Fleet managers should use their buying power to increase vehicle repair service standards, said ABS Accident Solutions chief executive Alan Hodgkinson.
“Whether they buy body repairs directly or through their insurance company, fleets only seem interested in driving the price of the repair premium down,” said Hodgkinson.
“Clearly the price of repair or premium is a key point but concentrating on it to the exclusion of all else fails to take the total cost of the repair into account. That means looking at equally important issues like how long the vehicle is off the road.
Hodgkinson said the underlying problem was that almost all insurers and repairers had a “one size fits all” approach where all insurers were treated the same.
“It doesn't usually matter whether you are a leading sales person for a major corporate customer waiting for their BMW to be fixed or a pensioner who lives around the corner having their hatchback repaired, your job is given the same priority.
“It is here that we believe fleets are misdirecting their buying power. They can use their considerable strength to demand that vehicles are repaired within a certain time frame, or that they are at least given priority over less time critical jobs,” said Hodgkinson.
