Phoenix, Arizona, Oct. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Car owners as well as auto insurers in the United States (and elsewhere) seem to be at a loss regarding what to feel about all the high-tech driver assistance features that most of today's cars come equipped with. Since while available statistics establish beyond doubt that these advanced features have brought down the number of auto accidents, having these features on your car now also means that you'll need to pay higher repair costs every time your car visits a repair facility.
According to one source, car repair costs have shot up by an average of a whopping 33% over the period of the last four years. While there are other factors in work as well, the car specialists maintain that ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) plays the key role behind these spiraling costs.
And with as many as 40% of cars expected to feature driver assistance systems by the end of 2020, there is little chance for the trend to reverse in the near future. Moreover, the rising repair costs are not associated with ADAS only. In fact, all high-tech inclusions in a vehicle are responsible for driving up the costs and these include electric cars as well as other high-tech vehicles fitted with autonomous features.
And as electric cars are becoming more popular by the day (Audi, to cite but a single case, has recently announced the introduction of its fourth electric SUV which will be available for sale from mid-2021) with brands now regularly offering EVs with ranges of 250 miles and above (and that, too, at affordable costs), it can be safely predicted that we will see more and more of these advanced technology vehicles plying our roads in the future.
According to an auto insurance executive, several factors are at work behind these rising costs. First of all, he says, the cost of auto parts alone, especially in insurance-related repairs, has gone up by 40 percent in the course of the last five years. Then, a nationwide decline in the number of body shop repair facilities has also contributed to the rising costs. Finally, he remarks that high-tech features on a vehicle such as automatic lane centering, adaptive cruise control, automated lighting, etc. require technical repair and calibration by a highly skilled staff following an accident. However, at present, most repair facilities are made to deal with a skills shortage issue which is yet another reason why we are seeing such a drastic rise in auto repair costs.
And the bottom line is the auto insurers are made to bear the flak of this just as much as individual car owners. The insurance executive confirms that while advanced integral adaptive features on a vehicle have indeed led to fewer road fatalities and therefore, a slight drop in rate in the frequency of claims, the insurers are still having a hard time dealing with these rising repair costs for new cars.
Veritas Global Protection
In these challenging times for both auto owners and auto insurers, Veritas Global Protection is one of the few companies that have still been able to offer affordable auto protection plans to its customers. And the chief reason why Veritas is able to do this (while other companies are finding it so hard) is that, as a global company operating in over 20 countries on four different continents, Veritas has struck up meaningful partnerships with a number of diverse entities in the industry. The latter include some of the largest dealer groups and agencies, a number of most advanced car repair facilities, a large body of financially stable insurers, and finally, the biggest auto insurance companies from other continents (such as WAGAS in Europe).
These collaborations allow Veritas to offer auto protection plans at rates that other companies simply cannot afford. Please visit the company website at https://veritasprotection.com/ for information on their different plans, rates, and other related details.