The National Association of Bodyshops (NAB) is urging the Government to introduce a new code of practice to control the sale and repair of motor vehicle salvage.

The NAB met with Barry Sheerman, MP and chairman of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety, (PACTS) and Maria Ullah at the Department for Transport (DfT) to discuss its concerns surrounding motor vehicle salvage control and the risks it presents to the public.

During the meetings, NAB expressed concerns on a number of issues including the lack of protection offered to consumers in relation to the unregulated sale and repair of motor vehicle salvage, both under the present code of practice and the proposed new code of practice.

NAB also spoke of inaccuracies and misleading information in the current Consumer Guide for Buying a repaired written off vehicle and the potential risks associated with the sale and repair of vehicles on an online auction site which were being sold as repairable propositions.

Frank Harvey, head of the NAB, said: “We were advised by the DfT that the Consumer Guide had been compiled by leading industry organisations which make the inaccuracy even more concerning, and since our meetings we have offered to draft alternative wording for the guide.

“Our meeting with PACTS was positive and they were keen to engage in further future discussions.  Since then we have requested information from the Driving Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in relation to the number of vehicle written off each year and the numbers associated to particular salvage categories and how many certificates of destruction are issued each year.”