March 7, 2017—Mitchell International released its Industry Trends Report for the first quarter of 2017.

In this latest edition, Mitchell executives take a close look at five of the hottest topics in the property and casualty (P&C) industry, the use of special materials and its impact on estimating and repair costs, and how data and analytics can improve third party claims.

Five P&C Industry Hot Topics and the Trends Fueling Them

To kick off the year, Mitchell takes a look at five hot topics in business today, explores the technology and social trends behind them, and considers what they mean for the P&C industry and collision repairers:

• Technology transformation
• Operational excellence
• The evolution of work
• Customer experience
• Corporate culture as business strategy

The Auto Physical Damage Edition

The use of special materials is new to U.S. and Asian brands, while high-end European brands have been using special materials for decades. Pound for pound, aluminum can absorb twice the crash energy of mild steel and larger crush zones can be designed without corresponding weight penalties.

In this report, Hans Littooy, vice president of consulting and professional services for Auto Physical Damage, discusses the impact that using special materials has on the estimating and repair process. Littooy highlights how Mitchell’s solutions allow for specialty materials to be identified and provide details on the recommended repair process. While Mitchell offers appraisers the ability to change labor rates for specialty materials, both appraisers and carriers will need to determine when to change labor rates and for which operations.