Insurance claim and choice of repairer

[Bestle]

My girlfriends car was recently hit when parked on the road. Driver has admitted fault and it is now being dealt with by the third-party insurer.

We've taken the car to a few places and most have quoted £800-1000 for the repair work, including the main dealership for the marque.

The car was also taken to the insurer's 'approved repair center' who quoted £500.

The repair center in question has a bad reputation and have done some horrible repair work on cars owned by friends. For this reason she requested that the car was repaired by the dealership bodyshop instead.

The insurers are arguing that the cost is unreasonable (approx £900) and are offering to contribute £500 towards the cost but nothing else.

I can't see how they can argue that the cost is unreasonable considering three other independent bodyshops have quoted similar prices. Is there anything she can do here?

[Pagey]

Yep

She can tell the third party insurers that she has decided:

A: given their bullying tactics she is going to deal with her own insurers

B: deal with an accident management company to ensure that the vehicle is repaired to her satisfaction at a place of her choice.


Then see the swift about turn from the 3rd party insurers

[Monty Python]

Your choice of repairer will by limited to those approved by your own insurance company (if you go outside then they'll probably not meet the full cost if it's more that their own ones would charge). When this happened to me, the first choice they offered was a Ford bodyshop a few miles away. When I asked about a BMW approved one the nearest was in Manchester. The car was duly collected, repaired and returned.

[NigelStn]

I believe that your right to choose who repairs your vehicle was confirmed by a directive from the Office of Fair Trading issued in 1993

[photosnob]

There is a case law surrounding this. I think it was the high court who said as long as it's reasonable they have to pay. I think 3 quotes being the same would be seen as reasonable. This would go through the small claims court so they are bound by the decision.

I'd wager a bet with anyone they would pay up before it got near a small claims court. They are not going to send a barrister to contest £400 when they would almost certainly lose.

Someone can tell you the case. I don't remember it.

http://www.clarkslegal.com/Legal_Updates/Read/Cour...

[Stoofa]

I has hassle with "choosing my own repairer" on a rear windscreen.
My Octy vRS lost it's rear windscreen. Autoglass (Insurance approved) came out, patched it up with plastic and sheeting and told me they would get me a replacement glass as soon as possible.
Week later I'm called. Not a single piece of glass in the country (mine had the diversity aerial etched into it) and they would need to order it from abroad. Estimated two week wait.
I spoke to my local Skoda dealership who said they could get me glass from the factory and they would sort the fitting. I went back to my insurer and told them this and said I'd like to take it to them instead.
Sure they said, fine. However as they are non-approved we only pay up to £200 for the entire repair including the glass. No way that was going to cover everything so I had no choice but to drive around with plastic sheeting across the back of my car for about a month until Autoglass finally got the replacement sorted.

Really don't know how far I could have taken that.

[Old Merc]

Pagey said:

Yep

She can tell the third party insurers that she has decided:

A: given their bullying tactics she is going to deal with her own insurers

B: deal with an accident management company to ensure that the vehicle is repaired to her satisfaction at a place of her choice.


Then see the swift about turn from the 3rd party insurers

Nice one,I agree. Its her car,she pays the premium,she says who repairs it.
Similar happened to me when my mint SL320 was damaged.I demanded that it was repaired by my trusted independent Merc` specialist rather than some insurance "approved" body shop.
Descent small body shops are being squeezed out of business by this insurance tactic.When a body shop has been "approved"by an insurance group they are under their thumb.Yes they get all the insurance work,but,the insurance company dictates the labour rate,the insurance company dictates the sauce of parts and materials,the insurance company demands that the body shop provides courtesy cars,then they take months to pay the invoice.

[Rtype]

Insurance is a contract. You pay said premium for confirmation insurer's will indemnify you in the event of a total loss, among many other "benefits"

What you will find with go compare, compare the market etc is that the contract you accept states "insurer's approved repairer"

Another case of people thinking by price & not actually reading what cover they get. You will probably find that your insurer has the same stipulation.

[Monty Python]

Just checked my insurance:

"A. You're free to choose who repairs your car, but we're likely to inspect it before we authorise any work. Unfortunately if it isn't an LV= Recommended Repairer we can't offer a courtesy car (if you have this cover) or warranty on the repairs."

[thelawnet1]

Rtype said:

Insurance is a contract. You pay said premium for confirmation insurer's will indemnify you in the event of a total loss, among many other "benefits"

What you will find with go compare, compare the market etc is that the contract you accept states "insurer's approved repairer"

Another case of people thinking by price & not actually reading what cover they get. You will probably find that your insurer has the same stipulation.

Another case of people not reading the thread.

The OP does not have any contract with the third party insurer, who are trying to send him to THEIR approved insurer.

[Bestle]

Thanks for the advice guys.

[simion_levi]

Rtype said:

Insurance is a contract. You pay said premium for confirmation insurer's will indemnify you in the event of a total loss, among many other "benefits"

What you will find with go compare, compare the market etc is that the contract you accept states "insurer's approved repairer"

Another case of people thinking by price & not actually reading what cover they get. You will probably find that your insurer has the same stipulation.

I won't disagree with the essence of what you say about budget policies, although I had the impressions that it was actually only a select few insurers that tried to imposed their 'approved repairer' in contract - and even then if you chose to go somewhere else they only hiked the excess by a couple of hundred pounds as a penalty to discourage you, it wasn't actually disallowed. (They'll all try to push you that way in the event of an incident of course, but I know my insurance contracts don't contain that stipulation - though I do accept that I actually read before buying and deliberately avoid such terms).

