September 2009 - Covéa and KHS GM create the first mobile dent removal service for hail-damaged vehicles insured by MAAF, MMA and GMF.

The Covéa Group (MAAF - MMA - GMF) is launching a first-of-its-kind service: complete hail damage repair management for the customers of the three brands through an exclusive partnership with KHS Grele Management.

Designed by Albi-based KHS Grele Management, this new mobile dent repair service for hail-damaged vehicles was recently created for the three Covéa Group brands. It allows for hail damage to be rapidly assessed and repaired at less cost.

A first in France, this end-to-end platform for repairing hail-damaged vehicles is now operational in Toulouse and can be deployed in any region of France in less than a week. It is a swift, "all-in-one" platform including a dedicated phone line (premium number), paperwork processing, replacement vehicles, adjuster assessments, dent removal and cleaning of repaired vehicles. It has already allowed Covéa to:

• Assess damages to 4,000 vehicles out of a total of 15,000 claims received by the three insurance companies after the storm that struck Toulouse on 25 May, working at a rate of 120 vehicles per day.
• Repair nearly 1,500 vehicles, corresponding to a rate of 130 vehicles a week.

To accomplish this, KHS GM called on real professionals: 20 dent removal specialists came from all over Europe after seven adjusters were sent to the site by Covéa. The platform made it possible to reduce the average downtime for vehicle appraisal and repair from five days to one day on average in 70% of the cases.

For Covéa AIS, the goal of the concept is to allow customers to interact with only one person for all of their needs.

"In the past, customers had to deal with three interlocutors - the insurance agent, the adjuster and the repairer - sometimes waiting several weeks or even months to get their vehicles repaired. Today, Covéa offers MAAF, MMA and GMF customers a flexible, simple and efficient service.
The service shows what the three insurers can do for their customers when they combine their size. Had they not joined forces, MAAF, MMA and GMF could never have provided their customers with these exclusive services from KHS GM.
Furthermore, the platform allows MAAF, MMA and GMF to reduce the cost of assessments and repairs to hail-damaged vehicles by 25% with no compromise to repair quality, thus making their pricing more competitive," says Michel Gougnard, Deputy Managing Director, Covéa AIS.

For KHS GM, the concept has proved its value thanks to the exclusive partnership:

"After handling several hail claims in France and Europe, French body shop Safra joined forces with German dent repair shop KHS to form KHS Grele Management, offering a tailored service and an innovative organisation for private vehicle repairs after hail storms.
Covéa helped us fine-tune our organisation and they trust us completely in this high-quality partnership. Because it insures so many vehicles and handles such large volumes, we were serene about entering into an exclusive agreement with Covéa. The storm that hit Toulouse on 25 May allowed us to turn a partnership that is proving to be particularly strategic into reality," says Vincent Lemaire, President of KHS Grele Management.

Resources deployed in Toulouse

• A 2,000-square-metre platform
• Seven appraisers permanently on-site, three in charge of estimates
• 48 replacement vehicles
• 20 dent-repair technicians from across Europe (Italy, France, Germany, Spain)
• Two upholstery strippers, two body technicians, one cleaner
• One spare parts store manager
• One platform manager, one administrative manager, three receptionists

www.khsgrelemanagement.fr

Press contacts
Covéa: Marie-Pierre Michel - Tel: +33 (0)1 53 10 63 57 - +33 (0)6 07 67 68 76
KHS GM: Emmanuelle Choquet - Tel:+33 (0)5 63 48 44 10