Driving down costs and improving repairer capacity

More than 50% of all total loss vehicles are being incorrectly routed to bodyshops at First Notification of Loss (FNOL), reports claims solutions provider, Audatex UK, significantly adding to the financial, administrative and logistical burden bodyshops are facing today. The launch of AudaFNOL, a sophisticated new decision support tool from Audatex UK, is set to revolutionise the FNOL process and streamline the conversion of claims to the approved repair network.

“Bodyshops and accident management companies have long suffered from unnecessary costs associated with the mis-routing of total losses,” confirms Paul Tucker, Managing Director, Audatex UK. “However, when we embarked on a project 2 years ago to find a way to resolve this issue, we never anticipated that today the UK would be deep in recession and the need for a solution ever more pressing.”

AudaFNOL is the culmination of an extensive consultation and research programme by Audatex in response to industry and customer calls for help. Non-technical motor insurance claims handlers needed to ascertain the extent of accident damage remotely, and to arrive at a more reliable decision on whether to direct the vehicle to the approved repair network or salvage agent.

A secure web-based service, AudaFNOL provides claims handlers with intuitive input screens incorporating illustrations and carefully-crafted questions designed to help claimants give an unambiguous description of damage. The system combines the information input on damage severity with data on the make, model, derivative and age of the vehicle, its value and the predicted repair cost. This fully-automated process takes place quickly, seamlessly and enables an informed decision to be made on how best to route the vehicle.

“Our customers welcomed the opportunity to work closely with us to develop AudaFNOL, a powerful automated solution which reduces cost and customer service issues, as well as address concerns on the multiple movement of vehicles around the body repair and salvage network,” continues Paul Tucker. “AudaFNOL is backed by unmatched repair data upon which a routing decision can be made. Its launch signifies a time of positive change for bodyshops and the insurance industry alike.”

Audatex has more than 10 years’ history of repair assessment data through its estimating systems, and a track record in developing market leading claims solutions. AudaFNOL is backed by the security and resilience of the Audatex AudaNet technology platform and is part of a proven claims solutions portfolio that improves performance throughout the end-to-end claims process. AudaFNOL is available as a stand-alone application or as a fully-integrated solution.