Audatex announced a system integration service with CSI Holdings (CSI), a global provider of claims and repair services, to streamline paintless dent repair (PDR) estimate services for catastrophe-level hail damage events around the world.
“CSI offers hail-inspection technology with Audatex’s estimating technology to more accurately and efficiently assess catastrophe-level hail damage on a mass scale for areas that have reported significant damages to automotive insurance companies,” Audatex explained in a news release.
The integrated process involves CSI mobile assessment centers – similar to a car wash – to set up as drive-in inspection locations to assess hail damage in heavily affected areas. Utilizing its unique technology, CSI scans the entire surface of the vehicle to determine the location of dents, number of dents, their depth and the severity of dents per vehicle panel. The report then is used to automate an accurate PDR estimate.
Streamlining the existing process of having an estimator manually convert information from the mobile assessment center into a PDR estimate, Audatex will automate the process, bridging the gap between CSI’s output and the estimate. Overall, this results in a more efficient, accurate and less time-consuming claims process that will allow CSI clients to increase their throughput while reducing the potential for human error, according to Audatex.
“Due to the massive number of vehicle damage claims involved in hail catastrophe events, insurance companies have been looking for a streamlined way to most accurately inspect and assess damages,” said Tony Aquila, Solera’s founder, chairman and CEO. “This global partnership with CSI allows for exclusive integration of two leading services to leverage the most innovative, accurate and efficient solution for hail catastrophes.”
Automating the entire process from assessment to creation of the PDR estimate, the integration offers customers increased efficiency, productivity and accuracy in their hail-damage claims, as insurance companies will have an estimated productivity gain of 33 percent for customers, according to Audatex.
“Having an accurate estimate is vital to achieve efficiency in the claims process,” said Michael Morrison, CEO of CSI. “Using our MAC [mobile assessment center] quantifies an ambiguous process allowing for consistent and repeatable results to be generated. The integration with Audatex allows us to marry our MAC output with Audatex’s industry-leading metrics to complete the estimate using the most accurate method available in the marketplace.”
