cei accident management customer service representative

Repair Management

CEI drives cost savings for our customers throughout the repair process, using technological innovations, thorough vendor network management, and process efficiencies developed over 25 years of specializing in repair management.

With our origins in the body repair business, we started out knowing all the tricks of the trade, and what it takes to do excellent repairs and achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. And when we started our fleet accident management business, we knew what kind of people it was going to take to get it done right.

CEI has a veteran staff of appraisers that scrub every claim for accuracy and ensure that only the necessary repairs are made.

CEI's Provider Portal

CEI is the only provider that allows
its network vendors to complete every step
of the accident management
process online. Our proprietary system
makes for an overall more efficient claims process for the driver,
CEI and the repair facility.

Our customers save money with reduced claim and repair cycle times. Significant rental savings are generated in claims for non-drivable vehicles when the estimate collection process is expedited. Customers also get better and faster access to estimates and digital photos through ClaimsLink, and more detailed repair data, including parts and labor costs.

Our online provider portal features:

Acceptance of an assignment
Electronic entry of estimate data
Electronic auditing of estimate elements for cost control and accuracy
Uploading of estimate images and photos
Issuance and acceptance of purchase order
Shop entry of repair updates, targets and completions
Uploading of invoices

CEI's quality control team of licensed physical damage appraisers

Negotiating with shops effectively requires more than just a few hours of classroom work annually that yields a “certification.”It requires real-world estimating and body repair experience and the right tools to do the job right. CEI is the only provider that employs a full team of in-house licensed physical damage appraisers to audit each and every estimate on behalf of our customers. This team is a “second set of eyes” on every estimate, reducing the cost of deploying independent appraisers until they are necessary.


		Our appraisers use:
		State-of-the-art digital imaging system
		CCC Pathways electronic estimating and auditing system
		N.A.D.A. On-line
		Industry-specific continual education training

Savings You Can See
CEI’s quality control team reviewed over 180,000 estimates in 2008 from both repair facilities and independent appraisers, resulting on over $14 million dollars in savings for CEI customers.

We document every penny saved in negotiations with network vendors, and the information is available and auditable on ClaimsLink™.

frequently asked questions repair management

Our budget seems to dwindle, yet repair costs continue to rise. How does CEI save fleets money?

Our in-house staff of licensed appraisers scrub estimates for potential overcharges, greater efficiencies and creative cost-saving approaches. And our clients never have to guess -- all the savings we find are documented in detail in ClaimsLink™.

How does CEI keep cycle times short?

Our operations team constantly monitors the progress of every repair job at every major milestone. If there’s a parts delivery problem, we’ll use our nationwide resources to solve it. We’ll even move a repair midstream to another shop, if that’s what it takes to stay on track.

I hate surprises on supplements. How does CEI minimize this?

We specialize in avoiding surprises: Fewer than 15 percent of our claims feature supplemental charges. Why? With more than 250 years of combined experience, our in-house licensed appraisers know what lurks behind the surface – and it’s usually reflected in the estimate our clients approve.

How does CEI measure quality?

Our first concern is safety. After that, our customers set the standards, whether it’s pre-accident condition, industry-acceptable standards or some other criteria. The best measure: our warranty rate is under five percent.