‘Industry turning the corner’

Trend Tracker has released new information highlighting the impact Covid-19 has had on repair volumes.

It bases its information on data received from its partners as well as Audatex and online platforms such as apple, google mobility and .gov.

Its data (graph below) shows how volumes plummeted last April and then tracked below normal levels all year. Its last complete month of data has repair estimates at 61% of what they were 12 months earlier.

Steve Thompson MD Industry Insights, said: ‘Our partner relationships cover all areas of the supply chain and as such have assisted in us presenting a considered forecast that is relevant to the motor claims market as a whole. Audatex have long since been a valued partner of Industry Insights and Trend Tracker also, their baseline data has proven invaluable to calculate forecasted volumes.

‘Our forthcoming report on the post Covid-19 world will continue to explore how businesses have managed through and are emerging from this pandemic.’

He added, ‘I am personally confident that the industry is now turning the corner and there is the proverbial light at the end of this long tunnel, in fact I am sure with a fair amount of pent-up demand in the economy, all business will see a very positive jump in their business during the second half of this year. The time is now to prepare for the capitalisation of this much needed opportunity and tracking these trends has never been more important to assist the management of balancing capacity with demand.’

Chris Wright, regional managing director at Audatex, said, ‘Claims volumes have naturally dropped as lockdown restrictions increased and travel was restricted, we have seen an increase in severity as vehicles were able to travel at higher speeds on less congested roads.

‘Our research is indicating that as the lockdown restrictions are eased people will inevitably want to visit friends and family and will want to take the opportunity to get away from their homes for holidays or short breaks, and we feel these breaks will be within the UK, due to low vaccination rates across Europe and what is increasingly looking like a third wave across mainland Europe.

‘This increased mileage will inevitably drive an increase in claims, we feel to at least 100% of pre Covid volumes for the summer months, then dropping back to about 85%-90% as we enter the autumn and winter months.’