Q: I have written my quote in hours can I print or email the quote in dollars ?

A: Crashzone makes it easy to convert the quote from hours to dollars, from the view page click on the dollar tick box. The estimate will change from hours to dollar format and is now ready to be printed or emailed.

With the ever increasing demand by insurers for assessments by digital imaging, here are a few tips from an experienced assessor on this subject.

The No 1 Cardinal Rule is “If you could not quote from the photos how do you expect the assessor to assess the damage from these photos.”

Good quotes and good photos get proper and fair assessments.
It saves your valuable time just to take a little more time initially taking proper and sufficient numbers of photographs than having to be requested by the assessor to send more because they can not clearly see all the damage you have quoted. Digital photography is quick and easy, just click & save.

Camera Settings:

Some very high quality digital cameras are on the market today some boasting 8 megapixels or more.For digital images for transmission over the internet, high resolution settings are DEFINITELY NOT THE WAY TO GO.
High resolution is fine if you want to print high quality photos; however these take a large slice of computer memory and take a long time to send.  In some cases services will not accept large files and your emails will be rejected. There is little or no difference in the detail of the image seen on the computer screen between high and low resolution. For the purposes of images with quotes, settings of less than 1 megapixel are quite adequate.  (the setting we use is 640×480)  These will transmit quickly and take up much less memory on your computers hard drive.
The resolution setting on all digital cameras are easily adjustable.

Photos of the Damage

Approach the photography in the same way you look at the vehicle and the damage when you write you quote.

Your photos should include:-

1. An overview of the whole vehicle. (the rego no if registered).
2. The vehicle badges to identify the model.
3. Compliance Plate, Paint Code (very important).
4. Engine & Transmission type.
5. Registration Label and Odometer Reading.

You are now ready for the damage in detail.

1. Overview of the damaged area.  Stand back just a little as you would when you first look at the damage.
2. Then take a closer photo which shows the damage in more detail. (Remember to let the camera focus before you click the shutter).  In some cases you may need to adjust the camera settings to MACRO for really close shots.
3. Take photos from different angles just as though you would move your angle of sight looking at the damage.
4. Where possible remove parts such as bar covers so the damage behind can be exposed.
5. Avoid using the flash as much as possible especially for close ups. (the image whites out with the flash)

It is suggested you photograph all the vehicles you quote, firstly for your own records, (helps if the owner tries to tell you “this damage was not there when we left the vehicle with you”) and secondly it will save more time if you don’t have to request the owner or third party to call back for photos.

And Remember:

The No 1 Cardinal Rule is “If you could not quote from the photos how do you expect the assessor to assess the damage from these photos.”

Follow these easy steps and you will save much of your valuable time and get the work authority much sooner

With Crashzone you can set the default text that appears on the bottom of the printed quote, parts list and invoice.  

Click on the settings link at the top of any page in Crashzone to access the settings.

Type in the text as you would like it to appear on the printed quote. When finished click submit to save and close the settings page.

 The quote will now appear with the comments that you have entered.

With the ever increasing demand by insurers for assessments by digital imaging, here are a few tips from an experienced assessor on this subject.

The No 1 Cardinal Rule is “If you could not quote from the photos how do you expect the assessor to assess the damage from these photos.”

Good quotes and good photos get proper and fair assessments.
It saves your valuable time just to take a little more time initially taking proper and sufficient numbers of photographs than having to be requested by the assessor to send more because they can not clearly see all the damage you have quoted. Digital photography is quick and easy, just click & save.

Camera Settings:

Some very high quality digital cameras are on the market today some boasting 8 megapixels or more.For digital images for transmission over the internet, high resolution settings are DEFINITELY NOT THE WAY TO GO.
High resolution is fine if you want to print high quality photos; however these take a large slice of computer memory and take a long time to send.  In some cases services will not accept large files and your emails will be rejected. There is little or no difference in the detail of the image seen on the computer screen between high and low resolution. For the purposes of images with quotes, settings of less than 1 megapixel are quite adequate.  (the setting we use is 640×480)  These will transmit quickly and take up much less memory on your computers hard drive.
The resolution setting on all digital cameras are easily adjustable.

Photos of the Damage

Approach the photography in the same way you look at the vehicle and the damage when you write you quote.

Your photos should include:-

1. An overview of the whole vehicle. (the rego no if registered).
2. The vehicle badges to identify the model.
3. Compliance Plate, Paint Code (very important).
4. Engine & Transmission type.
5. Registration Label and Odometer Reading.

You are now ready for the damage in detail.

1. Overview of the damaged area.  Stand back just a little as you would when you first look at the damage.
2. Then take a closer photo which shows the damage in more detail. (Remember to let the camera focus before you click the shutter).  In some cases you may need to adjust the camera settings to MACRO for really close shots.
3. Take photos from different angles just as though you would move your angle of sight looking at the damage.
4. Where possible remove parts such as bar covers so the damage behind can be exposed.
5. Avoid using the flash as much as possible especially for close ups. (the image whites out with the flash)

It is suggested you photograph all the vehicles you quote, firstly for your own records, (helps if the owner tries to tell you “this damage was not there when we left the vehicle with you”) and secondly it will save more time if you don’t have to request the owner or third party to call back for photos.

And Remember:

The No 1 Cardinal Rule is “If you could not quote from the photos how do you expect the assessor to assess the damage from these photos.”

Follow these easy steps and you will save much of your valuable time and get the work authority much sooner.

Hello and welcome to Crashzone,

My name is Winston Okeefe and i am the managing director and owner of Crashzone the 1st free web based estimating software for smash repairers. Crashzone is a web based program and does not require any installation or expensive networks to run, any computer with internet access can be used with Crashzone.

Crashzone is completely FREE there are no fees, bills or charges. This may sound to good to be true but it is the case.
Crashzone was first released on the 1st of July 2007 and we have been growing steadily since that day. One of the major benefits of being a web based system is that our system is dynamic and open to the suggestions and feedback of it’s users and not just a  stagnant first generation software program of the past.

Above is a picture of me at the 2007 NACE trade show which was held in Las Vegas.
The trip to Las Vegas was a good opportunity to see how repairs are conducted in the USA and to check out  new technologies and get an idea of what we can expect in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to sign up and have a look at Crashzone there is nothing to lose, within 2 minutes you can be writing your first estimate.

To my existing customers i would like to thank you for signing up and using the system i hope that Crashzone will continue to be your number 1 choice for a quote system.