Mitchell International has released its Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the first quarter of 2017.

In this latest edition, Mitchell executives take a close look at five of the hottest topics in the P&C industry, the use of special materials and its impact on estimating and repair costs, and how data and analytics can improve third party claims.

Five P&C Industry Hot Topics and the Trends Fueling Them

To kick off the year, Mitchell takes a look at five hot topics in business today, explores the technology and social trends behind them, and considers what they mean for the P&C industry and collision repairers:

• Technology Transformation;
• Operational Excellence;
• The Evolution of Work;
• Customer Experience;
• Corporate Culture as Business Strategy.

The Auto Physical Damage Edition

The use of special materials is new to U.S. and Asian brands, while high-end European brands have been using special materials for decades. Pound for pound, aluminum can absorb twice the crash energy of mild steel and larger crush zones can be designed without corresponding weight penalties.

In this ITR, Hans Littooy, Vice President, Consulting and Professional Services, Auto Physical Damage, discusses the impact that using special materials has on the estimating and repair process. Littooy highlights how Mitchell’s solutions allow for specialty materials to be identified and provide details on the recommended repair process. While Mitchell offers appraisers the ability to change labour rates for specialty materials, both appraisers and carriers will need to determine when to change labour rates and for which operations.

The Casualty Edition

Effectively adjudicating third party auto casualty claims can be a complex web of analysis and decision-making that sometimes challenges even the most experienced adjusters. Every decision made during the third party claims process can affect final outcomes. To improve outcomes for insurers and claimants, data-driven decisions must be made during each step of the claims process.

In this article, Norman Tyrrell, Director of Product Management, Casualty Solutions Group, highlights the key areas to focus in on to improve third party bodily injury outcomes:

• First notice of loss;
• Vehicle damage data;
• Provider analytics;
• Medical analysis;
• Data-driven decisions.

First published in April 2001, Mitchell’s ITR now reaches more than 33,000 collision and casualty industry professionals and provides meaningful visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C and collision repair markets. The complete report is available at mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.