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New paint guide sparks row
Page 135
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11 Insurance industry plans to force a 24% reduction in the minimum amount of paint used in spray mixes has sparked a furious row between the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association (VBRA) and the Motor Insurance Research Centre IMIRC).
The VBRA has angrily withdrawn from talks with Thatchambased MIRC about its new paint guide for workshop managers and insurance assessors, saying that it is "totally exasperated" with the insurance industry's short-sighted recommendations.
The argument has arisen over the minimum quantity of paint that can satisfactorily be mixed. The VBRA reckons that MIRC has replaced its own researched figures with some from a single bodyshop to show that as little as 100m1 of paint can be mixed satisfactorily without wastage.
"I think these people have lost touch with reality", says VBRA director general, Bob McCartney. "They have become obsessed with fractions of figures and forgotten that someone is supposed to be making a good job of respraying a vehicle to the customer's satisfaction". Ile is also questioning MIRC's role following "this move away from its own research figures".
But MIRC general manager Patrick Forster disputes the claims, calling them "an unwar ranted assault on the MIRC and the insurance industry. We have been testing the new figures since September." he says, "and URA members have been present during some of the tests".
The minimum quantities have been reduced by 24% since the last guide was published in 1988 because paints have improved, Forster asserts.
For the VBRA, Robert Hadfield. says that these improved paints are only applicable to a small number of newer vehicles, and that the latest MIRC figures are based on work done by a bodyshop belonging to Guardian Royal Exchange Insurance. The hodyshop in question is equipped with a computerised paint mixing system which costs over £100 per month to rent and can mix as little as 100m1 of paint, although an exact colour match cannot be guaranteed unless 500m1 is mixed, claims the VBRA.
According to the MIRC. however, mixing 100m1 of paint is within the capabilities of any skilled painter, and if two colours need mixing for a match, the minimum is then 200m1.