My rights and where to start.

[Swozza]

Hi All

On December the 15th, the back end of my car over steered in bad weather and the rear near side wheel hit a high kerb which resulted in damage. I made an insurance claim (Direct Line). The car was taken to Just Car Clinic (Sheffield) where the claim was accepted. This was 7 weeks ago and I still don’t have my car back. All I have been given is the run around. What if any are my rights? Do I demand compensation due to some sort of service level breach?

Thanks

--

 

[st13phil]

Did you engage the repairer, or did Direct Line?

If the latter, then I'd be on Direct Line's case asking them to get it sorted post haste; if the former then I'd be talking to the repairer.

 

[moonloops]

I assume much more than the wheel was damaged?

How long did they say a repair would take?

 

[flango]

Unfortunately I had a run in with this crowd when my Subaru got damaged and they made a right a*se of it.

Which one in Sheffield is it at as there are 2, The Woodbourne Road branch who are useless and the Sutherland street one who are really f***king useless.

General Manager of Woodbourne Road is Jordan Ashmore [email protected]

General Manager of Sutherland street is Mick Green [email protected]

e mail them and voice your disgust and copy in the Managing Director of the whole group Barry Whittles. [email protected]

My problem ended up getting resolved directly by Barry and they did pay me compensation for all the screw ups they did on my car that had to be re done.

Good luck but if you are struggling just PM me and I'll give you some more info to make them shape up

 

[Swozza]

Did you engage the repairer, or did Direct Line?

If the latter, then I'd be on Direct Line's case asking them to get it sorted post haste; if the former then I'd be talking to the repairer.

Direct Line, its one for there approved car clinics. I would have wanted MB.

 

[Swozza]

I assume much more than the wheel was damaged?

How long did they say a repair would take?

Yes the rear axle. The date keeps getting put back time after time and I've heard numerous reason why. Not of which make up for the fact its taking so long.

 

[Swozza]

Unfortunately I had a run in with this crowd when my Subaru got damaged and they made a right a*se of it.

Which one in Sheffield is it at as there are 2, The Woodbourne Road branch who are useless and the Sutherland street one who are really f***king useless.

General Manager of Woodbourne Road is Jordan Ashmore [email protected]

General Manager of Sutherland street is Mick Green [email protected]

e mail them and voice your disgust and copy in the Managing Director of the whole group Barry Whittles. [email protected]

My problem ended up getting resolved directly by Barry and they did pay me compensation for all the screw ups they did on my car that had to be re done.

Good luck but if you are struggling just PM me and I'll give you some more info to make them shape up

Its the f***king useless branch on Sutherland street. I've just rang my insurer who are not to impressed. For the last 2 weeks I have been dealing with Adrian the Ass Manager. All the phone handlers give me conflicting info and were useless.

 

[Rory]

Direct Line, its one for there approved car clinics.

I would have expected that responsibility lies with Direct Line. What do they have to say about it?

It can get *really* messy if you choose your own repairer as, really, it's the insurance company who is the repairers customer (they pay the bill) and if there are any problems then the insurance company doesn't want to know because you didn't use their repairer.

 

[kth286]

you give the insurance co one and final opportunity to respond to you in writing as to when this will be completed; stating that if you do not get a satisfactory response within 5 working days you will be taking your complaint to Financial Ombudsman.

 

[timskemp]

If they are waiting for genuine parts then there's not much to do but wait really, mine was 93 days (car rental was adding up) mostly waiting for jig brackets from MB (not many sets in the UK and demand is high in winter) and because of the Christmas break that's another week (two weeks for many this year) lost.

The Toyota was in bodyshop over one Christmas and due to demand we ended up getting it repaired at the other side of the country - local shops were all backed up for 6 wks plus, we got it done in 4 in one in lancashire, again though being non-fault we were just charging the transporting and rentals to the 3rd party. Christmas break is a pain.

 

[chord]

Direct Line, its one for there approved car clinics. I would have wanted MB.

Could you not have insisted that they used MB, it's then up to them to negotiate with the garage on the cost of the work. I thought the advantage of using their approved garages was that you were given a courtesy car etc They always try to get you to use their garage but you do don't have to. That's what I thought anyway.

 

[nick mercedes]

Hi All

On December the 15th, the back end of my car over steered in bad weather and the rear near side wheel hit a high kerb which resulted in damage. I made an insurance claim (Direct Line). The car was taken to Just Car Clinic (Sheffield) where the claim was accepted. This was 7 weeks ago and I still don’t have my car back. All I have been given is the run around. What if any are my rights? Do I demand compensation due to some sort of service level breach?

