The time between an all-new model arriving in a showroom and needing crash repair is often very short. This creates a problem for many bodyshops, as technical information on repair methods can often take months to filter into the market. The Thatcham Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre has now tried to overcome this problem with an overhaul of its Escribe repair information system. With Escribe, bodyshops can have access to up-to-the-minute repair data, updated every month via DVD ROM or Internet download. Access to Thatcham's Technical Helpline is also available.

The overhauled Escribe brings technical information to the market in 3 stages:
Technical Profiles: published soon after model launch and covering methods availability for both Panel and MET, from the manufacturers web site - updated at intervals until all methods are available.
Early Methods: A method manual covering common low speed accident damage repair, published with times around one month after the Technical Profile.
Full Methods: The full method manual builds on the 'Early Method' to provide major structural repair methods, available with times in two stages to cover smaller vehicles as well as larger, more expensive vehicles.

More information on Escribe at www.thatcham.org