Car Insurance repair problems

[dewyuk]

Hi all,

Apologies in advance if this thread is in the wrong place but here goes:oops:

 

Okay so our little car was vandalised at some point over the weekend,the car has had something like a brick or block thrown/dropped onto the cars roof which has caused a dent roughly 1ft in diameter and a hole about 2" in diameter.Also the car has been kicked and dented around rear passenger wheelarch. The scumbags responsible were obviously nowhere to be seen.

 

To cut a long story short we contacted our insurance who asked if we would like to have the car repaired/assessed at their approved vehicle repairer.We agreed to this thinking it would be less hassle and maybe get the car repaired a bit quicker.

 

( FTR £300 excess to be paid)

 

However just to be on the safeside i took it to another repair centre before it was taken to the approved repairer.

 

Okay so the first place i took it said it would require a complete new roof skin and the arch (Quarter panel) would be repaired and all repainted and blended in etc...Next on to the approved repairer who say they will use filler to repair the hole and repaint it and were basically a bit rude.

 

Anyway i explained that i would not be happy to let them carry out the work they described.They then told me that the insurance engineer would examine the car and would expect the garage to repair it as they described.However i have now asked for the 1st garage to take over the repairs.

 

Now im pretty certain that i have the right to choose my repairer but i just wondered if anyone could give me their thoughts as to whether ive done the right thing or not and if anyone else has had simular experience

 

There is also a possibility that the car may be wrote off if the the insurer decide it is not economically viable to repair

[rebel11]

Hi dew

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

[unclebulgaria67]

Speak to your Insurers. See if they will get it inspected by an engineer asap, due to the difference of opinion. The policy terms would allow the Insurers to use the cheapest possible way of dealing with the claim, providing the car was returned to its pre-accident condition.

 

You can use your own preferred garage, but the Insurers would expect 2 quotes and will limit the claim to the cheapest repair option, so if you wanted something different, you would have to pay the extra. If you wanted to argue the point with the Insurers and their engineer, you would need to get your own independent engineers report.

 

So speak to your Insurers and see if you can resolve without involving too much hassle. I doubt you would want a long drawn argument with your Insurers, so you will need to consider what is reasonable.

[dewyuk]

Thanks for the Advice,

We have since spoken to the insurers who are arranging for an engineer to come and inspect the car.We are sticking with the new garage and will go with whatever they recommend...It just infuriated me to think that i was going to have to pay them £300 excess make a claim on my insurance and then to have the car bodged up with filler which in my opinion is not returning my car to pre accident condition.

[Mwynci]

There's nothing wrong with the filler method as long as it was a high quality repair, in that sense I don't think there is anything wrong with the approved garages method, indemnity means to place you in the same financial situation as before, not physical, if the repairs were good enough that no one would ever notice that's indemnity.

 

I think you are creating conflict before the insurer has been given the chance to resolve, it is very likely that the insurer will authorise the repairs to your own garage, most insurance engineers are very reasonable, it's just the claims staff who are awkward.

[Wulfyn]

Also just be a little wary of garages when they know it'll be covered under insurance, as they will often recommend the option that makes them the most money, safe in the knowledge that as you (the customer) are not going to be paying it you'll also want that option. I'm not saying that they are wrong in this instance, but they could be exaggerating so be careful before you go to the lengths of paying for an independent engineer to assess it.

[dewyuk]

am going to go and get another quote today without telling them it is for an insurance claim.See what method they come up with.....Could anyone tell me if i am entitled or will i get to know how much the repair is costing the insurer?.ie will i get to see the estimate?

 

I would just like to actually get a figure so i could weigh up whether it would be worth paying for the repairs myself (bearing in mind the excess and future premiums etc)

 

Seems that when you mention insurance nobody wants to talk figures (well certainly not to us)

 

Cheers

[unclebulgaria67]

Don't quote me on this, but with approved garages, I think there is an annualised contract between the garage and the Insurers for minor repairs, so garage will get a per job price for such repairs and they will not be individually costed as such. For larger repairs, then they are probably settled/costed on an individual basis.

 

This is probably why they won't provide you with details of the repair cost, as the amount the Insurers are paying for a 'standard minor repair' will be a lot less than they would charge you if you went to them directly.

[dewyuk]

Took the car to another accident repair garage today who advised that the roof skin does actually need replacing.The person who i spoke to said that it would be very unlikely that the roof could be repaired to a standard where you wouldnt be able to tell.

 

For the record the garage where it was taken has nothing to gain by telling me that, as they have no interest in doing the work themselves,they are only a small garage and are far too busy.

 

I think its just a waiting game now (for the engineer to call i mean)

 

Any ideas whether i should meet him at home or @ the repair centre.

 

Will he have anything to say or discuss? or is it simply an inspection of the car and the insurance company ring you type of thing?

 

Thx

[dewyuk]

Any ideas whether i should meet him at home or @ the repair centre?

 

How ignorant of me,i meant him/her lol

[unclebulgaria67]

Took the car to another accident repair garage today who advised that the roof skin does actually need replacing.The person who i spoke to said that it would be very unlikely that the roof could be repaired to a standard where you wouldnt be able to tell.

 

For the record the garage where it was taken has nothing to gain by telling me that, as they have no interest in doing the work themselves,they are only a small garage and are far too busy.

 

I think its just a waiting game now (for the engineer to call i mean)

 

Any ideas whether i should meet him at home or @ the repair centre.

 

Will he have anything to say or discuss? or is it simply an inspection of the car and the insurance company ring you type of thing?

 

Thx

 

Up to you where the car is inspected. It is just an inspection, but you should say that you have had 2 opinions that more than just filling is required.

[Mwynci]

UB, your right about some (only some) insurer having a set price with the approved repairers, they still have to cost each job for reason's like this, but will bill the insurer a set price, it works both ways sometimes the job is cheaper and sometimes more expensive, this could be what has happened here now you mention it?

 

 

Dewyuk, don't worry about where you meet the engineer, I hope I'm not wrong in your case, but if there's one part of the motor insurance sector who are to be admired it's the engineers, whilst their there to save the insurer money, any good one would not put their name to a repair which won't suffice, it's just not in their nature.

I'm not an engineer by the way.

good luck with it, hope it goes well.

[dewyuk]

Thanks mwynci,will post later to tell how it went

[dewyuk]

Hi again folks,

All sorted now,or so it would seem.Engineer came and said that it was not economically viable to repair the car,therfore it would be wrote off.He valued the car at a reasonable price and we have agreed to accept a cheque for settlement.

 

Initially we tried to get them to allow us to keep the salvage as part of the settlement but they wanted 9% of our cheque..we decided to pay the 9% and keep the car...as it has been a good car overall..

 

Got to go through all the motions of getting it repaired properly,vic checked,mot etc etc now

 

Thanks for your input guys

[Mwynci]

Good resolve, that's what we like.

9% is pretty good considering the value of salvaged cars these days.