Insurance company approved repairers ?

[KennyN]

How do you go about getting a vehicle repaired at a repair centre of your choice and not one chosen by the insurer ?

Background - came out of the shops last week and found a camper van trying to mate with the wifes Juke , seemingly the vans owner forgot to put the handbrake on and it rolled across the carpark right into the back of the Juke.

Driver wasnt too fussed , unlike me, but admitted liability and we exchanged details , wifes insurer (Tesco) want to send the car to a local bodyshop that has a one star rating which has been given by 70% of their customers, according to their reviews.

Called Tesco and informed them that i didn`t want a car that is less than three years old going to such a poorly rated repair centre and asked what my local options were and was told someone would be in touch before close of play on Thursday , which naturally they havn`t but i have received two text messages from the original repair centre wanting me to choose a date for the repair.

As of today i have called Tesco five times , had numerous e-mails / texts from the repair centre requesting pics etc , had numerous calls from the courtesy car supplier asking me when we want the CC even though we haven`t got a date or location to drop it off - too many elements in a relatively simple equation for things to go smoothly.

Second thing i said to the wife was "this is going to be a fecking disaster" , which it is shaping up to be just two days in.

Could have been worse , it could have been my car.

K

 

[TC350]

A couple of years ago my car needed body repairs after an accident. My insurance company (LV=) recommended a local body shop that had poor reviews. I asked if I could get the work done by a Mercedes recommended company and they agreed straight away. They did a phenomenal job and there was no issue with LV= dealing with them directly.

 

[markjay]

Firstly, if the other party admitted liability, you should be claiming directly off the other party insurer, and not claiming off your own policy.

You should of course notify your own insurer, but insist that it's a 'notification only' and not a claim.

Then, you can have your car repaired wherever you wish, the other party's insurer simply have no say in the matter. And, they are also obliged to provide you with a rental car while your car is being repaired (that's a rental car equivalent in size and type to yours, not the bodyshop's curtesy car).

It's plain sailing from there. I've had to do this a few times so I am reasonably well versed with the process by now.

If the other party does not accept liability (which is not the case here), that's where things get complicated, and you need to claim off your own policy, which will likely have a clause stipulating additional excess if you do not use the insurer's repairer.

But going through your own insurer when the other party acceptes liability is simply adding another layer of complication to the process, so best avoided.

 

[AMGeed]

^ This

 

[KennyN]

Firstly, if the other party admitted liability, you should be claiming directly off the other party insurer, and not claiming off your own policy.

But going through your own insurer when the other party acceptes liability is simply adding another layer of complication to the process, so best avoided.

I have only informed my insurance company of the third parties details , i am not claiming our insurance but Tesco need to be aware of the non fault incident to process the claim.

K

 

[markjay]

I have only informed my insurance company of the third parties details , i am not claiming our insurance but Tesco need to be aware of the non fault incident to process the claim.

K

Tesco (your own insurer) do not need to process the claim, they do not need to be involved at all.

Pick up the phone, call the other-party's insurer, give them the other-party's car details and they'll take it from there.

They will also be super-efficient and super-quick, because their worst nightmare is that you will refer the claim to one of the 'ambulance chaser' accident management firms who will take them to the cleaners (the term they use is 'claim inflation').

In fact, if you wanted to, you can simply call Mercedes Benz accident management centre, they get your car repaired at the dealer and will sort out things with the insurer directly. All they will need in order to do this is confirmation from the other-party's insurer that they accept liability. You'll never need to talk to either of the insurers again, you'll be dealing only with the MB centre.

 

[KennyN]

Tesco (your own insurer) do not need to process the claim, they do not need to be involved at all.

Pick up the phone, call the other-party's insurer, give them the other-party's car details and they'll take it from there.

The TP didn`t know (forgot) who they were insured with , although according to the MID they were insured or we would have got the police involved at that point.

Can`t call their insurer if we done know who they are which is the reason we called our insurer , who told us to get the TP`s details (name / contact / reg number) who cross referenced them whilst on the phone and told us they were insured and to leave it with them.

You can only do what you are advised to do by the company who should know.

K

 

[markjay]

In this case, why not simply take it to your local MB dealer? There's nothing Tesco or the other insurer can do to stop you..

Get a repair estimate, and book a date to bring the car in, then let Tesco know which garage it is going to and when.

I know that you are expecting your insurer to provide you with a full service, but sadly that's not how things actually work.

Just make sure that Tesco are processing this as an other-party fault claim. You don't want them to mistakenly think that you are claiming off your own policy. In fact, the service that you are receiving from your insurer in this situation is similar to what you'd receive from an accident management firm.

 

[KennyN]

In this case, why not simply take it to your local MB dealer? There's nothing Tesco or the other insurer can do to stop you..

Just make sure that Tesco are processing this as an other-party fault claim.

Only one problem with the above , is that it is a Nissan . I have just been on the Nissan website and they have an approved repairer (Mitchell Inglis) not too far away so i will contact Tesco + Inglis on Monday and take it from there.

Tesco are aware it is a non fault claim.

K

 

[oldguy57]

Only one problem with the above , is that it is a Nissan . I have just been on the Nissan website and they have an approved repairer (Mitchell Inglis) not too far away so i will contact Tesco + Inglis on Monday and take it from there.

Tesco are aware it is a non fault claim.

K

Sounds as thoughTesco are dealing with the claim and will then recover the costs from the third party Insurers. Sometimes that's the best way of dealing with these situations. But both Insurers will need to approve the cost of the repairs otherwise you may find yourself with none recoverable costs from either Tesco or the third party Insurers. Tesco are not being helpful. I'd be tempted to get a price from your preferred repairer and then give Tesco 7 days to approve the work (put in an email as well).
Best to be pro active yourself as you have been doing - a pain but often the only way to progress.
I've seen numerous instances of disputes between Insurers and none proactive claims people leading to substantial delays and horrendous costs. A fairly recent one was when the owner of a £12k Audi had their door damaged by a third party. The final costs due to **** ups by both Insurers was £80k which had to be paid.

 

[markjay]

For future reference.... in this situation, my view is that it's better to deal directly with the other-party's insurer where possible.

This has certainly been my experience, and I found the other-parties' insurers to be highly motivated to resolve the claims quickly before the cost (to them) escalates.

The issue with getting your insurer to talk to the other-party's insurer, is that your own insurer will often be dragging their heels, because from their perspective it's a free service that they are providing (aka "zero value transaction"), and they have no financial motivation to try and resolve it quickly.

Additionally, they can be inefficient at times and actually mess things up. But obviously, this not always the case - best of luck to the OP.

 

[KennyN]

I am back at work tomorrow for three 12h days then we are off too Spain on Thursday for a week so i am not in a position to do anything until we return next week.

The damage is cosmetic so the car can still be used until we can get in for repair.

K

 

[oldguy57]

For future reference.... in this situation, my view is that it's better to deal directly with the other-party's insurer where possible.

This has certainly been my experience, and I found the other-parties' insurers to be highly motivated to resolve the claims quickly before the cost (to them) escalates.

The issue with getting your insurer to talk to the other-party's insurer, is that your own insurer will often be dragging their heels, because from their perspective it's a free service that they are providing (aka "zero value transaction"), and they have no financial motivation to try and resolve it quickly.

Additionally, they can be inefficient at times and actually mess things up. But obviously, this not always the case - best of luck to the OP.

It depends of course on how motivated third party Insurers are, as with your own Insurers obviously. First impressions of either usually will give you a guide as to how to proceed.