NCC spells out the steps

Ahead of a new nationwide survey that is expected to 'confirm' shocking car servicing practices across the UK, the National Consumer Council (NCC) has spelled out the steps the industry must take to get its house in order. This should include setting up a single, industry-wide redress scheme. In the two months since NCC threatened action against the £6 billion a year industry, some progress has been made. The Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI), now plans to apply to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to agree a code of practice to raise standards. Meanwhile the IMI launched its Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) scheme just last week. NCC is now calling on the government to give the RMI and the Scottish Motor Trade Association no more than 9 months – until 31 March – to complete the code approval process. Missing the deadline would mean government regulation to improve standards. NCC suggests two regulatory options - a levy on garages to fund regional compliance centres’ to carry out under-cover quality checks, or a licensing scheme for technicians and/or garages. Philip Cullum, NCC deputy chief executive, said: "We’ve been here before - with 11 attempts to raise standards in the last 30 years – which is why we want a challenging but realistic deadline for agreement on a properly policed self-regulatory code. If this attempt fails, self-regulation will be dead in the water. Government regulation will be the only way forward.’