The Motor Ombudsman’s Knowledge Base records nearly 263,000 article views in 2020 compared to 146,000 a year earlier
The Motor Ombudsman’s Knowledge Base, the online resource introduced in 2019 to provide responses to some of the most common queries from motorists on car ownership, vehicle maintenance and dispute resolution, saw a near-doubling of article views in 2020 compared to the year before, further cementing the tool’s popularity. The 147 questions and answers were accessed a combined total of 262,723 times between January and December, an 80% year-on-year rise from the figure seen in 2019 (146,130). This was assisted by the introduction of two new categories on the Knowledge Base during 2020 in response to the emergence of COVID-19, and distance sales gaining greater prominence.
“Can I return my car within 14 days of buying it?” was the most read article during the past 12 months, whilst last year’s most consulted article, “Can I get a car deposit refund?”, was second. Climbing one place to third was “I was mis-sold my car, what can I do?”. Rounding off the top five most popular articles for last year were two new entries for the top 10 most viewed articles in 2020, namely Q&As on what to do about a poor MOT, and what the Consumer Rights Act is.
Furthermore, as more consumers used the Knowledge Base, search volume equally rose by 87% in 2020 to just under 88,773 queries, up from 47,458 in 2019. The most popular generic terms entered into the search bar during 2020 were “warranty”, “faulty” and “service”.
Quarter 4 – 2020 analysis
The final three months of 2020 set a new quarterly record for the amount of article views. Between 01st October and 31st December 2020, there were just over 85,000, surpassing the previous Q3 record of around 79,000 views. Mirroring the trend of the third quarter, “Can I return my car within 14 days of buying it?” was the most read article during the three-month period with 6,250 views, whilst last year’s most consulted article, “Can I get a car deposit refund?”, was second with 4,771 reads. The Service and Repair question regarding the action to take if a vehicle owner considers that they have had a poor MOT was the third most popular Q&A, up from fourth position in the previous three months.
Search volume was very slightly lower in the final three months of 2020 versus the previous quarter, coming in at 22,725. Generic topics for which individuals were seeking further information between October and December, were namely about faults, warranties and servicing.
