YOUR RIGHTS FOLLOWING AN ACCIDENT
In July 1993, the Director General of Fair Trading asked
insurance companies to clarify consumers rights under the
terms of 'approved' or 'recommended' repairer schemes.
These schemes take the form of a list of garages or a
telephone helpline service to put accident victims in touch
with a vehicle body repairer with which an insurer has a
special relationship.
Despite the Director General of Fair Trading's request,
insurance policy-holders still remain largely unaware of
their right to have damaged vehicles repaired at a garage of
their choice, providing the chosen garage operates to
industry standards and that repair costs can be
satisfactorily agreed.
In such circumstances an insurance engineer's inspection
of the damaged vehicle may be requested before repairs can
be authorised, but any necessary inspection should be
arranged promptly in order to minimise delays in repairs.
We are able to provide a body repair and claims services
for all makes of vehicle and in addition can:-
- Ensure top quality service at all times with
priority scheduling to get your vehicle back on the road
with the minimum amount of disruption.
- Provide a FREE replacement car for the duration
of the repairs, (for fully comprehensive insurance
customers, terms and conditions apply).
- Provide an assurance that the highest standards
of workmanship will be maintained at all times through
comprehensive steps at every stage of the repair
process.
- Arrange for the collection and delivery of your
vehicle, if required.
- Provide you with a fully priced written estimate
before work begins.
- Provide on the spot help and advice to deal with
your insurance claim.
- All work guaranteed to manufacturers
specification.
The following is an extract from an article published in the Daily
Telegraph.
"Around 75% of all car accidents are
controlled by insurers through their call
centres. They send policyholders' cars for
repairs to "approved" garages that they, the
insurers, have chosen to be on their
networks. This enables insurers to dictate
the level, quality and cost of service to be
provided to their own customers."
"Consumers might think that insurance
company "approval" means that repair shops
have the correct skills and equipment to
undertake proper and safe repairs. While it
is true that repairers have to get the right
tick in the box before selection, little of
that information pertains to their technical
skills and equipment. This is simply not
good enough in a world where cars and repair
equipment are becoming ever more complex.".
You might find the following articles of
interest.
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Modern Repair Processes
and Equipment at Pritchards
All modern vehicles
are made from new special metals, plastics and other materials,
therefore when
it comes to fixing the damage after an accident
or a crash, the latest technology and repair processes need to
be applied to return them back to the manufacturers original
specification.
As one of Hampshire
and Surrey's leading Accident Repair Centre of modern vehicles
this is exactly what we do, return the vehicle back to the
manufacturers original specification, and to achieve that we
keep our equipment, facilities and processes up to date with the
very latest technologies and training.
So for those
visitors who want to know more about this, or insurance
companies who a are looking for a modern equipped accident
repair centre in Hampshire and close to the Surrey border, this
page is all for you.
Miracle Puller
Miracle Puller is a
body panel repair that we at Pritchards Accident
Repair Centre are re-known for across Hampshire, Surrey and into
London.
It is a set of equipment that if used correctly and with
experience can reduce an accident repair bill dramatically.
We have just this highly experienced team of professionals and
the Miracle Puller system equipment that can repair 'expensive
to replace' body panels on cars.
Take a look at an MPV or a People Carrier for example, look at the size
of some of those body panels, they are huge and to replace them, very
time consuming and expensive.
With our team and the Miracle Puller, It can actually mean that
a car that is financially a 'write-off' because of a large
dented body panel is now repairable because the dent in the body
panel is pulled out and repaired
back to the manufacturers original
specification.
Our reputation for being able to repair the most serious of
damaged panels correctly is spreading, and we often have vehicles
arriving at our Alton based accident repair centre from quite
some considerable distances away, just to get our team to professionally pull
the dents out.
SprayBake Oven
We use the industry
leading SprayBake brand of ovens to enable us to achieve the
very best results when we paint vehicles.
Having the facility
to put the entire vehicle into a controlled room for paint
spraying gives our team the environment they need to achieve
perfect results time after time.
SprayBake Ovens
incorporate the "Enhanced Curing System" giving rapid flash-off
and curing of environmentally friendly R-M water based paints.
...and the paints
that we use
At Pritchards we
recognise our responsibility to the environment and as such are
changing from the
conventional method of Two-Pack paint products to the latest
water based paint from R-M.
We
have a full R-M mixing scheme to match and mix any car colour
including Metallic and Pearlescent colours perfectly
MIG-MAG Braising
and Welding
We have the very latest in automotive welding and
braising technologies.
Today's car body
repairs demand it and so we have it.
A combined MIG-brazing and
MIG-MAG-welding unit is the logical solution. Up until now it
was all simple sheet welding and little thought was given to the quality
of properties required from high quality thin sheet welding or
the newly introduced MIG-brazing (MSG-brazing).
For very good reason demands
are changing to being more strict and specific when repairing
modern vehicles.
