The South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), an association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), representing almost 1 000 motor body repair businesses across South Africa and accounting for over 80% of all insured repair claims in the country, has issued an urgent alert to motorists that damage repairs may be delayed due to the current acute shortage of motor body repair components.
Richard Green, national director of SAMBRA, says they have received notifications from several Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) advising that these supply constraints will continue for many months to come.
Green assures motorists that SAMBRA members will do everything in their power to inform clients accurately when dealing with authorised repairs on the state and timing of the repair required. “The situation is however totally out of our control.
The supply constraints have affected the production of alternative parts in the same manner and we are finding that there has been a knock-on effect on the quality of available alternative parts,” he says.
Green says the further dramatic increases in the cost of international cargo container logistics that increased 4-fold over the last 12 months, have exacerbated the supply crisis.
He says SAMBRA will continue to liaise closely with insurers and OEMs on the status of certain critical parts and wherever possible we will repair rather than replace the part in question. “Developments in repair technology have advanced substantially over the recent years, significantly improving the ability of our accredited SAMBRA members to repair metal and plastic panels on a motor vehicle,” he says.
Green strongly suggests that motorist who do not have hire car cover on their Motor Insurance policies include that as a matter of urgency, as it is inevitable that vehicle repairs will take far longer than normal whilst manufacturers struggle to restore the part supply chain.
