SAMBRA National Director, Juan Hanekom, says the partial rollout of fuel-related concessions highlights both progress and inconsistency within the claims environment.
The South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA) has called on insurers to implement fuel-related relief measures more consistently across the industry, saying ongoing fuel price volatility continues to place significant pressure on motor body repairers (MBRs).
The appeal follows earlier interventions by some insurers to help offset the impact of rising diesel costs on repairers’ operating expenses. However, SAMBRA says many insurers have yet to introduce similar support, leaving workshops exposed to escalating costs.
Fuel remains a critical operating expense for repairers, affecting vehicle collection and delivery, parts transportation, mobile assessments and customer service operations.
Although repair pricing frameworks in the industry, including systems such as Audatex, are periodically adjusted to reflect changing input costs, SAMBRA says these updates do not always keep pace with sharp fuel price fluctuations.
