Garage started work without authorization? 3800 pounds worth
Discussion
My car was written off by an insurance company and i had the option to keep the car and repair it for 3115 pounds or to get the full settlement.
It was initially sent to Arnold Clark for an estimation of repair cost in which was the reason why it was written off as the quote was too high, therefor i asked my insurance company if i could transport the car into another local garage to have estimate of the repair cost to see if i can get a cheaper price before i could make a decision if it was worth it for me to repair the car or to buy a new one.
I instructed the local garage to pick up the car from Arnold Clark and return to me with estimates of the cost, which is strictly all i said. (This was on the weekend).
They told me they would pick it up on monday so i called on monday and asked them for an estimate + if they picked it up. They told me they have picked it up but cant give me an estimate yet.
I called again on tuesday and they told me that they still couldn't give me an estimate cause the jig was not free and therefore they cant strip my vehicle and they cant tell me the costs yet , they would be able to do so on Wednesday.
So i called on Wednesday and they finally gave me the estimates and i told them i might not decide to go on with the repairs, to my shock the guy on the phone told me they have already bought the parts and started on repairs??
I called about 2 hrs later and he told me he has already finished the repairs and i told him that i wouldn't pay for anything without first knowing the estimates, he told me he was instructed by his colleague to pick up the car and fix it, and would not return the car until paid for his work. He told me to go down to his office and discuss it tomorrow?
After some calculations i realized its not worth it for me to fix a CAT S car, how could i proceed with this? Do i have to take legal action? What do i do from now? Any advice would be appreciated.
It was initially sent to Arnold Clark for an estimation of repair cost in which was the reason why it was written off as the quote was too high, therefor i asked my insurance company if i could transport the car into another local garage to have estimate of the repair cost to see if i can get a cheaper price before i could make a decision if it was worth it for me to repair the car or to buy a new one.
I instructed the local garage to pick up the car from Arnold Clark and return to me with estimates of the cost, which is strictly all i said. (This was on the weekend).
They told me they would pick it up on monday so i called on monday and asked them for an estimate + if they picked it up. They told me they have picked it up but cant give me an estimate yet.
I called again on tuesday and they told me that they still couldn't give me an estimate cause the jig was not free and therefore they cant strip my vehicle and they cant tell me the costs yet , they would be able to do so on Wednesday.
So i called on Wednesday and they finally gave me the estimates and i told them i might not decide to go on with the repairs, to my shock the guy on the phone told me they have already bought the parts and started on repairs??
I called about 2 hrs later and he told me he has already finished the repairs and i told him that i wouldn't pay for anything without first knowing the estimates, he told me he was instructed by his colleague to pick up the car and fix it, and would not return the car until paid for his work. He told me to go down to his office and discuss it tomorrow?
After some calculations i realized its not worth it for me to fix a CAT S car, how could i proceed with this? Do i have to take legal action? What do i do from now? Any advice would be appreciated.
webpool said:
I instructed the local garage to pick up the car from Arnold Clark and return to me with estimates of the cost, which is strictly all i said. (This was on the weekend).
In writing? If so good. If not, a world of pain awaits.Did they really do a £3800 repair between Monday and Wednesday?
Bert
BertBert said:
In writing? If so good. If not, a world of pain awaits.
Did they really do a £3800 repair between Monday and Wednesday?
Bert
No... verbally. I however did tell the insurance company that it was my intention to get the garage to pick the car up just for estimates as i have not decided on to buy back the car or not yet.Did they really do a £3800 repair between Monday and Wednesday?
Bert
And yes thats what the guy said on the 2nd call, on the first call he said they just ordered the parts. On the 2nd call he said the car is done. So its questionable. I think i have decided to let the insurance company have the car, what should i do?
Butter Face said:
How far away is the garage? Personally I’d be down there ASAP to sort it.
There’s no way they’ve carried out thousands of pounds of repairs in that timescale and especially not without proper instructions to do so.
This of course. In fact I'd have been there today if you'd been able to. I guarantee they will have finished the job by the time you get there in the morning even if they have to bodge away at it all night.There’s no way they’ve carried out thousands of pounds of repairs in that timescale and especially not without proper instructions to do so.
It'll be a stalemate. The insurance company won't pay you. You won't pay the garage and they won't release your car.
The simplest outcome is to take the settlement from the ins co and pay the garage and have your car repaired (hopefully without too much bodging).
But that means the garage will have 'won' and you will have 'lost'. If that's unpalatable, then I suspect only a court will sort it out between you and the garage.
Bert
What's clearly happened here is Ar5ehole Clark have vastly over estimated the repair wrongly assuming they would get the work.
The other workshop have seen a quick cheap repair which they've carried out.
Pay the workshop their 2hrs labour plus the parts outlay and take the £3K payout from your ins
company.
Quids in, job done, stop whinging...
The other workshop have seen a quick cheap repair which they've carried out.
Pay the workshop their 2hrs labour plus the parts outlay and take the £3K payout from your ins
company.
Quids in, job done, stop whinging...
Butter Face said:
How far away is the garage? Personally I’d be down there ASAP to sort it.
There’s no way they’ve carried out thousands of pounds of repairs in that timescale and especially not without proper instructions to do so.
