NBRA ‘disappointed’ over Europcar allegations

“The National Body Repair Association (NBRA) is disappointed to see Europcar has been  accused in press reports of fraudulently overcharging customers for repairs as Trading Standards raided its UK head office over the weekend,” comments Jason Moseley, NBRA director.

Press reports include allegations that Trading Standards is investigating the car hire firm over billing concerns including overcharging for repairs – meaning the firm may have profited to the tune of millions of pounds by inflating the cost to consumers of windscreens and other repairs by up to 300 per cent.

Moseley continues: “Whilst this is yet to be confirmed, the news of this investigation is very disappointing for the vehicle body repair sector, as it casts a shadow over those who do a great job repairing vehicles correctly, safely, and with controlled cost for the benefit of consumers.

“Our body repair sector is dealing with increasing levels of complexity in modern motor vehicles and yet continues to strive to optimise costs of repair. This is often to the detriment of their own businesses finances.

“NBRA members work to stringent codes of practice approved by Trading Standards, however there is an increasing trend that large corporates are pressurising the bodyshop SME´s to work with opaque practices and poor commercial terms.

“We will be bringing this to the attention of the Small Business minister and demanding an investigation with the objective to bring fairness to the body shops and ultimately protect the consumer.”