We’ve been using our Seat Leon for more than six months now and it’s never missed a beat. But it has been subject to someone’s human error – while parked in our company car park, an 8in-high scuff mysteriously appeared on the offside edge of its front bumper.

Fixing it proved to be little inconvenience. A web search for Seat-approved accident repair took us to the service and accessories section of Seat UK’s website, from which a link to ‘find your nearest repair centre’ did exactly what it said on the button. Our local VW Group-approved accident repair centre, Gladwins Body Repair Centre, was barely more than a mile from AM’s office on the edge of Peterborough.

An email to the Gladwins team, together with a few smartphone photos of the scuffed paintwork, was sufficient to get its vehicle damage assessors on the case. Gladwins sent an emailed estimate from its ATA-accredited assessor for the retail repair cost, detailing the work to be done, labour charges and parts and materials cost. All was agreed and the fix was booked for a week later, with pre-payment taken over the phone.

While any accident damage is a stress, it was alleviated by the ease of the assessment and booking process. Gladwins even has a YouTube video on its website promoting its same-day minor repair capability.

Come the repair day, our drop-off of the Leon was as smooth as the online experience. Gladwins’ reception staff were very professional, needed no reminding of the reason it was coming in and then called us before the end of the day to say it was repaired and ready for collection.

Now polished to within an inch of its life, it’s like a new car again.