The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has asked the Diamond Standard Brand Alternative Safety Part Division of Reflexxion Automotive and Production Bumper Stampings to review the model law governing aftermarket parts model regulations.
Diamond Standard says the regulations, which outline for insurers the safeguards necessary for non-OEM parts to be permitted in repairs, are outdated because they don’t account for newer materials like high strength steel.
“As OEMs moved to high strength steel, ultra high strength steel, even advanced strength steel use in parts such as bumper reinforcements, some offshore aftermarket manufacturers have elected to substitute low-cost carbon steel,” said Geoff Crane, business development manager, Diamond Standard Brand Division, noting that the same holds true with substituting low-cost polystyrene foam for OEM high-density EPP polypropylene for energy absorbers. “These parts have been tested and fail federal standards of crashworthiness, do not meet the performance of OEM or Diamond Standard Alternative Safety parts, and would be a violation of use in any state with regulations calling for OEM equivalency or like kind quality and performance to the part they replace.”
“We welcome this opportunity to assist and serve the industry to create updated regulations to include safety parts and better and more stringently defined quality and performance of the part to assure the part being installed will indeed restore the vehicle to its pre-damaged condition and to the standard which came on the vehicle initially … the OEM part being that standard,” Crane added.
Crane noted that 20 states have regulations speaking to equivalency or like kind quality and performance.
For more information about state and NAIC regulations regarding aftermarket parts, visit www.diamondstandardparts.com. Click HERE to read about an investigative report claiming aftermarket parts are unsafe.
