Why its important to implement
Formal written approval required for legal claim protection. BMS documentation needed for evidence retention, warranty compliance, and future claims defense over required years.
BMS Electronic Filing Benefits
By collecting and storing these documents in a BMS or at least an electronic filing system the business will have clean and neat way to make sure they have these important documents in place and easily assessable for the required number of years.
Vehicle Safety Assurance
This will ensure that occupants of the vehicle are safe in the event of another accident.
Legal Claim Protection
Without formal approval for repairs to begin the body shop has no legal claim to charge for work that is carried out and or completed. If the body shop decides to begin work even with a verbal only approval, they are at risk of carrying out repairs without payment.
Legal Binding Agreement Requirements
Most accident repairs are carried out by the body shop on behalf of a work provider and is generally under a legally binding agreement for the work to be carried out in a high quality and safe manner so that the vehicle will react in another accident the way it was engineered to do so from new.
Manufacturer Warranty Protection
Vehicle manufacturers give a warranty for the body structure, and this includes the paint work for aesthetic reasons and to protect the body from corrosion.
Documentation Evidence Requirements
Throughout the process of assessing, gaining approval and then repairing the vehicle there are a number of documents that must be retained as evidence that the business carried out the work and to protect it from any claims that may come in the future.
Private Work Approval Risk
In the case of additional work paid for privately by the owner of the vehicle, if the body shop does not have formal written approval by email, or message then the body shop is at risk that the owner may deny the approval.
Business Impact
No approval means business pays for denied work. Missing documentation causes payment denial, legal issues, OEM warranty rejection. Poor systems waste administration time.
Profit
If no approval is received prior to beginning work the business may have to pay for the parts and labour themselves if the work is then not approved.
Profit
If the business cannot prove that it has carried out all work and show all documentation, payment may be denied.
Profit
If the business cannot prove that it has carried out all work and show all documentation, business could face legal issues if it cannot prove with documentation, it carried out all work as agreed with the work provider.
Profit
If the business cannot prove that it has carried out all work and show all documentation, business could face OEM approval issues if it cannot prove with documentation, it carried out all work as agreed with the work provider, as the OEM may reject body warranty.
Additional Administration Work
If the repair is denied after work begins or is completed and then payment is denied the business will waste time trying to get the owner of the vehicle to pay.
Additional Administration Work
If there is any kind of request for paperwork for a job and everything is not stored in the BMS or electronic storage system administration staff may spend many hours looking through physical documents, spending time on this instead of other needed work.
General and Body and Paint Productivity
If work begins on a non-approved for repair job and then work is later stopped this will affect the productivity flow in the shop due to a vehicle taking up a bay if it is larger repair and wheel or steering parts are removed, this removing the ability for the technician to carry out other work.
action steps
Implement formal approval processes, invest in BMS software, create documentation storage procedures, enforce policy compliance with warnings.
Documentation Policy Enforcement
Regularly check that this is being carried out for every job, strong internal warnings if policy not followed once established.
Documentation Storage Process
Implement process for all VDA's and office staff to store all documentation in the BMS.
BMS Implementation
If it has the software but does not use it to collate and store all documentation, then this must be implemented as soon as possible.
BMS Software Investment
If the business does not have a BMS it should invest in this software.
Approval Policy Enforcement
Regularly check that this is being carried out for every job, strong internal warnings if policy not followed once established.
Formal Approval Process
Implement process to ensure no work is carried out on a vehicle unless formal written approval is received.
Related tasks
Milestone:
02: Streamlining VDA Processes