The South African Motor Body Repairers\u2019 Association (SAMBRA) says it will now follow a new Pay Before Release (PBR) system which could impact how much motorists pay for vehicle repairs.<\/p>\n
The association said that PBR has become necessary to protect businesses and their cash flow from insurer failure and poor payment administration.<\/p>\n
“Motorists generally do not deal with a direct insurer but rather take out a policy through an \u2018intermediary\u2019, most commonly referred to as a broker,” said Richard Green, national director of SAMBRA.<\/p>\n
“In these instances, brokers and other forms of intermediaries, act on behalf of the large insurers to authorise claims, provided they have a binder agreement in place with the underwriter\/insurer,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The motor body repair industry accept these authorisations and complete the work before any payment is received, based on the historic trust-based relationships with insurer business partners.”<\/p>\n
However, there have been a number of cases where SAMBRA members are not being paid for work authorised in previous years, which has led to the introduction of the new PBR system, he said.<\/p>\n
Impact on consumers<\/strong><\/p>\n Green said that the impact on consumers will hopefully be minimal as this will not apply to insurer agreements where SAMBRA has a signed service-level agreement which stipulates payment terms.<\/p>\n However, he cautioned that this may not always be the case.<\/p>\n \u201cConsumers need to be aware of the situation and realise they could remain liable for their vehicle repairs if their insurer does not settle their claim<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “They will be required to sign a check-in document at vehicle hand-over which contractually binds the vehicle owner to the full outstanding invoice in the event that the insurer does not pay the SAMBRA member,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n “It is important to first check both the credentials of the motor body repairer and insurer with SAMBRA or SAIA (South Africa Insurance Association) before exercising your right of choice.”<\/p>\n
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