Industry News from Yes Insurance

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has commended the work of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in setting up a service and repair code.

The SMMT acted to establish a code for the sector after a number of complaints which were set to culminate in a super complaint from the National Consumer Council (NCC).

NCC had threatened to launch the complaint on September 30th, but, after seeing the progress that has been made, this has been withdrawn.

"This is positive news," commented SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan.

"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."

The super complaint is on hold pending further progress, and a draft code has been submitted to the OFT.

"We understand why the NCC set a deadline," said Christopher Macgowan. "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," he added.

The introduction of the code is widely regarded as a positive move for the industry and its customers and it is hoped that with standards of practice raised there will be fewer car insurance claims.

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