Information for repairers
Background
Our CEO, Mr James M. Woods, has been employed in the motor repair industry via the Woods Auto Shops group (his former family business) as well as over 10 years in full time legal practice. Because of his connections in the industry and practical knowledge of the operations of motor repair businesses, James has many clients who, like you, must continually make their businesses better in order to survive.
eCollect was born out of that aim.
The company has been operating since 1997. During this period, it has developed sophisticated internet software which has provided considerable efficiencies into the business. These efficiencies have allowed eCollect.com.au to survive when other debt recovery businesses have foundered.
In addition to the excellent systems, we have experienced staff members to make the processes work at their optimum. Our staff members are paid on the basis of their results for our clients. If a staff member can deliver a good result then his or her remuneration will be far in excess of the salaries paid by our competitors. This allows us to attract and retain high level performers. Those that cannot deliver will not last in our organisation.
The combination of our quality systems with our people who have the personal commitment and financial incentive to deliver results gives us the edge over our competitors.
What We Do
The service works like this:
- The client arrives for a quote and you decide that a third party
claim is appropriate. You arrange for client to complete an instruction form which is signed and faxed to our office ASSP. A copy of the instruction form and authority is attached;
- You arrange an assessment of the client's vehicle with the nominated
independent assessor and check that the client has completed the instruction form in writing.
- The instruction form, authority, quote and assessment report and any
other documentation for loss of use e.g. letter of reason for a hire car are forwarded to our office;
- Our associated legal firm, E C Legal will confirm engagement direct
with the client;
- We negotiate with the offending party and/or his insurer and,
hopefully, obtain an admission of liability. We then authorise the job to you. Once we have authorised the job we are liable to pay your repair cost unless having received a release the insurer fails to pay on the release.
Your invoice should be directed to the vehicle owner care of us. You may wish to have the vehicle owner sign a repair agreement and commence repairs in advance of settlement of the claim, however, it can be difficult for us to predict when claims will be settled;
- You and the clients track the progress of the job on our website.
Note that we prefer to spend time on chasing offending parties and their insurers rather than reporting on progress. Our website allows you to view the same file as our staff members are using to record action on the claim.
Our cost structure does not allow for excessive time in reporting although where decisions need to be taken then telephone discussions would normally occur;
- We recover the cost of repairs from the offending party and/or his
insurer and pay your invoice less costs as agreed.
Benefits
The benefits to you are:
- The client gets only one quote. Therefore, you can quote to do your
best job rather than your cheapest job. This means better service to the client and a better profit on the job;
- It is highly likely that you will get the job as the client cannot
take the money (once we have recovered) without suffering a financial penalty;
- Our service can be used to eliminate "shoppers" and "time wasters"
who simply want to get a quote and not have the car repaired.
- We can provide hire cars if you do not have this service;
- Our service is seen by the client as a part of your business giving
an impression of expertise.
Charges
Should the matter require litigation to recover your repair or hire car cost, you or the vehicle owner will be required to pay our out of pocket costs e.g. court fees, service and location fees, barristers fees. We will advise you of this in writing and obtain agreement before any charges are made.
Important Points
Please note these important points:
- We advise our client to lodge a "Report Only" with their insurance
company. If possible, have the client complete a claim form for their own insurance and forward it to our office. Remind the client that this action will have no effect on their no claim bonus.
- We will authorise the repairs once confirmation of liability is
received at our office. In every case, written authority will be sent to you for the amount of the repairs. You are entitled to rely on this written authority as our order for the work to be undertaken. Once the work is completed, you will obtain a signed Clearance Certificate from the client and forward the Clearance Certificate plus the invoice to our office. We will then pay you as soon as the cheque is received by us.
The only time we shall not be liable for payment of the authorized repair cost is where the offending party's insurance company has confirmed liability and then refuses to pay.
- You must wait until after the vehicle is assessed to start repairs.
- If you wish to start repairs before we send you the written
authority, you should obtain the clients written authority as, in the absence of a written authority from us, you will be asking the client to pay your account before releasing the vehicle. If you do not have a written authority from the client or from us and you start repairs you stand a very good chance of not being paid for the job.
- Please note that loss of use claims must be warranted and
documented. If in doubt, discuss with us before providing a hire car or incurring costs for loss of use. Whilst we are happy to pursue loss of use claims, these will usually delay settlement of the repair costs especially if the circumstances make the loss of use component doubtful.
