Toronto, Ontario — Enterprise’s latest Length of Rental report is out and comes bearing the news that the average first quarter rental length is up by three full days from last year, as parts and labour shortages persist throughout the industry.
The report notes that while this spike in national average LOR from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023 is significant, it is still smaller than the 4.3 day increase experienced from Q1 to Q4 of the 2021 fiscal year.
On a provincial level, Prince Edward Island recorded both the highest LOR, at 20.5 days, and the most significant change, with the province seeing an average 9.2 day increase from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023.
Quebec followed PEI with the second most drastic change to LOR, experiencing an increase of four days over the past year and recording the fourth highest LOR, 18.8 days, of the seven provinces accounted for by the report.
Ontario, while only seeing a comparatively small increase of 2.8 days, currently has the second-highest LOR nationally, coming in at an average of 19.7 days.
Director of claims performance at Mitchell International, Ryan Mandell, shared some of his insights within the report, saying “the refinish process is increasingly lengthening in Canada with the average number of refinish hours increasing from 8.53 to 8.55, and average number of blend lines increasing from 0.57 to 0.6.”
“While these numbers may seem minute at best, we can expect these numbers to continue to increase as supplements develop over the course of the next several months.”
Drivable LOR rates are relatively stable, with the report marking a “modest increase” of 1.8 days nationally from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023.
In Ontario, drivable LOR peaked at 14.4 days; a 1.9 day increase over the year and the highest overall rate in Canada.
The province that saw the most significant increase to drivable LOR, however, was PEI, where an increase of 6.8 days from Q1 2022 was recorded, bringing the small province to an LOR of 13.4 days—the second highest in the country.
Non-drivable claims saw an average LOR increase of about 6.8 days across Canada, which Enterprise considered to have greatly contributed to the general LOR increase of three days.
Rentals for non-drivable claims now sit at about 32.6 days nationally, with PEI recording the highest LOR provincially, up 13.5 to 40.4 days.
Nova Scotia recorded a non-drivable LOR of 36.1 days, followed closely behind by Ontario and Alberta at 35 and 34.7 days respectively.
Concerning total losses, Canada saw a 5.1 day increase, bringing the national LOR to 26 days for Q1 2023.
Nova Scotia and PEI both surpassed the national average, each recording average rentals of 28 days and marking increases of 11.4 and 14 days respectively.
An excerpt from the report’s summary reads as follows: “The results for the first quarter of this year are significant, with LOR exacerbated by supply chain disruptions, parts delays, collision repair backlogs, and technician shortages.”
“With the complexity of vehicle repairs only increasing, for both internal combustion engine (ICE) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) models, the entire industry must play a part in ensuring all collision-related businesses are aligned—not just for procedural solutions, but to ensure our mutual customers receive safe and proper repairs, an excellent experience, and peace of mind.”
