The Motor Trade Association welcomes the Economic and Finance Committee’s report into the Motor Vehicle Insurance and Repair Industry in South Australia.
MTA CEO Paul Unerkov said “We have been working towards a mandated Code of Conduct for the Motor Vehicle Insurance and Repair Industry in South Australia and the recommendations by the Committee are a big step forward.
“The 11 recommendations look to create a fair and functional relationship between insurers and collision repairers. The MTA strongly encourages the Government to accept all recommendations and mandate the Code of Conduct along with a binding mediation process and appropriate financial penalties for breaches, particularly recommendation 1:
‘The South Australian Government introduce legislation to mandate the Motor Vehicle Insurance and Repair Industry Code of Conduct (Code of Conduct) in South Australia as well as provisions for:
- a binding mediation process to enable the expedited resolution of internal disputes between motor vehicle insurers and crash repairers, overseen by a suitable independent authority, such as the Small Business Commissioner or the Commissioner for Consumer and Business Services;
- appropriate financial penalties for breaches of the Code of Conduct to ensure compliance by all parties;’
“The recommendations, if implemented, will go a long way towards increasing transparency, consumer choice and awareness across the motor vehicle insurance and repair industry, while maintaining consumer safety by ensuring that at all motor vehicles repaired as part of insurance claims are restored to their pre-accident condition.
“The MTA would like to thank the Committee for their hard work and diligence in recognising the need to increase consumer transparency and fairness in the industry,” Unerkov concluded.