Michael Booth figured he had to do something to keep himself busy in retirement. Plus, with 35 years of experience as the manager of several collision repair facilities, he saw a need in the market for a new tool.

Enter the Dent Measuring Stick, a new dent measuring tool that Booth feels, with all the virtual estimating going on, will be a huge asset to estimators both on the collision side and insurance side.

Frustration

Collision repair facilities and insurance companies have reached new heights in recent years by having the ability to attach digital images to estimates, allowing an estimator to send photographic documentation of damages for an adjuster to review.

However, a lot of frustration can take place when there is an inability to accurately capture the size, depth and overall severity of the damage in a photograph due to poor lighting, shadows, glare, color and bad angles. The Dent Measuring Stick, Booth says, can take a lot of the guesswork out of the process by accurately displaying and calculating the severity of the damage.

How It Works

Booth says the Dent Measuring Stick accurately evaluates the size and severity of the dent, visually duplicates the contour of a dent and also calculates the required repair time. It allows estimators, insurance appraisers and inside adjusters to all use the same standard to accurately determine the amount of time required to repair a dent in a panel.

Another advantage of using the Dent Measuring Stick, Booth says, is that it allows estimators to get dent measurement right the first time and cut down on costly supplements and review time by accurately providing the supporting evidence of severity that a photograph alone cannot offer.

The Dent Measuring Stick comes in four sizes: one, two, three and four feet.

Developing the Product

Booth worked on inventing the Dent Measuring Stick for six years before finally coming up with an acceptable design. He now has it patented, and a manufacturing company is pricing it for production. Booth is also in talks with major distributors.

“One of the big things about this device is that it can be used by both collision shops and insurance adjusters to help take the guesswork out of a bad photo,” Booth says. “After all, it is everyone’s objective to put the damaged vehicle back into pre-accident condition. Hopefully it will get insurance companies and collision centers on the same page for estimated repair times.”

For more information on the Dent Measuring Stick, email [email protected] or call (704) 577-1788.