When are the correct vehicles going to be repaired by the correct manufacture-approved bodyshops, asks ANDY PENNELL, group operations manager at Balgores Motors?
We keep investing large sums of money to maintain our vehicle manufacture approvals, only to see most insurance companies directing their insured, and in some case the third party vehicle, into their own approved bodyshops.
Some years ago it looked like the penny had dropped and this was going to happen, but we were wrong.
It’s not just the high-end vehicles that have the latest technology anymore. Most new vehicles on the road today need some technical understanding to ensure the safe repair.
We are also in the same place as we always have been where vehicles are declared a total loss then appear on a web-based salvage auction site for sale. Some of these vehicles are a total loss because they require specialist equipment and methods to carry out a safe repair. Once purchased on the internet, there is no control on the safe repair of these vehicles.
Things need to change and change quickly – as I often say, the definition of an fool is to do the same things over and over again expecting a different result!
