Brower details how artificial intelligence use in collision repair and claims is evolving along with its growing role supporting sustainability goals.
For several years, collision repair facility operators and auto claims staff have been increasing using artificial intelligence (AI) enabled estimating tools to improve productivity and the claim process.
In our video interview embedded below, Bill Brower, SVP Global Industry Relations & North America Claims Sales at Solera, details how AI usage is evolving in the industry and how it can benefit shops looking to achieve sustainability goals.
“AI is really a game changer out there across the insurance industry, including collision shops,” said Brower. “Now, I’ll be the first to say all shops haven’t adopted AI yet, but those that are adopting it are seeing phenomenal results.”
One of the AI tools that Brower says is helping both insurers and repair facilities is its Intelligent Triage solution that was introduced last year.
“A couple of areas that I see that are already benefiting shops that are adopting AI, first is triaging the work they have. So, I know my prior experience before I got into insurance, my dad owned a body shop. So, I know what it’s like when you have a lot of cars at the shop and you’re trying to figure out which cars to bring in and to write estimates on,” said Brower. “One of the AI solutions that we have is called Intelligent Triage. It allows shops to take a few pictures of the car and within a few seconds they actually know whether this car is most likely a total loss or a repair.”
Beyond assessing if a vehicle is a total loss, AI-assisted estimating is also evolving.
Discussing AI estimating, Brower explained, “That one has been around a little bit now, it continues to improve and we’re excited to see growing adoption here. We have actually enhanced it again most recently with a solution called Mobile Inspection.”
“When the customer comes into the body shop, they’re ready for an estimate. Traditionally, what would happen is the estimator goes out, they take pictures, they write a few notes, talk to the customer, but oftentimes they don’t complete the estimate,” said Brower. “But with AI estimating and with our Mobile Inspection tool, what happens is the estimator walks out to the shop, walks around the car, and takes a few pictures. And then by the time they get back to their desk, the estimate’s written, the pictures are loaded, everything is in the estimating system. So, they simply review.”
“Now the customer leaves with an estimate. But more importantly, the body shop has an opportunity while the customer’s there to go ahead and get them scheduled in, so they don’t lose that customer opportunity,” said Brower.
Sustainability
Brower also believes AI will have an impact on shop’s efforts to improve the sustainability of their own operations and help comply with regulatory requirements on their businesses or those of their insurance partners.
“Sustainability and the ability to track the carbon generated from the repair is really a huge change coming to the market. We have already introduced this at Solera in our European market. We’ve been working on this solution for about three years, anticipating that this was coming,” said Brower. “We have launched this with our first customer. We have a second customer launching in just a few weeks. And then this will continue to grow very quickly around the globe.”
In Europe, reporting requirements for greenhouse gas emission (GHC) are being phased in for large businesses including financial firms and insurance companies. These regulations include requirements that these businesses account for not just their own emissions, but also so-called Scope 3 emissions that include those upstream from their supply chain.
Quantifying an insurance company’s Scope 3 emissions requires that suppliers such as collision repair facilities quantify their emissions.
In the U.S., California has enacted legislation, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which was signed into law last year. That law requires corporations with more than $1 billion in revenue doing business in California to report Scope 1 direct GHG emissions from sources that a company owns or controls, along with Scope 2 emissions from the electricity a company purchases and Scope 3 emissions from a company’s upstream and downstream activities.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting is slated to start in 2026 and Scope 3 emissions starting in 2027.
To help insurers and repairers comply with regulations and determine the amount of GHG emission from the collision repair process, Solera has developed Sustainable Estimatics.
“What Sustainable Estimatics does is it also calculates the carbon generated as a result of this repair. It’s a very complex calculation. We’ve used scientists to help build this. It’s ISO certified,” explained Brower. “What we’re able to do is to look at things like if a part needs to be replaced, we need to know the power supply for the manufacturer of the part. We need to know the power supply for the body shop. Is it coal? Is it hydroelectric? What type of power? Is it nuclear? What type of power supply do you have? We calculate that along with the transportation of the parts if it’s a parts scenario. And then we look at if you repair a part versus replace it, how much carbon is generated.”
“We do the calculation behind the scenes, leveraging AI for every line item on the estimate that would potentially generate carbon. So, we can not only tell you it’s a $5,000 repair, but we can also tell you how many kilograms of carbon are generated,” said Brower.
Beyond just responding to the regulatory requirements, Brower also sees repair facility operators lowering their emissions and using that as a marketing tool directly with customers.
“One of the large MSOs in Canada has been very focused on reducing carbon and they make it part of their pitch to customers today. So, it’s something that’s a differentiator, and something that I think can really help this market and the collision shops as we move forward,” said Brower.