Skills shortage could lead to rise in liability claims, experts say

Demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is highlighting a 'shortcoming' technical know-how for garages

Skills shortage could lead to rise in liability claims, experts say
The rising demand for electric and hybrid powered vehicles is highlighting a shortcoming in the skillset of many vehicle repairers, say Unipart Autoparts.

The concerns have been raised by Unipart Autoparts and Automotive Insurance specialist Bollingtons who say many vehicle repairers lack the ability to properly service electric and hybrid vehicles, specifically the batteries of such vehicles.

According to the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), there are currently 1,000 trained technicians across the UK qualified to service such vehicles.

Demand for electric and hybrid vehicles is predicted to surge over the next few years, with the number of vehicles dwarfing the number of technicians available to service them.

This is particularly true in large cities such as London, where electric vehicles are increasingly being adopted by drivers looking to keep the cost of motoring down by avoiding the congestion charge, taking advantage of an exemption on vehicle tax, and seeing free or reduced price parking for their vehicles.

In January, the SMMT reported that the number of new cars eligible for the government’s plug-in car grant scheme rose from 14,532 to 28,188 over the last year, almost doubling the number of eligible cars on the road.

Figures show that demand for pure electric vehicles and hybrids is surging, with sales of the rising 48 per cent and 133 per cent respectively over the last year.

Insurance concerns

In a recent press release, Unipart Autoparts said: “The question is, does your business have fully qualified technicians to work on these vehicles?

“From an insurance perspective, this is becoming an increasing concern.

“If work is carried out on the battery of such a vehicle and issues then arise due to work carried out by inappropriately qualified technicians, then there is the potential for liability claims to be made.

“This is particularly true if other components in the car end up damaged, or there is resulting injury to a person as a direct result of failings in workmanship.

“With driverless vehicles set to become a mainstream reality over the next couple of decades, it always pays to be looking ahead at what developments are coming next, to plan for the future.”

To find out more about the Unipart Car Care Centre Programme contact 01865 383482 or email [email protected].

To make sure that you are appropriately insured – whatever the needs of your business – speak to Bollington Insurance, the approved insurance broker for Unipart Car Care Centre members on 0800 970 2692 or select ‘more details’ below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Have your say!

0 0

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.