PSC Insurance Group Deputy Chairman Brian Austin is joining the board of collision repairer AMA Group as an independent non-executive director effective from December 1.

Mr Austin has more than 40 years’ insurance experience, including holding senior executive positions in both publicly listed and private companies. He was previously OAMPS Insurance Brokers CEO.

“Insurers are our biggest collision repair customer group, and Brian’s deep insurance industry experience and relationships will be invaluable as we continue our customer-centric strategy,” AMA Chairman Caroline Waldron said.

“We look forward to his industry and governance insights, gained from his long and esteemed career to date."

Mr Austin previously served on the AMA Group Board of Directors from December 2015 to February 2020.

AMA Group is additionally undertaking a search for a non-executive director with collision repair, automotive parts, or similar, sector skills, with a particular focus on those who have built a customer-first culture in an organisation.

Former Chairman Anthony Day and director Paul Ruiz retired from the board on September 1, while the company said at the annual general meeting on Thursday that Simon Moore would leave the board in February. Carl Bizon stepped down as CEO effective last week.

Ms Waldron told the AGM that the search for a new CEO is progressing to plan and the board expects to decide on a preferred candidate and finalise arrangements within the next few weeks.

AMA Group, which fell short of its guidance last financial year, says the operating performance of the business has improved over the past six months.

The company has raised the bottom end of its guidance for the current financial year, now forecasting normalised post-AASB 16 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $89-96 million.

Mr Bizon told the AGM that after early last financial year approaching insurer customers to discuss pricing on contracts, the group moved away from unprofitable work across the AMA Collision portfolio. 

“While this resulted in some short-to-medium-term repair volume disruption, in recent months, some insurers who we had not been able to reach agreement previously have begun to re-engage with us, this time on better pricing terms,” he said.

“While many insurer contracts still do not have dynamic adjustment mechanisms to deal with external pressures such as inflation or increasing repair severity, we now have established relationships and a new cadence for engagement to continue to progress this work.”