October 2008 vs. October 2007
October 2008 saw increased usage of used, remanufactured and aftermarket parts sources according to a report by AutoClaims Direct’s analytics solution. OEM parts usage dropped 12% compared to last October 2007.
Overall auto damage severity of files processed through AutoClaims Direct’s industry leading claims solution also saw a drop by 7%. Total losses decreased 2.3% down to 23.2% during the month of October.
Are these signs related to the economic crisis? Time will tell, but such a small snapshot may not necessarily give a full picture. A severity trends chart below over the past 12 months showing collision, comprehensive and third party severity shows a fairly steady trend with a slight decrease.
Data source: © 2008, AutoClaims Direct, DirectLink