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.
“I concluded there was a missing ingredient — was anyone taking on the interest of the consumers? How do we as an industry put that first?” said Afshar, CEO of VeriFacts, during a panel presentation during SEMA 2019 in Las Vegas. “We need to bring the repairers, insurers and OEMs together to go in the same direction and improve the safety for the consumer.”
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. “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.”
Ensuring safe vehicle repairs starts with following OEM procedures. “It is very important that our Ford certified centers and the industry in general follow our repair procedures. The key here is proper and safe repairs utilizing the OE repair procedures,” said Dean Bruce, Ford Motor Company Collision Marketing Manager, who also spoke during SEMA. “A safe and proper repair dictates long-term brand loyalty and is a very important piece of the process for Ford.”
The importance of OEM certification continues to grow in the industry. “Technology is going to disrupt the way we do business today. And it is going to be very unrecognizable for most of us,” Asfar said. “OEM certification is the new DRP.”
Today, privately held VeriFacts Automotive is headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., 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.
“When a shop comes into our certification program, they want to see some value. So VeriFacts not only verifies a shop, but also provides repair process coaching,” Bruce said. “They can look at any vehicle in the repair process and provide third-party expertise. They can point out what a shop is doing well and also opportunities for improvement.”
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.
VeriFacts continues its focus on collaboration through an annual VeriFacts Symposim, with the next one set for February 2020 in Newport Beach, Calif. The company also hosts a monthly Guild 21 call where stakeholders discuss issues and concerns and work together for the benefit of the consumer.
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, Texas, 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.”
