Public believe licensing already implimented

22 October 2014  

The IMI has again called for the UK Government to look at licensing the retail motor trade as new research shows 70% of the public believe such a scheme exists.

The industry body carried out a survey of 2,000 drivers, with 71% saying they believed anyone working on a car commercially would have a license to do so.  However, there is currently no regulation on individuals in the motor industry. 59% of drivers said they wouldn’t let anyone work on their car that didn’t know what they were doing, but only 10% knew how to check a technician’s qualifications.

IMI says UK consumers are completely unaware of how vulnerable they are. They believe the Government is taking care of their safety and their rights, but they have a level of trust in their service provider, which may be entirely groundless.

Steve Nash, CEO of the IMI comments: “The majority of motorists choose a garage or mechanic without sufficient information to verify their competence to do the job. This is a serious cause for concern as data from Brake, the road safety charity, reported that there were over 3,000 crashes in Britain were caused by vehicle defects as a result of inadequate maintenance in 2011.

“The proliferation of hybrid vehicles and complex driver assist systems has already increased the skills requirements for effective and safe working on modern vehicles. But currently there is no industry-wide license in place to ensure service technicians are properly qualified. Without the proper training, car mechanics are increasingly putting themselves and motorists at risk.”