ICBC ranking auto body shops, expects faster repairs, lower costs

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The province is confident changes coming to ICBC’s collision and glass repair programs next month will save drivers money and time while boosting transparency in the auto body industry.

The province announced Monday ICBC’s redesigns will save costs and improve accountability by ranking repair shops on various metrics.

The Attorney General says this will boost efficiency and quality of work.

“We need badly to improve people’s experience when they deal with our public auto insurer, and one of those experiences they have is dealing with auto body repair shops,” David Eby tells NEWS 1130.

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Eby says the new system allows for more transparency through rankings and offers incentives for shops to provide better service.

“As firms move up in the rankings, they will be rewarded with a couple of things. One is they will have more customers coming to them, which is a positive thing. And there will be more trust in them from ICBC as they move forward, reducing their administration costs,” he explains.

The program changes intend to improve ICBC’s financial sustainability, which according to the last budget was running a deficit of close to $1 billion.

CEO and president of the Automotive Retailers Association Adrian Scovell compares the program changes to NEXUS.

Just off phone with @Dave_Eby who says new system will save $ by boosting efficiency and giving body shops that do quality, efficient work more @icbc business. As for how it’s an improvement from old system under former government, he says it’s more accountable and transparent.

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) January 20, 2020

“The top tier programs are the people that would have passed through those NEXUS checks, that have all the background checks, that have proven they do operate an efficient business fairly,” he explains. “But the concentration will go to those shops that aren’t able to demonstrate that as well… so it will give ICBC more time and their estimators more time to work with those shops to bring them up to a better standard of performance that, in turn, reduces the cost to ICBC.”

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He adds it will improve costs and efficiency in the long run as members will know they are being monitored.

“That is one of the strengths of ICBC –if anything– is the oversight that they give to the repair process. If you violate something, you are going to lose that privilege,” Scovell says.

B.C. currently has 236 estimators compared to more than 400 in 2001.

However, the cut in costs might not be the same for shop owners who may have to buy new equipment.

“Shops need to have the correct equipment to service today’s vehicles. We can make sure that those shops that are properly equipped and capable are the ones that the consumers are easily able to find,” he says.

Similarily, Eby says better equipment is an investment, which many shops have already made to remain competitive.

“That modern equipment is needed to do these repairs properly and we need to be directed British Columbians to the firms making these investments,” he says.

#BREAKING @ICBC is changing collision and glass repair approval process. New system taking effect Feb. 3 involves body shops getting ranked based on performance. @Dave_Eby claims this will save money and follows operational audit linked to stories broken by @news1130 in 2017.

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) January 20, 2020

The changes for collision are set to take effect Feb. 3 and the glass program will follow March 2.

This redesign follows an operational audit ordered in 2018 partly based on NEWS 1130 reports some body shops had been over-billing ICBC.