The short-term insurer, Santam, has won the prestigious SA Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), Insurer of the Year award for the second consecutive year. The annual SAMBRA Awards honour top vehicle insurers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as paint and equipment suppliers for their contribution to the sustainability of motor body repairers in South Africa.
SAMBRA represents a large majority of accredited motor body repairers in the country, and work in close collaboration with various industry influencers – including the insurance sector, OEMs, suppliers, the labour department and trade unions, as well as related SETAs – to maintain industry sustainability and development. The SAMBRA Awards is one such exercise.
According to Charles Canning, newly-appointed Chairman of SAMBRA, the annual SAMBRA survey upon which these awards are based was inaugurated in 2011 and each year since has monitored the business relationship between the insurance and motor body repair industry. “It was subsequently expanded in 2015 to include OEMs, paint and equipment suppliers, each of which are vital stakeholders in the motor body repair industry,” Canning said.
The survey targets the eligible 885 SAMBRA members nationwide to rate the insurers, OEMs and suppliers on the following factors: fair business practices, prompt payment, green practices, relationship satisfaction, quality of vehicle damage assessment and repairers’ interaction with claims staff, payment speed, customer service, training programmes, product support and more.
“The survey results have become an important gauge against which all partners evaluate themselves and their level of service to motor body repair businesses – and ultimately, the consumer. Its value is demonstrated by the unusually high response rate from SAMBRA members nationwide,” David Friskin, Master Statistician at Lightstone, the company that audited the results shared.
Click here to read more about the awards and the event .
