Two operations that finance companies likely know and perhaps use their services — Dealertrack and IAA — now are working closely together.

On Thursday, Dealertrack announced a new integration with IAA. The companies said bringing together two technology solutions — IAA Loan Payoff and Dealertrack Accelerated Title — will help mitigate the time-consuming process of managing a total loss claim requiring contract payoff and title release.

Combined, the companies indicated this integration now offers finance companies and insurers one cohesive digital solution that can deliver positive and negative equity functionality, real-time payoff quotes, letters of guarantee, access to title vaults and direct connection, and ACH payments to finance companies.

According to a news release, the joint solution is currently in alpha pilot testing and will enter beta pilot testing in December.

Based on internal analysis and interactions with multiple insurance providers, IAA estimated that there are more than 5 million vehicles declared a total loss each year and approximately 60% to 70% have loans that need to be paid off.  IAA pegged the historically manual workflow of the total loss process typically taking 45 to 90 days to complete end-to-end.

Based on the average price for vehicles declared total losses, IAA contends this process can tie up billions of dollars and slow consumers from returning to the auto retail market to purchase their next vehicle. IAA added this situation also can negatively impact the customer experience and impede the productivity and profitability of finance companies, insurers and the salvage auctions.

Integrating Dealertrack Accelerated Title and IAA Loan Payoff is geared to expand access to vehicle titles for all parties — finance copanies, insurers and salvage auctions. The companies believe the integration creates a more digital, automated workflow that can speed up the balance payoff and title release process, lowering operational costs and easing friction between all parties. 

“Time is money and lenders and insurers today cannot afford to get bogged down by the lengthy total loss settlement and lien payoff process,” said Kaitlin Gavin, vice president and general manager of Dealertrack Registration and Title Solutions. “Dealertrack Accelerated Title is a solution that no one else in the auto industry offers.

Since inception, we have helped dealers efficiently submit more than $4 billion dollars in loan payoffs and receive expedited titles to ensure they can turn their inventory effectively,” Gavin continued in a news release.

“Partnering with IAA allows us to offer similar benefits to the total loss market, enabling insurers and lenders to seamlessly navigate total loss claims with negative equity that require a letter of guarantee from the lender,” Gavin went on to say.

Dealertrack sources auto financing from more than 7,400 provider partners and manages more than 52 million paper and electronic titles, making the company one of the largest automotive title management company in the U.S.

Dealertrack said its Accelerated Title solution can reduce the time it takes to process vehicle payoff and title release by up to 70%, creating cost savings for dealers accepting trade-ins.

Meanwhile, IAA Loan Payoff can enable digital connectivity between insurance companies and auto-finance companies to address negative equity liens and a letter of guarantee resulting in a faster total loss settlement and lien payoff process. 

“We are pleased to be partnering with Dealertrack to address some of the most crucial pain points in the total loss claims process,” said Tim O’Day, president of U.S. operations for IAA.

“By linking our strong insurer partner base with Dealertrack’s robust network of lenders, we’re building an unprecedented digital connection to ensure titles can be processed and claims can be closed faster than ever,” O’Day added.