Accident Repair Advice

[Scotsman520]

Hi, my E250 coupe was rear ended by a tractor at a junction today. Boot lid,bumper damaged and lid won't close now. The guy has admitted everything and passed all the details onto his insurance NFU. Will I have to take the car to where they tell me now or can I get it done where I want?
Also is it best to go to MB to do the a accident repair?
I am in Central Scotland so any suggestions are welcome. Additionally can I get a courtesy car through their insurance or will I have to claim that through my own?

 

[Pitts Pilot]

Hi

You will normally have to take the car to a body shop of the Insurers choosing, although this is not usually a bad thing. When I pranged my C250 the body shop I had to use did an amazingly good job!

You can always ask your insurers about using a MB body shop.

The courtesy car will depend on the cover you have, but be careful before blithely accepting a car. I got into a serious mess with Admiral who use "Albany Assistance Ltd".

These villains sent me County Count papers for suing the other driver to reclaim the courtesy car cost. I just wanted a car; they wanted me to stand up for them in a Court room! All this based on the "I agree to give all reasonable assistance..." clause in the fine print

I ended up having to instruct a solicitor to get them off my back. So personally I will NEVER take a courtesy car again! But your experience will probably be different.

Cheers

 

[John]

Actually, you can have your repaired wherever you like - it is your choice.

The insurance company will want you to use an 'approved' bodyshop to keep their costs down.

They may something like 'we can't guarantee a courtesy car' if you use another one but other bodyshops will have them.

 

[wooddoor6]

As JohnEboy said, you can use any repairers you want, the only clause is there will be an excess, £200 to £300 depending on your policy,

 

[mct_cars]

Hi

You will normally have to take the car to a body shop of the Insurers choosing, although this is not usually a bad thing. When I pranged my C250 the body shop I had to use did an amazingly good job!

You can always ask your insurers about using a MB body shop.

The courtesy car will depend on the cover you have, but be careful before blithely accepting a car. I got into a serious mess with Admiral who use "Albany Assistance Ltd".

These villains sent me County Count papers for suing the other driver to reclaim the courtesy car cost. I just wanted a car; they wanted me to stand up for them in a Court room! All this based on the "I agree to give all reasonable assistance..." clause in the fine print

I ended up having to instruct a solicitor to get them off my back. So personally I will NEVER take a courtesy car again! But your experience will probably be different.

Cheers

I went through Albany Assist - they gave me a nice (if slightly dinted) Passat Diesel to replace my (now sold) Focus for 3 weeks...... the fact that the "approved bodyshop" had the car for three weeks is a different story - they did a right shoddy job the first time until I pointed out their crap repair. To be fair, the second job they did was spot on and would take a pro to know it had been painted. I figured if they get away with doing cheap repairs and only re-doing the odd one, they're quids in.

Never again for me - I'll take other peoples advice and go through an accident management company when it's not my fault.

 

[mct_cars]

As JohnEboy said, you can use any repairers you want, the only clause is there will be an excess, £200 to £300 depending on your policy,

But you claim that back from the other insurer.......

 

[Dryce]

Hi, my E250 coupe was rear ended by a tractor at a junction today. Boot lid,bumper damaged and lid won't close now. The guy has admitted everything and passed all the details onto his insurance NFU. Will I have to take the car to where they tell me now or can I get it done where I want?
Also is it best to go to MB to do the a accident repair?
I am in Central Scotland so any suggestions are welcome. Additionally can I get a courtesy car through their insurance or will I have to claim that through my own?

Your choice as to whether you deal via your own insurer or direct with theirs if there is no claim against you.

If you deal through your own insurer then typically you've got to cough up the excess until it is claimed back and it may work for or against you in terms of repairs.

If it's a clear cut no fault on your part then if you feel confident enough to deal with it and the other party's insurer is amenable then dealing direct can sometimes be beneficial - depending on how dozy your own insurer is. No excess and they may have an incentive to avoid you going to a claims management company and keep you happy in order to keep their costs managed (though that sort of common sense doesn't always apply when it comes to UK insurers).

 

[nick mercedes]

Hi, my E250 coupe was rear ended by a tractor at a junction today. Boot lid,bumper damaged and lid won't close now. The guy has admitted everything and passed all the details onto his insurance NFU. Will I have to take the car to where they tell me now or can I get it done where I want?
Also is it best to go to MB to do the a accident repair?
I am in Central Scotland so any suggestions are welcome. Additionally can I get a courtesy car through their insurance or will I have to claim that through my own?

Use a reputable local bodyshop who have their own loan cars.

The accident managment companies are just there to make money from £200 a day hire cars, so they use the cheapest bodyshops, and string out the claims so that you're in their car for the maximum amount of time.

 

[whitters]

Funny how nobody says take it to MB to do the repair.

 

[Scotsman520]

Apparently I have the option to use Connexus Accident Management. Has anyone heard of them or used them?
I am awaiting a call back form them to discuss my options through them.

 

[grober]

At one time the Eastern Western Accident Repair Centre at Broxburn got a good name. Can't comment from personal experience.

Eastern Western Accident Repair Centre, Bodyshop and Smart Repair Specialist based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

 

[SilverSaloon]

At one time the Eastern Western Accident Repair Centre at Broxburn got a good name. Can't comment from personal experience.

