Motor vehicle repairers in St George are expected to voice their concerns about the state of their industry to Oatley MP Mark Coure at a Peakhurst meeting tonight (October 29).
The repairers claim that because of the stranglehold the insurance companies have over the car repair industry, many are going out of business and many car owners are getting dodgy repair jobs.
They say the insurance companies force their clients’ vehicles into their own ‘‘sweatshops’’ where because of the pressure to reduce costs, cars are not always repaired properly.
They want to put pressure on the state government to clean up the industry by implementing recommendations from a recent inquiry.
During a six-month inquiry, the bipartisan select committee on the motor vehicle repair industry found that poor quality vehicle repair practices were putting motorists at risk and that a major imbalance existed in favour of insurance companies over smash repairers.
A total of 21 recommendations were made, the most important of which included the licensing of motor vehicle assessors to ensure quality, updating the code, providing smash repairers access to the NSW Small Business Commissioner, and ensuring that insurers did not prevent motorists from exercising their choice of repairer if their policy allowed it.
But the government had chosen to go with only one recommendation.
Long established Peakhurst smash repairer Terry Flanagan said the whole industry was in a mess.
‘‘The insurance companies want the cheapest deal so they run their own shops which don’t always do top quality work,’’ he said.
‘‘Small business is getting bashed big time here by insurance companies and the owners are denied their choice of repairers.
‘‘I’m always getting cars whose owners are saying they have not been fixed properly.’’
A spokeswoman for Matthew Mason-Cox, the Minister for Fair Trading said it was not correct to say that the government had chosen to go with only one recommendation as it had yet to respond to any of the recommendations.
She said the select committee issued its report in July and the government was required to provide a response by January 2, 2015.
‘‘The NSW Government is actively considering these recommendations and a whole-of-government response will be provided at the earliest opportunity,’’ she said.
The meeting, supported by Right2Drive and the Motor Traders Association, will begin at 6.30pm at Right2Drive, 5 Durkin Place, Peakhurst.
Have you had a problem with your car repairs?