This inquiry by the STAYSAFE Committee is the first time that the Committee has been asked, because of its well-established reputation for accurate, comprehensive and exhaustive inquiries into road safety matters, to act essentially as a 'select committee' in examining the operation of the Insurance Australia Group (NRMA Insurance) Preferred Repairer Scheme, with particular reference to the possible compromise of public safety associated with aspects of the scheme such as: • the requirement for quotations for repair to be based not on the physical inspection of damage to a motor vehicle but on electronic images of the damage taken by an employee of Insurance Australia Group and a written description of what that employee thought the necessary repairs might involve; • the imposition (or threat of imposition) of a financial penalty if a smash repairer who lodged a successful bid–meaning the lowest cost bid–for the repair of a damaged motor vehicle later found that more extensive repairs were required; • the use of non-original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts in the repair of damaged motor vehicles; and • whether the employees of Insurance Australia Group working as assessors of damage to motor vehicles have the skills and knowledge to perform their job safely and effectively. After consideration of over 100 submissions and supplementary submissions, and taking evidence from more than 30 witnesses in 16 hours of public and in camera hearings, the STAYSAFE Committee has formed definitive views on the questions it was asked to examine. First, the STAYSAFE Committee finds that the Insurance Australia Group (NRMA Insurance) Preferred Repairer Scheme is an unsafe system in its current form and operation. Second, the STAYSAFE Committee has found that it is likely that cost cutting and unsafe repair practices are associated with Insurance Australia Group’s imposition of financial penalties–termed the tender adjustment factor, TAF–if damage to a motor vehicle is later uncovered that was not apparent through the electronic photographs taken by Insurance Australia Group employees. Third, the STAYSAFE Committee has found that it is possible that safety is compromised by the use of non-original parts manufacturer–non-OEM–parts in the repair of motor vehicles (including classes of parts termed 'new non-genuine', parallel, grey, recycled, second hand). Fourth, the STAYSAFE Committee has found that there is a need to review the qualifications and training needed by loss assessors to effectively examine and document and photograph damage to motor vehicles, and the role of loss assessors in managing the repair process to a damaged motor vehicle. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting