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2nd October 2006

National Consumer Council chairman Larry Whitty held talks on Tuesday with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), after it emerged that the car servicing and repair industry will miss last weekend’s first deadline towards a fairer deal for Britain’s 25 million motorists.

The car servicing industry, said the OFT’s news release, “has an appalling track record of shocking practices that are estimated to cost motorists a massive £4 billion every year”. Six months ago, the NCC gave the trade a timetable and plan of action to raise standards across the industry, or face an NCC supercomplaint and the threat of regulation.

Last weekend was a milestone on this route to higher standards, when a cross-industry code of practice led by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) should have completed ‘Stage One’ of the OFT’s Consumer Codes Approval Scheme.

Commenting on the missed deadline, NCC senior policy advocate, Steve Brooker said: “While NCC is frustrated that our deadline has not been met, we are pleased that substantial progress has been made. The tricky issues have been resolved and it’s now a matter of finishing the job quickly.

“Making a super-complaint now, when so much has been achieved could jeopardise an early improvement in service standards for millions of consumers. The OFT is impressed by industry progress towards completing Stage One of its codes approval scheme, a factor we took into account in our decision”.

But Brooker warned that it was now vital to keep up the momentum: “To make sure there’s no sliding back, NCC will be holding regular monthly meetings with the DTI, the OFT and the code’s sponsor, the SMMT. The option of an NCC super-complaint against the industry remains on the table should there be more delay or the process breaks down.”

Colin Brown, Director, Market Transformation, at OFT, said: “We’re very pleased with the progress made on the Motor Industry Service and Repair code and the commitment shown by the SMMT. We’ve been impressed by their determination to prepare a code which effectively addresses difficult and long-standing issues. If this impetus is kept up, we expect to see rapid progress towards completion of Stage One.

“It’s also encouraging to note the progress made on other motor industry codes, whose sponsors are also working positively with the OFT to achieve or maintain approval.’

- The SMMT’s chief executive Christopher Macgowan commented, “This is positive news. However, this is also a call to arms for the industry. We must be prepared to continue to work hard together for consumers to deliver a robust Code. We understand why the NCC set a deadline, however, it is important that we also appreciate the work that OFT must do to ensure any Code is robust; we will continue to work closely with the OFT through the Sherpa group to ensure any outstanding concerns are dealt with quickly and to report progress to the NCC.”

The ‘Sherpa Code Working Group’ was set up under the direction of DTI to drive a Service and Repair Code, developed by key stakeholders in the industry. It meets regularly and includes representatives of trade associations like the RMIF, SMMT, IMI, as well as franchised and independent motor traders.