About 5 mins awayThere’s no way they’ve carried out thousands of pounds of repairs in that timescale and especially not without proper instructions to do so.
I’ve ran down just now and their closed, supposedly closed at 8pm on the website but
BertBert said:
This of course. In fact I'd have been there today if you'd been able to. I guarantee they will have finished the job by the time you get there in the morning even if they have to bodge away at it all night.
It'll be a stalemate. The insurance company won't pay you. You won't pay the garage and they won't release your car.
The simplest outcome is to take the settlement from the ins co and pay the garage and have your car repaired (hopefully without too much bodging).
But that means the garage will have 'won' and you will have 'lost'. If that's unpalatable, then I suspect only a court will sort it out between you and the garage.
Tbh the car is worth 3115 and the repairs are 3800.
Problem about this approach is that I have to sell this cat S car. The market price is around 12000+ now and for a cat s I prob can only go for 6000? And the biggest problem being I’m afraid there are a lack of buyers even at thst price cause it’s a highly priced Cat S
Bert
It'll be a stalemate. The insurance company won't pay you. You won't pay the garage and they won't release your car.
The simplest outcome is to take the settlement from the ins co and pay the garage and have your car repaired (hopefully without too much bodging).
But that means the garage will have 'won' and you will have 'lost'. If that's unpalatable, then I suspect only a court will sort it out between you and the garage.
Tbh the car is worth 3115 and the repairs are 3800.
Problem about this approach is that I have to sell this cat S car. The market price is around 12000+ now and for a cat s I prob can only go for 6000? And the biggest problem being I’m afraid there are a lack of buyers even at thst price cause it’s a highly priced Cat S
Bert
webpool said:
BertBert said:
In writing? If so good. If not, a world of pain awaits.
Did they really do a £3800 repair between Monday and Wednesday?
Bert
...And yes thats what the guy said on the 2nd call, on the first call he said they just ordered the parts...Did they really do a £3800 repair between Monday and Wednesday?
Bert
I find it impossible to believe that all the repairs have been done and completed in the time frame given; tops 2 days, I also find it very hard to believe that even a full estimate of the exact work and parts are required, with the parts already being ordered and in, in the time frame given.
Bodyshop are notorious for taking bloody ages, the one we use has a 3-4 day turnaround to just re-spray 1 panel.
Bodyshop are notorious for taking bloody ages, the one we use has a 3-4 day turnaround to just re-spray 1 panel.
Tbh the car is worth 3115 and the repairs are 3800.
Problem about this approach is that I have to sell this cat S car. The market price is around 12000+ now and for a cat s I prob can only go for 6000? And the biggest problem being I’m afraid there are a lack of buyers even at thst price cause it’s a highly priced Cat S
Im a bit confused about this, if the car is worth £3115 and the repairs are £3800, then the market value for the car isn't £12000+ its the £3115 that is the market value, once the car is repaired, its usually worth around market value less 25%.
Depending on what the garage have repaired the vehicle for, you may end up making more money by paying for the repairs and selling it.
Problem about this approach is that I have to sell this cat S car. The market price is around 12000+ now and for a cat s I prob can only go for 6000? And the biggest problem being I’m afraid there are a lack of buyers even at thst price cause it’s a highly priced Cat S
Im a bit confused about this, if the car is worth £3115 and the repairs are £3800, then the market value for the car isn't £12000+ its the £3115 that is the market value, once the car is repaired, its usually worth around market value less 25%.
Depending on what the garage have repaired the vehicle for, you may end up making more money by paying for the repairs and selling it.
from how I read it, the pre-accident value is c £12k and the insurance company will let the OP keep the car for a cost of £3,115
Effectively, the OP gets his damaged car back and £9k
Regardless, the garage shouldn't have proceeded with any repairs without authorisation. OP should offer to pay them for the couple of hours work they've done, or simply decide to decline the insurance company's offer and accept a full payout instead - car will be written off and sent to the auctions by the insurance company (where they clearly expect to get about £3k for it)
Effectively, the OP gets his damaged car back and £9k
Regardless, the garage shouldn't have proceeded with any repairs without authorisation. OP should offer to pay them for the couple of hours work they've done, or simply decide to decline the insurance company's offer and accept a full payout instead - car will be written off and sent to the auctions by the insurance company (where they clearly expect to get about £3k for it)
Pica-Pica said:
I would be expecting the garage to e-mail the quote to me, and seek consent by reply. I believe you hold the cards if they went ahead without written consent.
I think you've got the game wrong. The OP doesn't hold any cards.It's perfectly possible for a garage to get a verbal order to fix it as the garage are claiming. So that's a case of he said she said and impossible to prove either way.
The insurance company will only pay the smaller amount if they don't get the car back.
The garage won't let the car go without a fight.
The poor OP doesn't have the money or the car. He's sadly the one with no cards.
What have you found out face to face with the garage OP?
Bert
Pica-Pica said:
I would be expecting the garage to e-mail the quote to me, and seek consent by reply. I believe you hold the cards if they went ahead without written consent.
I don't recall ever giving written consent to a garage to do work. It's either been over the phone or face to face.
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