Check your fleet for outstanding vehicle safety recalls
SMMT and its members developed a consumer-facing online look-up service to make it easier for individual drivers to check for an outstanding safety recall on their vehicles. The vehicle safety recall service has now been rolled out to meet specific commercial needs, by allowing fleets to bulk check more than 100,000 vehicles at a time to help them stay legal.
Manufacturers work closely with the DVSA to ensure the UK has one of the world’s most successful vehicle safety recall processes. For fleet owners, operators and businesses that provide fleet services, a vehicle with an outstanding recall could see insurance voided.
Further, the DVSA has the power to prosecute businesses that sell vehicles to consumers with an outstanding safety recall. Failure to check a car for an outstanding safety recall could lead to a fine of up to £20,000 and/ or up to three months imprisonment.
To ensure every vehicle on a company’s books is compliant, SMMT has launched a fleet-dedicated version of its Vehicle Safety Recall Service.
The service provides a bespoke look-up tool, allowing companies to check 100,000 vehicles or more in a single batch. The service is fully automated with results usually returned within the hour.
Safety recalls are issued by vehicle manufacturers, which are responsible for contacting owners to notify them that their car may have a problem that needs to be rectified by an authorised repairer.
The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 say that dealers must get vehicles with outstanding recalls fixed before selling on to a consumer. If they do not, they can be prosecuted by Trading Standards.
All recall repair work linked to safety issues is free of charge for customers and scheduled as a matter of urgency. A recall notice remains open indefinitely to ensure as many cars as possible are sent back to dealerships to be fixed.
The SMMT’s Vehicle Safety Recall Service is an easy way for fleet owners and retailers to check, all at once, if their vehicles are subject to an outstanding safety recall that they, or a previous owner, may have missed.
To check your fleet, please contact vsrs@smmt.co.uk for a quote.