Hi all,

Just after Christmas we had a bump with a stationary van (our fault). We took the car into the VW garage (it's a new polo) and got a quote for repair. Now Swiftcover are denying that half the damage is due to the accident, and will only settle for £24/hr labour charge. I have contacted several bodyshops in the area and the average working charge is about £30/hr.

Basically, they are pushing us into using their two-bit repair shops rather than a VW-approved one, which I'm not comfortable doing as the car is still under warranty...

Where do we stand on this?

Thanks

I'm not sure on this one, but I would hope that since any work on your car by a non-approved dealer could invalidate the warranty, Swiftcover might be persuaded to be reasonable.

You could try speaking to the AA or RAC and see what they think, or even speaking to the FOS since they deal with complaints about insurance. They may be able to give a hint as to which way they would go in this situation.

Hi there,

Sorry but we may need more info on this.

Why would they deny 'half the damage was caused by the accident'? I assume you have had an itemised estimate from the VW garage. I would of thought that all insurers would know that when repairing new cars that the anti-corrosion/bodywork warranties have to be maintained and any repairs have to be approved by the manufacturer. However, this does not necessarily mean that a franchised dealer has to do the repair. Providing the anti-corrosion treatments are applied as per factory spec and endorsed by an approved dealer, then the relevant warranty should continue.

Normally you obtain up to 3 estimates (if possible) from garages of YOUR choice and go from there.

Have you informed them of the requirement to have the repair done at a VW approved bodyshop? If so what was their response?

They have an itemised estimate from the dealer we got the car off (fairly priced, if you ask me), however as there are a couple of things on the estimate that aren't backed up with photographs (i.e. the damage is to the internal supports, and photographing them is nigh on impossible without removing the front end) they are ignoring them from the estimate. Their response to my requesting an authorised VW repairer was "There aren't any in your area that we deal with, and it's your responsibility to take the car to one if it is further than 30 miles away"

Although I did manage to get the direct number for the 'claim technician' handling the case from the lovely bodyshop guy at VW, so I've resorted to direct phonecalls instead of emails.

This is getting ridiculous. What does it say in your policy T & C's about accident repairs?

__________________

It says in the policy wording:

Section A

We may choose to repair Your Car with Recycled parts, where appropriate. Parts used may not have been made by the Car's manufacturer but will be of a similar standard. If any lost or damaged parts are no longer available, We will pay an amount equal to the cost shown in the manufacturer's latest price guide, together with reasonable fitting costs.

If Your Car is damaged We will use one of Our Recommended repairers to repair it. If You choose not to use them We may not pay more than Our Recommended repairer would have charged and We may choose to settle the claim by a financial payment.

But you can only access the policy wording once you have taken out the insurance...

What the hell am I paying for?

Well I know i'm gunna get shot down in flames for saying this by certain insurance caggers on here but its situations like this that show you only know whether or not your insuarnce is any good or not is when you make a claim.

At the end of the day, your policy should provide repairs to your car to the same standard (as near as possible) as it's pre-accident condition. That means that any warranty issues (especially with a new car being still in warranty) need to be covered. In my experience (Fiat), any accident damage repair to a vehicle still in anti-corrosion warranty has to have it's anti-corrosion treatment(s) re-applied as per maunfacturer's specification. Although a non-franchised body shop can carry out these proceedures, it would have to be approved by a dealership. Otherwise, any subsiquent corrosion in the bodywork during the rest of the un-expired warranty period will not be covered. This, I would imagine is the norm for all makes of cars so Swiftcover must be aware of this.

I assume you are expected to pay whatever your excess is on your policy as you were at fault, so they are not going to pay the full whack anyway!

I think you should ask them to confirm that if they use their 'reccomended repairer' that they will repair the car in accordance with the maunfatcurers warranty and that they be responsible for getting the repairs approved under the terms of the warranty accordingly.

If they cannot/will not give that assurance, then as far as I can see, you have the right to have the repair done at a VW dealer which your insurers should pay for, less the excess.

Maybe insuranceguy can give his opinion on this but I think you should have a word with a solicitor who specializes in motor insurance claims. You should be able to find one that will give a free initial consultaion.

Update: Still stonewalled...

They have agreed to let the car go to an authorised VW centre, some 100+ miles away and apparently it's my responsibility to get it there and back...

They just keep referring to the T&C outlined in the contract.

It sounds to me they are just being as difficult as possible! If they have agreed to have the car go to an authorised VW dealer then ANY VW should be able to do it! While you car is under the manufacurers warranty, you can take it to any official franchised dealer to have warranty work carried out.

I really think you should have a word with a solicitor.

Update: Still stonewalled...

 

They have agreed to let the car go to an authorised VW centre, some 100+ miles away and apparently it's my responsibility to get it there and back...

 

They just keep referring to the T&C outlined in the contract.

Was this authorised VW dealer your choice of repairer or was it the choice of your insurers?

Is this the nearest authorised VW dealer to you?

Mossy

It says in the policy wording:

Section A

Quote: "We may choose to repair Your Car with Recycled parts, where appropriate. Parts used may not have been made by the Car's manufacturer but will be of a similar standard."

If you find any "similar" pattern body parts do not fit as well as the OE parts would i.e. they are inferior, I suggest making a complaint, first to Swiftcover then if they don't put things right, to the insurance ombudsman.

very late reply. (just noticed I hadn't updated the resolution)

I found the managing director's name on the internet. And from their email system I figured out his email address. ([email protected] isn't that hard to guess).

I sent him a very curt email detailing everything, and asking for his input within 7 days or we would seek legal counsel on the matter.

Within an hour of me sending the email, I got a call from his personal advisor who took our story, and said she'd go away and see what she could do.

The next day, she called back with an approved VW repair centre 20 miles away, who would collect the car and return it, and she arranged for a hire car to be delivered on the same day to cover the repair time.

The car was taken, repaired and returned valeted. They hadn't used original VW parts, but it looked as good as it did anyway.

Awesome.

The only kicker came when reinsuring the car. The quote we received for renewal was the same premium price we paid initially, with the exact added cost of the repair on top.

Needless to say we went with Direct Line after that who have been amazing.

Case Closed.

Thanks for everything!!