Helpline is Lifeline for Repairers

THATCHAM, UNITED KINGDOM – April 14, 2009: Nearly 17,000 crash damaged vehicles were repaired safely and returned to UK roads thanks to Thatcham, during a record breaking first quarter for the new Technical Helpline service.

Thatcham’s Technical Helpline was launched as an interactive web portal in January 2009, providing repairers with a one-stop-shop of reliable technical vehicle repair information. Thatcham’s technicians research and collate repair information from a range of verifiable sources and with three distinct service levels in place, repairers not only have the confidence in the method, but also the timeliness of the delivery of information, based on a guaranteed 1, 3 or 5 day turnaround.

Thatcham’s Technical Helpline started life as a single telephone point manned by one technician, but following the launch of the Vehicle Body Repair Kitemark in 2007, the need for a better way of handling the increasing number of technical enquiries quickly became evident. Thatcham introduced a simple email based system to which more than 30,000 technical enquiries were logged and closed 2008. Meanwhile Thatcham’s IT Development team were creating an intuitive web portal to effectively manage the demand for technical information now and in the future. Launched at the start of 2009, the latest figures from the new portal continue to show a rise in the number of enquiries with 16,976 in the first quarter alone, equating to over 1,200 per week. Thatcham have put in place a team of 5 technical experts to field these often complex enquiries.

“We’ve seen an extraordinary number of enquiries coming through this quarter,” confirmed Stuart Anstie, Manager of Thatcham’s Technical Vehicle Body Repair Team, “most of these requests are for repair methods, along with a significant number in relation to the Kitemark, from those who wish to discuss deviation from standard recognised repair methods. We have a highly experienced team in place who understand the current issues and can deal with a wide range of technical enquiries. The team have responded to the demand and along with the introduction of the new portal have provided an extremely efficient and professional service.”

As the number of Kitemarked repairers continues to rise, Thatcham are certain to be handling an ever increasing number of technical repair enquiries. From the point of view of repairers, insurers and fleet managers, as well as the motoring public, this is a really positive step in the pursuit of safe, quality vehicle repair.