CCC News & Insights

January 28, 2021

AI Enhancements Bring Further Efficiency to APD Estimation

In 2018, CCC introduced the world’s first AI solution for vehicle collision estimates: CCC® Smart Estimate.Leveraging CCC’s estimating logic and AI photo analytics capabilities, Smart Estimate pre-populates baseline estimates with analogous processes for insurance carrier appraisers to review, edit and advance. Through the process, Smart Estimate AI and human appraisers learn from each other, creating faster, smarter and more efficient APD estimates over time.Today, CCC Smart Estimate remains the industry’s leading AI-powered estimating tool for APD claims. And though Smart Estimate has been getting smarter since it launched, CCC continues to innovate and enhance the product to constantly improve the appraiser experience.Continued Smart Estimate enhancements are helping appraisers make better, faster decisions for a process that often requires multiple touches. These enhancements include major product innovations to simplify part replacement and repair labor hour determinations.

1. Parts Sourcing Recommendations

When selecting parts for an estimate, an appraiser evaluates which parts best meet insurance guidelines based on price, vendor preference, delivery days and more.Smart Parts Sourcing simplifies the appraiser decision process by weighing insurer-configured rules against part options for faster replacement recommendations. Smart Estimate automatically selects the part that best meets the insurer’s guidelines, driving improved compliance and cost savings.Pre-selected part recommendations are available for the appraiser’s independent review and final determination.

2. Repair Labor Hour Predictions

Based on CCC AI models, Smart Estimate can now populate estimates with labor hour predictions for repair operations.The addition of repair labor hour predictions to Smart Estimate reduces manual appraiser processes to provide further cycle time reduction. Repair labor hour predictions are configured to carrier-specific rules — including state-level configurations — offering another layer of consistency to the estimation process.

Improving the Estimation Process

AI is already changing how insurers do business. Today, more than 50 insurance carriers leverage CCC’s AI-powered solutions to accelerate decisions and improve outcomes. CCC has processed hundreds of thousands of claims using AI, the first and largest-scale provider of AI for live auto insurance claims.Part of the industry’s only end-to-end digital auto insurance claims experience, Smart Estimate is one of CCC’s many AI-powered solutions driving toward the vision of straight-through claims processing. Informed by decades of experience processing claims, CCC’s AI models continuously improve, providing the industry’s most trusted APD estimating logic. Labor hour predictions and parts recommendations, based on insurer guidelines, deliver added efficiency to APD estimation, where repair/replace processes make up nearly 60% of operations. Available to all current and new Smart Estimate users, these innovations help to further reduce cycle time, boost appraiser productivity, and improve compliance with insurance carrier rules — which leads to cost reductions.To learn more about leveraging CCC’s AI-powered solutions to automate estimating processes, please visit our Smart Estimate page.