Crash.

[glojo]

I go along with both Pammy and MBManinKen. We are insured with Direct-line and they had no problems with us getting our vehicle repaired at an approved agent. When my son's vehicle was hit up the rear we also requested it be done at our choice of repair shop. The only stipulation they gave was that they had the vehicle inspected by their representative after the quote was submitted. None of this getting a number of quotations.

Good luck,
John

 

[Dieselman]

As others have said you are being perfectly reasonable expecting the car to be repaired by a Mercedes authorised repairer. In fact as you say, your warranty contract specifically stipulates this must be the case.

Go through your insurance and forget the issue. You could talk directly to the other party's insurance company and arrange the repair through them without having to claim on your own policy first. Some companies are very happy to do this as it makes it quicker and cheaper for them.

As well as the visible damage the rear panel will be bent, hence the higher cost.
It's a good job you had the car properly inspected.

Why does the father need to tell the insurance company that he tried to obtain a cheaper quote?? The value of claim will make no difference to the resultant loss of NCB his Son will suffer.

 

[gina2201]

I think the bloke was a bit cheeky even to ask you to take it to his garage, let alone almost demand!

Deffo do it through MB, you have every right to get it back to the state it was in, why should you risk your warranty through his mistake?

Tell your insurers let them do the hard work!

His insurer may ask you to get 3 quotes from their approved repairers BUT you are totally entitled to just get it done from Mercedes, why should you be put out?

Good Luck

 

[Flash]

Why does the father need to tell the insurance company that he tried to obtain a cheaper quote?? The value of claim will make no difference to the resultant loss of NCB his Son will suffer.

Becasue he being is a a$$!

If it was me I would take car to MB bodyshop get it all repaired and let the insuarnce calim the costs back.

Simon: If you can get MB body shop to fit OEM rear pakring sensors and this time in the correct postions!

 

[SimonsMerc]

Becasue he being is a a$$!

If it was me I would take car to MB bodyshop get it all repaired and let the insuarnce calim the costs back.

Simon: If you can get MB body shop to fit OEM rear pakring sensors and this time in the correct postions!

Rofl, you rock Flash (and you have an amazing memory ;-) )

-simon

 

[Gucci]

I agree, getting it all sorted at MB. But £3000! I had a C-Class which was FLOODED by the Thames....extensive work, all electrics sorted, interior trim and carpet replaced..all for £4000. Quote is a bit out of proportion to me. I reckon the kid's father was suspicious.

 

[gina2201]

Does sound alot for what it looks, but it's what you can't see sometimes!

I literally nudged a Rover's rear bumper and all you could see was a scratch that looked like it would T-cut out, they took it to Rover and apparently over a grands worthof damage? Perhaps I had done some damage behind the bumper, into the boot floor?!

Either way it was only a rover.....!

Like Dieselman said, it doesn't matter what the cost of the repair is, the driver will still lose some of his No Claims. And if it was me I would only go to MB.

 

[Rory]

This "I can get it done for £20" must be pretty common.
Someone bumped the back of my wife's Jazz recently and partially punched one of the bumper mounting brackets through the bumper. So it needed a whole new rear bumper.
She exchanged details etc no problem.
The woman then called us and insisted that her brother 'knows about cars' and he can get it fixed for £20.

My view is that it's for situations like these that you have fully comp insurance. I simply claimed on my insurance (Liverpool Victoria's Frizzell) - they asked me to take it their authorised repairer but were also happy for me to take it to our local Honda dealer. They did however point out that in the event of a dispute over the workmanship it would be more awkward for them to assist me if I chose the repairer. I have heard this before - it gets very messy as to who exactly the repairer is working for.

Anyway, they agreed the estimate on a fax from the dealer.
They paid the bill directly, and also waived the excess so I didn't even have to pay and then reclaim that. They rang to tell me they'd made a full recovery from the other parties insurance.

As far as I was concerned the whole thing couldn't have been simpler. Even the repair was easy - the bumpers come ready painted from the factory!


In Simon's case, as the job is more expensive then the insurance company's assessor may want to see it for himself and will query the cost before the work starts. A friend of ours cracked the rear bumper on a Vectra a good few years ago and that cost £1100 to replace & paint.

 

[Dryce]

This "I can get it done for £20" must be pretty common.
Someone bumped the back of my wife's Jazz recently and partially punched one of the bumper mounting brackets through the bumper. So it needed a whole new rear bumper.

It's sometimes an attempt to keep the whole thing away from the insurers on the assumption that it would save costs and hassle. Sometimes a bit more sinister where the driver is disqualified and/or driving without insurance.

I suspect that back in the days before rust warranties, body coloured bumpers and when items like headlights were more basic and labour was cheaper that more accidents were resolved by private agreement. Insurers also used to expect you to do more of the donkey work of getting things organised whereas today they take over the whole end to end process of getting you back on the road.

 

[dougal74]

I once paid the costs on a blokes 850i I hit in my first or second year of driving. He chose when and where it was done and I paid the cost approx. £800 inc. a new parking sensor and respray.
At 19 driving a Ford Puma I would never have been able to afford the following year's insurance had I made a claim.
However, if the quote had been £3k I think would have revised my view! That is a ridiculous amount unless there is a lot of unseen damage to your car...