The UK’s National Body Repair Association (NBRA) has written to the British Secretary of State urging government to support motorists who are waiting up to 60 days for vehicle repairs.
Chris Weeks, Executive Director at NBRA, said strike action and rising costs of the national transport system are causing more people to drive their vehicles and with high demand for crash repairs, “waiting times can be over two months”.
“It is estimated that up to £600 million is being withheld from [repairers] due to unnecessary repair and claims delays caused by restrictive insurer contracts or claims processes,” said Weeks.
“Insurers are trying to keep costs as low as possible, but this is causing major backlogs at these repair centres, with drivers waiting up to two months for their vehicles to be repaired.”
Weeks said many of these delays could be avoided if insurers allowed consumers to choose a non-insurance contracted repair centre.
“The NBRA believes that tougher time limits should be set, with heavy fines and compensation payments for claims which are delayed unnecessarily in the future, and restrictions such as doubling of excesses that deter freedom of choice for the motorist should be removed,” he said.
“I also wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport responsible for the country’s transport system. The NBRA will keep lobbying the government to make sure the insurance industry is called into account for the delays that are causing issues for motorists, independent repairers, and the economy.”