Action stations

Whether it’s due to climate change or not, the frequency of severe hail weather events is increasing in Australia. Not only that, destructive storm cells are popping up in places where they have not been seen before. This means it’s all too easy for a vehicle to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffer hail damage. Worse still, it can easily become just one out of tens of thousands of claims that flood into insurers. Despite this overwhelming volume of claims, owners still expect their vehicles to be repaired in a timely manner and ensuring that happens takes a specialised solution and a trusted relationship with insurers – something Action Smart Group (ASG) has been cultivating for over 15 years. The brainchild of two Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) experts –Adam Blackwell and Adam Henningsen – who also happen to have extensive hospitality / customer service experience, this innovative organisation offers insurers a very attractive set of capabilities. As well as fixed sites in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Coffs Harbour and its homebase in Brisbane, ASG offers the ability to spring into action to set up shop close to the hail event location and deliver a combination of PDR and conventional repair methods, says Henningsen. “Where hail events used to be confined pretty much to Sydney’s north up to around the Sunshine Coast, we are now seeing regular large hailstorms elsewhere, such as Melbourne and Adelaide. We have been able to offer insurers an end-to-end solution for dealing with hail damage and, in return, they have shown a lot of faith in our abilities.”

Response time following a hail event is vital, says Blackwell, such as when Adelaide was struck by one of the biggest storms it has ever seen in October 2021. “Logistically, the first 72 hours after an event are critical. As soon as we know that a volume of claims is coming in, we are travelling to that location and talking to commercial real-estate agents in order to secure a suitable site in a convenient location with all the features we need to successfully run our operation. In the current market this is getting harder and harder but for Adelaide we were lucky that the old Holden factory was situated pretty much in the epicentre of where the storm happened. It’s four years since Holden left so our team had to clean and prepare the 60,000m² space, including recommissioning six spray booths that were already in place. That allowed us to quickly set up our triage process to get the ball rolling for customers.”

A key part of the mindboggling level of logistics is to have the right team members in the right place at the right time and, often, for extended periods, Henningsen explains. “We have around 100 fulltime staff and, at its peak with contractors, we are talking around 400 people. Because we have been doing this for so long and we have a reputation as a good employer, with a great culture, we have a fairly large pool of contract tradespeople who literally come from all over Australia to support us. Our strategy is that we don’t fish in the same pond as the traditional repair network. For example, in Adelaide we didn’t advertise locally for staff, we brought our technicians in, mostly as a fly-in, fly-out operation. It can be lucrative for those who are willing to work hard but it doesn’t suit everyone.”

For owners of hail damaged vehicles, the first point of contact is the triage process where the vehicle is assessed, photographed and the necessary administration tasks are completed for the insurer. It’s also where the ASG team decide the repair method, according to Blackwell. “If the car can be repaired using PDR it’s still the best method for hail damage. If that is not achievable, we look at conventional repair methods, whether any new panels are needed and what paint process will be used. We are a one-stop-shop and because we control the whole of the process, everything is done to a schedule.”

Henningsen continues, “We are very aware that we can’t deliver a quality product on our own so we are very grateful for the partnership with PPG and the faith they have shown in us. When you are repairing 400 cars per week, out of one