Thanks

--

They could be waiting for parts, or just be swamped with work, snowy winters must bring in a mountian of work for bodyshops.

 

[davidjpowell]

Could you not have insisted that they used MB, it's then up to them to negotiate with the garage on the cost of the work. I thought the advantage of using their approved garages was that you were given a courtesy car etc They always try to get you to use their garage but you do don't have to. That's what I thought anyway.

I never use the approved garage schemes. UltimatelyI believe that they are only chosen on the tender. All bodyshops (even manufacturers approved ones) will give you a loan car of some sort nowadays.

 

[Swozza]

There have given me no lone car and I understand the comments about Xmas and Snow. However my car went in 2 weeks before the big snow hit. IMHO I don't believe my car was actually looked at until the 4th week for various reasons. They are currently waiting for more parts, this is 6 weeks after the approval of first set of parts. My beef is what have they been doing of the last 6 weeks to come to the end of the 6th week and decide they need more parts.

 

[219]

Direct Line, its one for there approved car clinics. I would have wanted MB.

It matters not .

It is YOUR car and only you can decide where it is repaired . Many insurers will try to push you towards 'their' repairer because they have discount deals arranged with certain repairers and it saves them money but they cannot insist on you using their choice of garage .

In some cases , if the extent of damage is coming close to the value of the car , they may threaten to write the car off if your preferred repairer is more costly than theirs , but there are even ways round that - with contract repairs , you offering to pay the difference in cost etc ....

I had three repairs done following non fault crashes between 10 and 15 years ago - each time I had my choice of repairer ( MB once and a trusted local VBRA bodyshop who did excellent work on my employer's fleet the other two times ) on two of those occasions the other party's insurer was Direct Line who suggested another repairer but did not argue at all when I told them where I wanted my cars repaired .

I also got a courtesy car each time .

 

[Baron_Samedi]

They could be waiting for parts, or just be swamped with work, snowy winters must bring in a mountian of work for bodyshops.

But after all this time, surely some feedback as to progress is warranted?

 

[nick mercedes]

But after all this time, surely some feedback as to progress is warranted?

Apparantly he's had some - "I've heard numerous reason why"

 

[219]

If they are waiting for genuine parts then there's not much to do but wait really, mine was 93 days (car rental was adding up) mostly waiting for jig brackets from MB (not many sets in the UK and demand is high in winter) and because of the Christmas break that's another week (two weeks for many this year) lost.

The Toyota was in bodyshop over one Christmas and due to demand we ended up getting it repaired at the other side of the country - local shops were all backed up for 6 wks plus, we got it done in 4 in one in lancashire, again though being non-fault we were just charging the transporting and rentals to the 3rd party. Christmas break is a pain.

The jig brackets I can understand , given your explaination .

However , I would be shocked and saddened if MB parts are taking more than a week or so at most to arrive .

My past experience is that most service parts are in stock either at the dealership or at least in the UK and threrefore available next day at worst .

For less 'common' parts , I have never had to wait more than 48 hours :

Last year I ordered two rear springs for the W126 with the maximum 'points' for load rating - there were none in the UK and had to be ordered from Germany , order placed at 4pm Tuesday , phone call at 09:15 Thursday to say they were in . Less recently , but still within the last few years , items like clutch kit and starter ring gear for my 1957 Ponton - same timescale ; engine mounts - ditto ; brake shoes , filters , 35/45W 'Bilux' Tungsten headlamp bulbs are all UK stock items ; set of keys for that car , which had to be cut in Germany as UK do not hold blanks for older cars than late 1960's when they switched over to single key system - about a week . A lot of body panels for the older cars are no longer held in stock , but if you are rich enough the Classic Centre will make 'one-off's ' - at an eye-watering price !

If parts for vehicles aged 50+ years can be supplied in a matter of days , there is absolutely no excuse for delays supplying parts for newer models .

 

[nick mercedes]

The jig brackets I can understand , given your explaination .

However , I would be shocked and saddened if MB parts are taking more than a week or so at most to arrive.

You'd be amazed at what MB runs out of sometimes, and the lead times on fresh supplies can be months.

 

[Swozza]

Just been told its ready to collect. That's 8 weeks to the day. I don't know whether I'm going to hug him or punch him in the head........Maybe both!