Yes, and its standard operating practice, unless you dig in your heels and say that you want your own independent assessor / engineer to verify that all is well, and that can be a tad expensive. The main point though is there being visible signs of impact damage on the wheel. And unless that's noted in their engineers report, its a very sticky wicket. They will plead normal wear on the bearings.
They dropped off when we weren't in and posted through the letter box, so no signature.
Car has done 20k and is 3 years old. I wouldn't normally expect bearings to need replacement at this age. Especially rear on a FWD car.
So get on to your insurance company and tell them it’s not been repaired to a satisfactory standard, tell them about the noise and say you want it sorted immediately otherwise a hire car will be require.
I doubt very much that the bearing will seize. Much more likely if it fails catastrophically is to jettison the wheel, hub, and brake disc....
Uhoh that sounds like you will have a bill on collection there
No MrGreedy, neither would I, not in a 3 year old car with 20'000. But even so, an impact on one side severe enough to damage the bearings on the other, would surely leave evidence? Where the wheel was pushed against the kerb? The only way to really check if it is in fact the bearings would be to jack it up and spin the wheel, which is not too difficult, and it will be heard then. My whole point MrGreedy, is to try and save you bother and strife ( not to mention cash) Insurance company's can be very inventive when it comes to ways to limit the cash they pay out, and if the Garage who did the estimate did not include it, then the assessor will not look at it. It was SOP for me when I was in the business to include as standard in every estimate I ever did the following line:- "Estimate only, final figures only after completion and road test." So by any chance were you given a copy of the estimate? If it does not mention the P/S road wheel , but contain's the " Subject to final check and road test", No problem. And despite the 3 years and 20K mileage, they could claim it was normal wear and tear, and in the absence of any visible damage to prove it was caused by the impact, you could be on a sticky wicket and liable for any repair costs. Personally before involving either Insurance or Garage, if at all possible, I'd try and get it jacked up0, spin the wheel, and see if there's any visible damage to account for the noise. Best of luck with it. Its a strange thing with accidents like this... the amount of hassle it can cause the innocent person.
FWIW, in the aftermath of the crash that caused my BMW K1600GT motorcycle to be written off, the insurance company (and the bike was insured under the BMW Scheme!) wanted to ship it to "their approved repairer" for "assessment and repair". I told them I wanted it shipped to my local BMW Motorrad dealer, which led to them emphasising how it would slow the process down, may cost me money, etc. I thanked them for their concern and their final shot was that while they would collect it and take it to their repairer at their cost (it was unrideable), I would have to have it transported to my dealer at my own cost.
The repairer, insurance approved or not, had to provide a written estimate to the insurers , itemizing the work needed, part's and labour cost's etc. ( you should have received a copy of this too) Then the Insurance assessor would jointly inspect the damaged vehicle, and agree repairs. Only then would the repaired get the Green Light to go ahead with the repairs. So all of this should be available to you as owner of the damaged vehicle. Then there could be no fiddly business as to who is responsible for what.