But of course in the OPs case this is a claim under tort rather than contract and the third party insurer cannot dictate that their approved bodge-it workshop must be used, even if their policyholder accepted such miserable conditions for themselves. OP is entitled to take reasonable actions to have their car repaired to a good standard, subject to mitigating costs - and so should not fold if this place has a bad reputation.

[Rtype]

simion_levi said:

Rtype said:

Insurance is a contract. You pay said premium for confirmation insurer's will indemnify you in the event of a total loss, among many other "benefits"

What you will find with go compare, compare the market etc is that the contract you accept states "insurer's approved repairer"

Another case of people thinking by price & not actually reading what cover they get. You will probably find that your insurer has the same stipulation.

I won't disagree with the essence of what you say about budget policies, although I had the impressions that it was actually only a select few insurers that tried to imposed their 'approved repairer' in contract - and even then if you chose to go somewhere else they only hiked the excess by a couple of hundred pounds as a penalty to discourage you, it wasn't actually disallowed. (They'll all try to push you that way in the event of an incident of course, but I know my insurance contracts don't contain that stipulation - though I do accept that I actually read before buying and deliberately avoid such terms).

But of course in the OPs case this is a claim under tort rather than contract and the third party insurer cannot dictate that their approved bodge-it workshop must be used, even if their policyholder accepted such miserable conditions for themselves. OP is entitled to take reasonable actions to have their car repaired to a good standard, subject to mitigating costs - and so should not fold if this place has a bad reputation.

Does this Insurance approved repairer have a bad reputation? Really? Or is it the Op's opinion, surely if it is received multiple complaints it would be removed from the approved list? (I've actually been with an insurer whilst this has happened, so this is kind of rhetorical)

[simion_levi]

I know I've seen outrageous panel gaps and shoddy paintwork from a couple of 'approved' repairers, but only those with experience of this particular workshop could say for sure.

I'm inclined to think that, if everyone else in a 20 mile radius were to quote 2x what the approved repairer had, then they have either mis-quoted and missed some necessary work or are otherwise planning on using the cheapest possible pattern parts and/or will rush or othewise bodge the job, which will affect the quality of the repair.

Ultimately to be decided on the facts of course - OP might have taken it to the three most expensive repairers in the country - but without knowing more, 3+ similar quotes starts to be persuasive.

Edited by simion_levi on Monday 28th September 16:16

[Red Devil]

photosnob said:

There is a case law surrounding this. I think it was the high court who said as long as it's reasonable they have to pay.

Someone can tell you the case. I don't remember it.

It's this one. The first stage in the battle between RSA and Allianz + Covéa. https://www.brownejacobson.com/insurance/training-...

Decision upheld by the CoA in December 2013 - https://news.rsagroup.com/pressrelease/view/1480
In July 2014 the Supreme Court refused permission to appeal the CoA ruling - http://www.kennedyslaw.com/casereview/subrogatedre...

[Bestle]

So here are the exact quotes we received in case it sways the decision:

Chartwell - £2093
Ford - £900
Parkers - £750
Parkway VW - £850
Just Car Clinic (The 'approved bodyshop', I won't say which one) - £500

She wants to get it repaired at the Ford bodyshop as she's adamant they will do the best job as it's a Ford car (we all know that isn't necessarily true).

Does she have a case here to argue that the quote from Ford is not unreasonable given the prices quoted from everywhere other than the third-party insurer's approved bodyshop?

[Rtype]

Bestle said:

So here are the exact quotes we received in case it sways the decision:

Chartwell - £2093
Ford - £900
Parkers - £750
Parkway VW - £850
Just Car Clinic (The 'approved bodyshop', I won't say which one) - £500

She wants to get it repaired at the Ford bodyshop as she's adamant they will do the best job as it's a Ford car (we all know that isn't necessarily true).

Does she have a case here to argue that the quote from Ford is not unreasonable given the prices quoted from everywhere other than the third-party insurer's approved bodyshop?

Hi Bestle,

I think you might have a battle, I know my previous post was telling people to read their wordings & take a deeper look at what they buy before moaning but to help you out a little here:

Including Chartwell - the average cost is £1,231 - which is far more than insurers approved, so would be classed as unreasonable. To take out Chartwell who are obviously not interested, the average reduces to: £800.00 which is a 60% increase in comparison to the approved repairer. The argument they will give back to you is regardless of your thoughts, they issue a guarantee & can't justify the extra 60%.

I think you may be clutching here to be frank.

[Monty Python]

Do they not have any Ford bodyshops on their approved list?

[Bestle]

Rtype said:

Hi Bestle,

I think you might have a battle, I know my previous post was telling people to read their wordings & take a deeper look at what they buy before moaning but to help you out a little here:

Including Chartwell - the average cost is £1,231 - which is far more than insurers approved, so would be classed as unreasonable. To take out Chartwell who are obviously not interested, the average reduces to: £800.00 which is a 60% increase in comparison to the approved repairer. The argument they will give back to you is regardless of your thoughts, they issue a guarantee & can't justify the extra 60%.

I think you may be clutching here to be frank.

So you're saying she's just going to have to put up with the decision of the third-party insurer and get it repaired at somewhere who are obviously doing it on the cheap?

Seems wrong.

[randlemarcus]

Bestle said:

So you're saying she's just going to have to put up with the decision of the third-party insurer and get it repaired at somewhere who are obviously doing it on the cheap?

Seems wrong.

Point of view thing. From their perspective, it's being repaired at somewhere that is not padding the quote "because insurance job". You might be better pointing the third party insurer at the bad feedback, and guaranteeing that you will be very much inspecting for good work, and holding the third party to account if it is rubbish.