Accident Exchange told the stock market this morning that it has made good progress on cost reductions.

Credit hire rentals were down 3% at 12,800 for the four months to February 28, compared to the same period in 2008.

Chief executive Steve Evans said the business is in the right shape to ‘play its part’ in helping its manufacturer, franchised and bodyshop partners through the tough recessionary period.

 

In April, the company will introduce an aftersales initiative which will provide significant support to automotive retailers and body repairers to “help them ride out the recession”, said Evans.

 

At the same time, a major new insurance based account win at the start of March is already generating a claims run rate in excess of 1,000 per month. This will help reduce any impact from the post-winter seasonal slowdown and deliver around 500 repair instructions for its partner network every month.

 

Demand for used cars through Accident Exchange’s web-based disposal programme has enabled it to reduce the total fleet size by 857 units to 5,135 vehicles.

Cash collections have improved, and the group continues to pursue outstanding claims through litigation.