s the insurers’ responsibility to determine what parts are used, only 19 percent responded “yes”; 81 percent responded “no.”
For more information about Babcox Research, go to: http://www.babcox.com/marketing_research.html.
