March 2020

manufacturer, producer or distributor. Because the regulation is written in a very generic way, we have a code of practice. That sets out between us and the manufacturers and in turn their distributors, the car dealers, how that works for vehicles and components. “The other bit worth mentioning is around defect reporting. A lot of what we do is around manufacturers and their representatives, in terms of what happens to a product. We do also offer a service for the general public, to report to us when they think there is a problem that they think is dangerous. They can report it to us, then we go away and investigate, probably with the manufacturer, and work out what needs to be done. Those two services, defect reporting and recalls, go hand in hand. “The broad brush of recall stays pretty static. The essential concept, that when a product is found to be unsafe, the manufacturer will recall it, they will arrange to get the key details from DVLA, who are not DVSA – a lot of people get those two things confused – which is who are the registered keeper of those vehicles, and arrange to get those recalled. That broad process has been fairly similar for quite a while. There are some things that need to improve about it, and there are some things we have already done. We have a new code of practice with industry. That builds on one we had before, but makes it far more obvious where the responsibilities are. We have learned from the high-profile recall campaigns where things have not gone quite right, and where responsibilities were unclear.” Data Data is part of the mix: “We have also done various things about making information more publicaly available. Something that governments have become much better at is realising that they hold a lot of data, and if we can make that available, there are lots of benefits, both in terms of public access, and giving other organisations access, do clever things with it, and by and large do those things for safety. We recently made available recall data by vehicle type. We have also made available specific data on outstanding recalls via our MOT history service. This is an online service that anyone can go onto, a find out the MOT history of any car, and increasingly of any vehicle type. What we have added is the data on our standard recalls, on the majority of vehicle types. At the moment that is not our data, at the moment we are accessing that through the SMMT, but what we have done is serviced it in a very public place. “While the broad process of recalls is pretty static, there are improvements that could be made. Now the code is in place, the focus is on making sure that is adhered to and understood, but also looking for where that operational improvement could be. That could be about how we improve the take-up of recalls. We still see, that with all the best efforts, it can still take a lot of effort to get people to bring their vehicles in to be fixed. That is a combination of things. Some is about prodding the member of public to do the right thing. Part of it though is looking at whether we are being imaginative enough to make it worthwhile to people. Does it feel like it is a bit of a hassle to drive 40 miles to a dealership to get a car fixed? Might there be other ways we can help people get their car made safe? Improving take-up of recalls is quite a focus.” On upcoming possible changes, Neil had this to say: “We are investigating linking recalls with the MOT. We have not made a decision yet, but it does seem fairly obvious to me that the MOT is a touch point with that vehicle. If we do want to encourage people to get recalls fixed, it is an opportunity to chivvy them along. That could range from an opportunity to tell them about an outstanding recall, to the extreme of that where it is an opportunity to fail the MOT if you have an outstanding recall.” Neil added: “There are a few practicalities to think about like whether we have up-to-date data, or which recalls are outstanding. You also need to give people time to respond and get to the dealer. As a proposition though, it would make sense to me to join those things together.” This is an interesting idea, but if a driver is getting an MOT with an independent, and does not have any contact with the brand’s dealers, and a recall is an issue, why not allow independents to action the work required? Independents have been 10 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2020 BIG ISSUE Below: Dean Hedger www.aftermarketonline.net Improving take- up of recalls is quite a focus ”