For example: incorrect welding or brazing
on/at a vehicle may result in a delayed activation of the
airbag, sheet structure or corrosion resistance may be
destroyed.
Times have changed
and Pritchards have changed with it, MIG-brazing units are already
in use within the automotive-industry and therefore in our
repair centre.
Spot
Welding
We have all seen the
robots in the car commercials that lean over the production line
adding body panels to the vehicle and with a series of quick
flashes that body panel is now part of the car. Well that is
what they call 'Spot Welding'.
Many of the body
panels on modern cars are spot welded in their construction,
fitting or both. It is a common and efficient car production technique to
permanently fix the car parts together.
But what happens
after it has been in an accident and that panel needs replacing?
At Pritchards we
repair vehicles back to the manufacturers original
specification and therefore when we replace spot welded
panels or component parts, just like the original manufacturers,
we spot weld them as they were originally designed to be.
Having both the spot
welding equipment and the trained staff (sorry no robots!) to use it at our
accident repair centre; it gives us the advantage when repairing
seriously damaged vehicles as insurance companies know that
having this technique and experience it will ensure the repair is
completed correctly.
The Jig
New car models and new materials require new ways of
measuring, aligning and repairing crashed and accident
damaged vehicles.
We focus on the geometry when it comes to aligning and
repairing modern vehicles, installing parts and using
technologically advanced materials.
That’s why we use Car-O-Liner Jig systems for anchoring,
measuring and holding vehicles as the crash repair damage is
repaired.
Using this modern technology we repair vehicles back to
the original manufactures specification everytime.
WELCOME
TO PRITCHARDS
The Car Body
Repair
Experts
|
 CAR ACCIDENT
REPAIR CENTRE
'Accidents' they happen.
But choose
the Pritchards, one
of Hampshire's leading accident repair
centres based in Alton, to put things right
and no-one will ever know. We are
specialists in
vehicle accident repairs and no one
is more committed to repair excellence.
By selecting
Pritchards you
will also gain much more than a quality
accident repair. Backed by a commitment to
customer service
Pritchards
is your guarantee of accident repair
satisfaction.
Pritchards
are committed to providing customers with
the highest quality repairs and customer
service. If your vehicle or company vehicles
require
accident repairs we will be pleased
to help. You have the right to choose who
repairs your vehicle and no-one understands
your vehicle better than us. We are just a
phone call away.
Click here to visit our Accident
Repair page
ACCIDENT RECOVERY
We can
recover your car after an accident back to
our premises in Alton, Hampshire.
Even if
your car has already been recovered to
another garage, we will send one of our
recovery vehicles out to bring it back to
our workshops for repair.
What about
a Courtesy Car?
Pritchards have a large fleet of courtesy
cars (all under 3 years old) available to
any of our customers even if your car
insurance policy does not cover this
service!
Just ask us when you are booking your car in
(*age restriction with
terms and conditions apply)
Knowing your rights in the event of a claim
Do you
know your rights on YOU choosing a car
accident repair centre NOT your insurance
company?
The Director
Of Fair Trading did, read more about
it
here or call us for advice on
01420
84797
(please tell us you have visited our
'website' it helps us to know how we met
you)
CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR
VEHICLE PAGES
|
|
ACCIDENT REPAIRSWhy choose Pritchards Garage to repair your
Vehicle?
At Pritchards Garage
Ltd we know how important it is to offer a first-class
service - that's why we find ourselves recommended time and
time again.
It is also the
reason for customers returning to us from all over Surrey
and Hampshire.
With our wealth of experience and knowledge
in the car / vehicle bodyshop business,
we specialise in accident and crash repairs for insurance, public
and trade alike.
With our fully trained technical team and facilities, we
will repair your vehicle to such a high standard that it
will be as good as it was before the accident happened, and all of our work is guaranteed.
From a small shopping trolley dent to more serious accident
damage
SMALL DENTS &
SMART REPAIRS
We often are asked by customers if we can provide a quote
for their insurance company to repair a small mystery dent
that has appeared on their car.
It happens, you park your pride and joy in a car park and
whilst you are away someone crashes a shopping trolley into
your car door leaving that un-explainable dent, often
described as a 'ding'.
We often find that the customers insurance excess payment is
more than our cost to repair the dent with our
specialist knowledge and equipment while you wait!
Just phone us to arrange a time to bring the car to our
facility in Alton, Hampshire and we will get one of our
technicians to take a look at the dent. They will advise you
there and then if it is repairable straight away and tell
you how little it will cost to repair.
If you like the price we quote, we will pull the dent out
there and then while you wait or you can leave it with us
and pick it up later that day.
Because we have all of the specialist equipment and
facilities, we can often repair dents at less that your
insurance excess cost, therefore saving you money and
keeping you driving!
Smart Repairs by Smart Repair Experts
'
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