Just when you thought it was safe to get back to work, along comes another parliamentary report to throw a spanner in the works. The industry worked through much of last year to reach an understanding between insurers and smash repairers, and in the face of Federal Government pressure, a code of conduct was on the cards.

But that was before the NSW Parliament’s StaySafe Committee – established to look at road safety issues – got involved. Just before Christmas the committee released a report that was highly critical of IAG’s latest smash repairer system. Even its title, “Repairing to a Price, Not a Standard” is critical of the insurer.

IAG subsidiary NRMA Insurance has introduced a system using online photographs and an assessor’s report that are accessed by repairers wanting to quote for the repair. While customers can choose to use a repairer of their choice, the company charges them an additional premium to do so, a move the smash repairers bitterly oppose.

StaySafe’s report  – which specifically analysed IAG’s scheme – is extremely critical of the plan. It says it’s “unsafe in its current form and operation”. It’s says cost-cutting and unsafe repair practices are associated with the company’s imposition of financial penalties if damage to a car is later uncovered that wasn’t apparent through the original photos.

NRMA says the report is flawed and contains “no evidence of safety issues”. It also claims the report was prepared without seeing the system first-hand – a move it describes as “scandalous”.

“This report has not provided any evidence related to safety whatsoever – we are still waiting to see the ‘facts’ which form the basis of StaySafe’s conclusions,” Head of Claims and Assessing David Brown said.