Eastern Western Accident Repair Centre, Bodyshop and Smart Repair Specialist based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

i went there. i had mixed feelings. Excellent work on the repair (couldnt fault) but the car had a small scrape on the drivers door when it was returned. I had to kick up a stink to get them to fix it and admit blame which they did in the end. all in all, i would probably go back, basing the accident damage to the door as an unfortunate accident.

 

[Scotsman520]

I have spoken to Connexus, they appear to be on the ball. Now spoken to other party's insurance who admitted liability apparently. They said they would organise a like for like replacement car today, then came back to say they were having a problem getting one so offered me a Porsche Caymen today or a C220 tomorrow....need the seats so it is the C Class. They also said to contact Eastern Western if I wanted to and get the estimate sent on to them and they will sort the rest. All too painless at the moment!!

 

[Scotsman520]

hi there, got the car back today from Eastern Western at Broxburn. Thankfully the C220 has gone back, how I missed my heated seat in this weather!!

The car repair looks great and the vehicle have been professionally valeted. The staff at EW were all excellent, I was very impressed. The whole thing probably took a bit longer than I expected but I suppose it did include the holiday period and apparently there were parts required from Germany which ended up delayed due to the break. I T
think the inclusion of the third party accident management agent also added a couple on unnecessary links in the chain which added to the delay. Once I got talking to Eastern Western directly things appeared to move more quickly. To be honest the Accicent Management company did give me the impression they were more interested in getting me a courtesy car and checking no one had whiplash than getting my car repaired quickly....I suppose that is where the money for them is.

On the subject of money, as my car is a company car I had to pay the VAT on the repair and will then have to claim that back. It was £800, so the total repair cost was nearly £5000 for a wee bump to the boot lid and bumper. No excess to pay thankfully though. That does not include any cost of a courtesy car or any other direct costs. No wonder premiums are through the roof.

On driving the car away I was on the nearby M9 and found that when I operated the decelaration on the cruise control there was a vibrating rumble from the front near side. This was nowhere near the repaired area but had not been there before the bump. The vibration was evident every time I braked so decided to take it back to EW just to get them to give it the once over in case anything had happened when it was in there. Their mechanic took it out and he found that the front near side brake disc have been exposed to the elements while in their possesion and had corroded badly. He is of the opinion that the disc will almost certainly clear itself in a day or so. However if it doesnt, are discs covered under the manufacturers warranty or will I have to pay for a replacement?

 

[st4]

Jump on the brake a few times to clean the rust off....it'll be fine

 

[grober]

hi there, got the car back today from Eastern Western at Broxburn. Thankfully the C220 has gone back, how I missed my heated seat in this weather!!

The car repair looks great and the vehicle have been professionally valeted. The staff at EW were all excellent, I was very impressed. The whole thing probably took a bit longer than I expected but I suppose it did include the holiday period and apparently there were parts required from Germany which ended up delayed due to the break. I T
think the inclusion of the third party accident management agent also added a couple on unnecessary links in the chain which added to the delay. Once I got talking to Eastern Western directly things appeared to move more quickly. To be honest the Accicent Management company did give me the impression they were more interested in getting me a courtesy car and checking no one had whiplash than getting my car repaired quickly....I suppose that is where the money for them is.

On the subject of money, as my car is a company car I had to pay the VAT on the repair and will then have to claim that back. It was £800, so the total repair cost was nearly £5000 for a wee bump to the boot lid and bumper. No excess to pay thankfully though. That does not include any cost of a courtesy car or any other direct costs. No wonder premiums are through the roof.

On driving the car away I was on the nearby M9 and found that when I operated the decelaration on the cruise control there was a vibrating rumble from the front near side. This was nowhere near the repaired area but had not been there before the bump. The vibration was evident every time I braked so decided to take it back to EW just to get them to give it the once over in case anything had happened when it was in there. Their mechanic took it out and he found that the front near side brake disc have been exposed to the elements while in their possesion and had corroded badly. He is of the opinion that the disc will almost certainly clear itself in a day or so. However if it doesnt, are discs covered under the manufacturers warranty or will I have to pay for a replacement?

Glad the repair was to your satisfaction. Brake Discs are unfortunately regarded as a wear and tear item and would not normally be covered by the warranty. I am slightly puzzled why only one disc would affected by exposure to the elements tho. As Steve said a few hard braking episodes should clean up the discs nicely- if the problem persists get it checked out by your MB dealer- don't leave this too long in case something was damaged by the collision.

 

[davidjpowell]

If its been frozen then sometimes the pad material sticks to the disc. A few good hard braking sessions sorted it on ours.

 

[steve333]

Hi, my E250 coupe was rear ended by a tractor at a junction today. Boot lid,bumper damaged and lid won't close now. The guy has admitted everything and passed all the details onto his insurance NFU. Will I have to take the car to where they tell me now or can I get it done where I want?
Also is it best to go to MB to do the a accident repair?
I am in Central Scotland so any suggestions are welcome. Additionally can I get a courtesy car through their insurance or will I have to claim that through my own?

Sorry to hear of your bad luck-i would get it repaired at an mb bodyshop & as others have said it's your choice where it goes,good luck & hope it's back with you & as good as new soon

 

[Dieselman]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck-i would get it repaired at an mb bodyshop & as others have said it's your choice where it goes,good luck & hope it's back with you & as good as new soon

You mean, like earlier today...