Collision estimating systems: CCC, Mitchell and Audatex

A collision estimating system holds a database for each vehicle: the automaker's part numbers and list prices, and a labor time for each operation, such as removing and replacing a part, repairing it or refinishing it. The estimator picks the damaged parts and the operations the repair needs, adds anything the database doesn't cover, and the system prices the estimate and sends it to the insurer's claim system in a format it accepts.

The labor times are a guide, not a rule. Each provider publishes procedure pages, the P-pages, saying what its times include and leave out, and the estimator's judgment fills the gaps. That's where most of the money in an estimate is won or lost.

Three systems write almost all US insurance estimates:

You pick a system mostly by the insurers you work with, because their direct repair programs say which one they want. Public examples:

• State Farm required its Select Service shops to use CCC from April 1, 2021. Since September 2025, shops can choose CCC ONE or Mitchell Cloud Estimating, with go-live dates set state by state.
• Progressive has used Mitchell as its main claims technology provider since 2010 and renewed the contract in April 2026. Its network shops must use Mitchell Estimating, electronic funds transfer and its WebTracker job-status system.

In the 2019 survey, an insurer's requirement was a leading reason shops bought each system: 51.2% of Audatex users, 35% of Mitchell users and 31.1% of CCC users gave it. Ask each insurer you work with which system it writes in, and whether it will accept estimates from yours. Customer-pay work doesn't need any of them: a clear written estimate the customer signs is enough, as our guide to writing an auto body estimate explains.

Every provider publishes procedure pages, often called P-pages (Audatex calls its guide the Database Reference Manual). They say what each labor time assumes and includes. Anything a time doesn't include must go on the estimate as its own line, or the shop does it for free. Examples the DEG has confirmed with the providers:

• An A/C leak check isn't included in removing and replacing A/C parts (Mitchell and CCC).
• Test welds before structural welding aren't included (Mitchell).
• In-process scans aren't included in any of the three systems.
• In CCC's guide, an operation that isn't listed is presumed not included.

Reading the labor notes

In CCC, whose labor data comes from MOTOR, a note marked “INCL” means the operation is included. A note showing a labor time means it isn't included and gives the time to add. A blank note means it isn't included and no time has been set, so you enter your own. CCC ONE keeps the P-pages under its Guide tab. In Mitchell, check both the labor notes and the P-pages; the labor notes don't print on the estimate.

Checking for missed operations

The Society of Collision Repair Specialists publishes a free Guide to Complete Repair Planning: 1,033 commonly missed operations in 37 sections, from bumpers to the final bill, including pre-repair and post-repair scans, calibrations and teardown for a complete estimate. It has no prices or times, and SCRS says not every item applies to every job. Its Blueprint Optimization Tool, now part of EstimateIQ, runs the same check against an estimate.

When a labor time is wrong, a part is missing or a note doesn't match the vehicle, report it to the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG). It's free, it covers CCC, Mitchell and Audatex, and the shop associations AASP and SCRS created and fund it.

• You fill in one standard form, whichever database the problem is in.
• Give first-hand detail: the vehicle, what you did, how long it took and photos. "I need more time" isn't enough.
• You get an email when the inquiry is received, sent to the provider and answered, and an advocate follows it through.
• Inquiries and answers are public, so search them first: someone may have asked already.

The DEG can't make a provider change its database, and it doesn't give repair procedures. It does work: inquiries led to more than 1,000 changes to the providers' databases in 2024, and in the first quarter of 2025 to 281 changes worth about 337 labor units. About 30% of 2025 inquiries led to a change.

Retyping an estimate into your shop management system wastes time and invites mistakes. The Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) sets the standards for moving estimate data between systems:

How each system shares estimates differs. As reported in 2021, CCC sends estimates to other software only through its Secure Share connection, where the shop switches sharing on or off for each app. Mitchell lets users export EMS or BMS files locally. Audatex offers BMS through its business integration services rather than a local download. Ask the providers what applies now, and ask any shop management vendor which systems it can read from.

More and more insurance estimates start from photos. In CCC's data for 2025, 26.4% of repairable claims were appraised from photos, against 46.7% at direct repair shops, 16.5% by insurers' staff appraisers and 6.9% by independent appraisers. All three providers sell AI tools for it:

• CCC: Estimating IQ (2021) fills in a first estimate from photos, and Mobile Jumpstart 2.0 (August 2026) works on a phone; CCC says it captures 84% of the final bill in 70 seconds.
• Mitchell: Intelligent Estimating became available in 2020, and Mitchell added Tractable's AI in 2021.
• Solera: Qapter has built estimates from photos since 2021.

A photo estimate is a starting point. Hidden damage, scans and calibrations, and operations the database doesn't include still come out when the car is taken apart, so plan to blueprint the repair and document what you find.

None of the three publishes shop pricing, so compare written quotes:

• Start with your insurers: which system each direct repair program requires or accepts, and which ones you'd lose without it.
• List the modules you'd actually use, such as estimating, parts ordering, photo tools and management add-ons, and the number of users.
• Get the price in writing, with the contract's length, renewal terms and notice period.
• Check how the system shares your estimates with other software, and what that costs.
• Ask how the provider handles database errors and how quickly it answers DEG inquiries.