Audatex North America, Inc. announced it has updated its Database Reference Manual for 2008-2009 to include the "Best Practices Guidelines" of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), outlining agreed-upon expectations of insurers and repairers in what’s considered an industry first.

The CIC Best Practices Guidelines, adopted at the July CIC meeting by a unanimous vote, are the result of work conducted by the CIC’s Insurer Relations Task Force. The inter-industry task force is chaired by Rick Tuuri, associate vice president of industry relations for Solera Holdings, Inc., whose companies include Audatex North America, Inc. The guidelines contain descriptions of reasonable and accepted expectations of insurers and collision repairers and represent the industry’s first agreed-upon set of standards that help "level-set" expectations for all parties who are involved in the process of auto collision repair and claims resolution.

"Simply put, we now have an outline of minimum expectations for insurers and repairers in the collision repair process," said Tuuri. "With these overarching guidelines, we can agree on what ‘fair and reasonable’ looks like, and we can provide a defined playing field for everyone in the auto collision repair and claims process."

"This is truly an industry first, and a great step toward helping bridge historical differences between all involved parties," said Stacy Bartnik, CIC Chair and Assistant Vice President, Field Services for CARSTAR. "We look forward to building on this important start."