Mitchell Looks at Repair Efficiency, Insurance Industry, in New Report
February 5, 2013

San Diego-based Mitchell has released its 2013 Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the first quarter. The report looks at both repair efficiency and how it varies from state to state, along with the importance of data analytics in the property and casualty insurance industry.

"The State of Repairs: Does Repair Efficiency Vary from State to State?" explores the relationship between rental length and labor hours for repairable estimates, and which body labor type has the greatest influence on rental length and overall labor hours. The study found that operating efficiency does vary from state to state, and shop owners who are able to incorporate rental and estimating data into business decisions can increase efficiency, according to the report.

"With this new information, industry resources have finally caught up to market demands," says Greg Horn, vice president of industry relations at Mitchell, who authored this part of the report. "Thanks to the state-by-state look at the relationship between rental hours and body shop labor, repair shop owners can now take the combined data to see how they rank against the overall state average, or measure how they stack up against in-state competition."

Edward Olsen, Mitchell's senior claims consultant, wrote an article called “Analytics in Action” for the report. Olsen looks at two projects that are part of Mitchell’s ClaimsLab project, the Medical Severity Index (MSI) and Casualty Loss Triangle Reporting, and how these will impact the insurance industry in 2013.

The MSI is a quarterly report based on the results of the open claims data benchmarked with first-quarter results from 2008, while ClaimsLab data is designed to allow insurance carriers to monitor performance and change procedures.

According to the report, Mitchell officials expect ClaimsLab to allow the company to develop a tool that will provide a series of analytical reports to allow carriers to assess the composition of their claim losses.

"We've heard the industry buzz about the term ‘Big Data’ and data analytics, but there hasn't been an easy way for P&C insurance carriers to receive valuable data, analyze it in meaningful ways and have it presented in a manner that is visual, compelling and easy to understand -- until now," says Olsen. "Mitchell's new ClaimsLab is the missing link and these initiatives are just two examples of how Mitchell is applying analytical expertise to help the industry gain a deeper understanding of business and outside forces. Readers of this ITR will have a greater understanding of the MSI and Casualty Loss Triangle Reporting initiatives we have in place in 2013."

Mitchell owns National Auto Glass Specifications International (NAGS) but there is no information about glass in the report.

The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.

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