Boyd Gerber just reported a billion-dollar quarter — while its market value has fallen dramatically from its 52-week high.
At the same time, Crash Champions is heading deeper into court over a multimillion-dollar insurance coverage dispute tied to its ransomware attack.
Those two stories may look unrelated.
They’re not.
In this episode of Collision Coffee Talk, we look at what is happening underneath the collision repair economy: shrinking repairable claim volume, increasing total losses, pressure on MSOs to capture market share, investor concerns about profitability, and the growing financial pressure facing companies built around scale.
We also dig into the questions surrounding Caliber’s delayed IPO and whether remaining private may currently be an advantage while publicly traded collision-related companies face increased scrutiny from investors.
But that’s only part of this episode.
We also cover:
• The latest developments in the Oklahoma State Farm litigation, including discovery battles, Accenture, the Attorney General’s involvement, and the larger question of state versus federal insurance regulation.
• The growing use of Opt-OE and insurer-directed parts — including airbags — and why an insurer’s estimate does not determine how a repair facility must repair a vehicle.
• The controversy in Florida after journalists obtained a state-commissioned insurance report examining affiliated-company payments and insurer financial results.
• NAMIC’s new virtual estimating program and how it intersects with growing NAIC attention to artificial intelligence and “human-in-the-loop” requirements in insurance claims.
• Why collision repairers need to take a harder look at the marketing companies, vendors and suppliers they financially support — and whether those companies are actually aligned with the shop’s interests.
• New opportunities developing around Right to Appraisal, diminished value, post-repair inspections, accident investigation, CDR data and expert work.
• The upcoming three-day Dallas training with Robert McDorman, Mark Olson and Lawrence Montanez.
• And a preview of the Crash Champions insurance case that will become a separate members-only episode — because some of the legal arguments Crash is making as a policyholder may raise very interesting questions about the capitation agreements developing between insurers and collision repair MSOs.
Collision repair is entering a very different financial environment.
The question is no longer simply who has the most locations or who can generate the most revenue.
The bigger question is whether the economics underneath those businesses still work when repairable claim volume stops growing.
That is what we’re watching.
Subscribe to Collision Coffee Talk and join the channel for additional members-only analysis, litigation breakdowns and industry research.