ACCIDENT? IT’S YOUR CALL
MINI mishap? Bumped BMW? It’s your call where you send your car to for repair and Bowker have it covered, as Matthew Parkinson explains. Photography: Paul Currie
Until it happens to you, you’ve likely never considered what happens next after an accident in your car. I’d probably do the same as most people and call my insurance company. But what’s the alternative?
In the event of your BMW or MINI needing repair following an accident, the decision lies with you, and not your insurer, as to who takes care of it. By choosing a BMW or MINI Approved Bodyshop, your car will be returned to its original Euro NCAP safety rating.
By making Bowker your first call, their Accident Management team will handle everything with minimal fuss from start to finish, making sure you’re safe before liaising with your insurance company, organising the recovery of your car, arranging a like-for-like replacement car if the accident wasn’t your fault, and even providing medical and legal aid if you’re injured as a result. Your car will then be handed over to their Approved Bodyshop for an estimation of the damage before work begins.
Located a stone’s throw away from Bowker on Preston Docklands is BMW & MINI Approved Bodyshop, HB Panelcraft. The family business is headed up by Paul Harwood, whose fastidious eye for detail helped forge a partnership with Bowker back in 1996. Paul guides us around cars at various stages of repair, from minor cosmetic jobs to ground-up rebuilds, drawing attention to a gleaming BMW 6 Series that’s nearing completion in the body shop’s paint booth. “You sometimes see cars like this starting to corrode in unusual places, because whoever did the original repair hasn’t used genuine, galvanised parts,” explains Paul. “Everything we do is approved by BMW and MINI Group.” All body repairs come with a lifetime guarantee for the duration of ownership and you are issued with a Guarantee Certificate giving you peace of mind that you and your vehicle are completely protected.
Having earned BMW and MINI national certification, HB Panelcraft are kitted out for all manner of repairs, boasting up to date diagnostic machinery and panels protected with the same galvanisation used on brand new vehicles – even the paint is sourced from BMW Group to ensure a perfect colour match. It’s because of this manufacturer backing that unlike many independent garages, your car’s bodywork warranty will remain intact, no matter how bad the damage was to begin with. If it can be repaired, it can be guaranteed.
The devil is in the detail for the team at HB Panelcraft, who inspect each stage of the vehicle repair process in the same way BMW and MINI technicians would inspect brand new cars on an assembly line. The phrase ‘that’ll do’ just doesn’t exist within these four walls, and for good reason. Like each car that passes through the workshop, Paul and his team are subject to their own set of quality control checks. Each year, they’re assessed by BMW and MINI to make sure that the workshop, its staff, their tools and their attitudes meet the brand’s exacting standards. It’s testament to their hard work that since the start of their partnership with Bowker 22 years ago, they’ve passed with flying colours each and every year.
The phrase ‘good as new’ is often banded around recklessly, but I can’t imagine a more honest description of the freshly repaired cars being readied for their respective owners. The partnership between Bowker and HB Panelcraft has created a one-stop-shop for repairs that BMW and MINI owners can trust from start to fuss-free finish.
There’s no escaping the fact that in an ideal world there wouldn’t be any accidents, and any decent human being would hope that this is a service you won’t need to use. If you’re going to call anyone when your day comes to a screeching halt however, make sure it’s Bowker.
Bowker Preston BMW & MINI
Channel Way, On the Docks
Preston PR2 2YA
01772 769976
www.bowkermotorgroup.com
HB Panelcraft
Wellfield Business Park
Wellfield Road, Preston PR1 8SZ
01772 823333
www.hbpanelcraft.com
Bowker Accident Management
0845 331 1279
