OVER PRICED repairs may force car to be write off

[princess roxy]

Hi my dad owns a 2003 vw polo, it has low mileage under 50k, is in mint condition, hes had it from new and really looks after it. A boy racer hit his wing and put big scratches all down one side ,wing needs replacing ,and small damage to the door , plus all the scratches. No mechanical problems and the car can be driven as normal Problem here is ,the insurance company have told him that a certain local garage will do the repairs, but we know this garage to be absolute rip off merchants,when pricing up repairs they go way over the top(we know this through experience) and my dad is now worried that they may overcharge that much on the price of the repairs , the costs may cause his car to be written off. Does he have to use THIS repairer,or can he use another one. he would not get a car with this mileage ,in this condition , for the measly price they would pay out as a write off. .thanks Roxy

[nohope]

If they were to say its not worth repairing because the garage over charges for the work then the best option would be to buy the car back of the insurance company then pay for the repairs out of the insurance pay out. its a win win situation..

[princess roxy]

so not all doom and gloom if its classed as a write off... would my dad have first option to buy his motor back from the insurers ? thanks for the info ....nohope lol.. Rox

[nohope]

A friend of mine just asked his insurance company as soon as they said it was a write of if he could buy it back. they only sell them back for scrap value which cost him £180 to buy back a £3000 car.

[princess roxy]

Gosh ,maybe not so much a problem after all , cheers for the info .Rox

[princess roxy]

this body repair rip off merchant , has this morning done a quote on my dads car, and suprise suprise ,they have told him that it will be touch and go whether its wrote off,they are sending the quote to the insurers but they will let him know early next week They wouldnt give him a copy of the quote, said the price hadnt been finalised yet. Could see he was a bit traumatised as he doesnt want to lose his motor , not even to buy back from the insurers . I decided to get a second opinion , and took his motor to a more reputable company ,with a reputation of good work at a fair price. The body shop owner did the quote , and no where near the book price of the car. I told him that we had already had a quote and it was touch and go to being a write off, he laughed and said , dont tell me the garage up the road , well known for doing that , this motor can be fixed no problem ,its not a write off, they like to buy motors off insurers , get them fixed and sell them on .He told me to send his quote to the insurer and tell them that he will fix the motor . .....can my dad do this ?

[insurancebroker]

Hi Rox,

 

It's probably a little late now but you do not have to use an authorised garage of your Insurer. The only reason why they send you there is because they will get discounted prices on repairs (or normally would do). If you have a garage which you prefer and normally use then get an alternative quote for repairs from them on headed paper and send it in to your insurer.

What will most likely happen is your dads insurer will say that if you use the unauthorised garage they will raise the excess from £100 to £200. If the Third Partys insurer has admitted liability for this incident then what happens anyway is your insurer will pay for the repairs then use it's subrogation rights against the third party insurer.

[Mwynci]

What will most likely happen is your dads insurer will say that if you use the unauthorised garage they will raise the excess from £100 to £200. Eh??It does happen with windscreen claims, but not a/d. which firm (genuine question, I'm not aware of anyone doing this).