American Farmers and Ranchers Adopts Innovation Group's Managed Repair Network

American Farmers and Ranchers (AFR) a regional property/casualty company based in Oklahoma City, Okla., has selected Innovation Group's managed repair network (iMRN) to strengthen its existing claims service and coverage.

"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Innovation Group to build our AFR Direct Repair Program for automobile collision repairs," comments Chris Blevins, CEO, AFR. "Their knowledge in developing and maintaining auto repair facility networks will assist AFR in our endeavor to provide our policyholders with multiple options for automobile collision repairs and a superior claim experience.

Implementation of the repair network began in late March in an effort by AFR to further strengthen its auto claims service, according to an Innovation Group statement. A century-old insurer with multi-generation loyal customers and agents, AFR saw the opportunity to further strengthen customer loyalty and trust by partnering with Innovation Group to expand repair network coverage in Oklahoma, while providing AFR improved claim outcome results, according to the vendor.

"Our long-held culture of service excellence for our customers and agents will be strengthened with the new relationships that Innovation Group is helping us build with Oklahoma based repair shops," adds AFR's Langley. "This program will provide more options to our customers by offering additional access and priority, further enhancing our claims process."

Innovation Group's managed repair network has over 2500 repair shops that the vendor says meet strict guidelines relating to facilities, equipment and training as well as performance goals for customer service, cycle time, quality estimating and repairs. Innovation's repair network offers nationwide coverage with a choice of shops, consistency and a lifetime warranty on the work performed. The repair network represents Innovation Group's effort to place itself in the industry as a provider of services and core system software to tier 2 and tier 3 P&C companies. The iMRN provides access to what Innovation group claims are the most trusted, reliable body shops while benefiting from the buying power of a large network provider, ensuring they get the same level of service.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio