Some 20 years ago, the world of collision repair was one where the major partners operated in silos, with limited communication between them. Collision repair facility owners determined their own repair practices. Insurance estimators and claims managers had varying standards and processes. Vehicle manufacturers offered minimal guidance on collision repair standards, and vehicles had minimal on-board technology and advanced safety systems.
Farzam Afshar, an engineer by trade and collision shop owner in the late 1980s, had a vision of a future where all of these parties would want to work together, share data and create common repair standards to safely repair vehicles for years to come. From his vision, VeriFacts Automotive was born.
VeriFacts Automotive was founded nearly 20 years ago on the premise that insurers, vehicle manufacturers and collision repair professionals all needed to work collaboratively to deliver common repair processes to ensure consumer safety.
The vision was to align the industry to ensure the standards for collision repair processes were consistent, that repair standards were shared among all parties, that collision repair professionals were educated and verified upon achieving these standards, and that consumers and their safety were the first priority.
“Our mission is to ensure consumers have the safest vehicle repair after an accident, one that protects them and their family on the road and preserves the value of their vehicle,” said Afshar, CEO of VeriFacts Automotive. “Every year, our team provides coaching, verification or OEM certification impacting several million vehicle repairs and thousands of collision repair technicians. We expect that to continue to grow as vehicle technology and repair complexity evolve.”
Today, privately held VeriFacts Automotive is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, with corporate offices and a coaching facility. It employs nearly 75 team members across North America, from corporate leadership to advanced technology analysts and skilled collision repair experts who provide coaching, verification and OEM certification services across North America.
The VeriFacts Automotive business model is based on providing the highest level of collision repair business and technician coaching, evaluation and verification services and delivering OEM certifications to ensure collision repair facilities are prepared to deliver safe and reliable repairs. Today, VeriFacts has partnerships with the majority of leading multi-shop collision repair organizations and independent repair facilities, top vehicle manufacturers and top insurance carriers, among others.
The collision repair facilities that meet VeriFacts Automotive’s independent, third-party assessment levels can achieve VeriFacts Verified Quality (VQ) status, and the truly elite collision repair facilities can achieve VeriFacts VQ Medallion status. VeriFacts VQ status is recognized as a prerequisite for participation in many insurance DRP programs.
Burl’s Collision Center in Henderson, TX, earned VeriFacts VQ Medallion status last spring and became the first Ford-certified collision center in the United States under the OEM’s new certification program.
“This gives my employees and me a good sense of accomplishment and a lot of pride,” said Burl Richards, owner of Burl’s Collision Center. “My guys really feed off knowing that we’re among the best in the country. We started down the road to certification nearly five years ago, and it has been good for us, but it’s been the best for our customers. Earning VeriFacts VQ Medallion status means a lot because it means we are in the top one percent of U.S. shops for quality.”
VeriFacts Automotive, headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, provides the highest level of collision repair business coaching, evaluation and verification services, delivering OEM certifications and working with insurance carriers to ensure collision repair facilities are prepared to deliver safe and reliable repairs. Today, VeriFacts has partnerships with the majority of leading multi-shop collision repair organizations, independent repair facilities and top vehicle manufacturers and is recognized by top insurance carriers, among others. VeriFacts employs nearly 75 team members across North America. For more information, visit www.VeriFactsAuto.com.
For more information contact Deborah Robinson, 312.505.4336 or [email protected].
