Insurance refusing to use garage of choice for repairs
Discussion
Hi all, looking for some advice please.
I had a fault accident and would like to use my garage of choice to repair my car. The insurance company is refusing to allow the company to do the work on the car because their engineer claims that there is structural damage to the car and that the garage is incompetent. I have taken the car to the manufacturers workshop and they have said there is no structural damage.
Just wondering where to go with it now as the insurance company is refusing to budge
I had a fault accident and would like to use my garage of choice to repair my car. The insurance company is refusing to allow the company to do the work on the car because their engineer claims that there is structural damage to the car and that the garage is incompetent. I have taken the car to the manufacturers workshop and they have said there is no structural damage.
Just wondering where to go with it now as the insurance company is refusing to budge
For an at fault claim I think you'd have to argue strongly - dont think you have any right to choose the repairing garage.
Reason may be more about repair cost - your harage may be too expensive. But also if there is structural damage then car may be a write off?
Where do you want it go go and where do the insurers want it go go? what estimates have been provided? how much damage?
Reason may be more about repair cost - your harage may be too expensive. But also if there is structural damage then car may be a write off?
Where do you want it go go and where do the insurers want it go go? what estimates have been provided? how much damage?
If the insurer's repair shop do a bad job, you can much more easily get it all re-done. The insurer knows in that case the garage will foot the bill rather than lose their business.
Not so with your choice and it could all get very messy, hence why they want to play safe(r).
As you are not footing the bill, cannot see why you would not at least let their garage have a go. It could also be less stressful for you if issues are found - and that includes much later, too.
Not so with your choice and it could all get very messy, hence why they want to play safe(r).
As you are not footing the bill, cannot see why you would not at least let their garage have a go. It could also be less stressful for you if issues are found - and that includes much later, too.
gottans said:
I would ask why the garage you have chosen for the repair is incompetent in writing, it could genuinely be true.
Or not. Put the assessor to proof of the allegation which is a serious one. Also, if I were the owner of the bodyshop I wouldn't be too thrilled about it.My bet is that neither the assessor nor the insurer will be willing to put pen to paper.
km83 said:
I have taken the car to the manufacturers workshop and they have said there is no structural damage.
Ask them to confirm that in writing. Keep it up your sleeve while you do as gottans suggests above.In the meantime, you may find these of interest.
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...
https://www.carcos.co.uk/general/preferred-car-bod...
Having spent 5 years in the past dealing with assessors and insurance companies on a daily basis I can confirm that many are truly incompetent and are feeding work to take repairers .
Once upon a time insurance company repairers were the best in their vicinity, these days it's whoever's prepared to attempt the work for the pittance that the insurance companies pay .
Once upon a time insurance company repairers were the best in their vicinity, these days it's whoever's prepared to attempt the work for the pittance that the insurance companies pay .
Red Devil said:
Ask them to confirm that in writing. Keep it up your sleeve while you do as gottans suggests above.
In the meantime, you may find these of interest.
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...
https://www.carcos.co.uk/general/preferred-car-bod...
Lucy Bonham Carter lolIn the meantime, you may find these of interest.
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?...
https://www.carcos.co.uk/general/preferred-car-bod...
This does seem to be becoming a shift towards the insurer winning.
You've always had to "ask" to use a different repairer, and you can see why, I've only ever had work done on cars <3 years old at "approved" bodyshops who have the fancy waiting room and endless amounts of coke in the fridge.
Don't be fooled though, I've had work done and refused it with approved repairers.
Only issue I find with non approved is if its a leased vehicle and you want to hand the keys back, BCA will notice everything and I mean everything.
You've always had to "ask" to use a different repairer, and you can see why, I've only ever had work done on cars <3 years old at "approved" bodyshops who have the fancy waiting room and endless amounts of coke in the fridge.
Don't be fooled though, I've had work done and refused it with approved repairers.
Only issue I find with non approved is if its a leased vehicle and you want to hand the keys back, BCA will notice everything and I mean everything.
N7GTX said:
My current policy is loaded with a £500 excess if I do NOT use their approved repairer. As it is a DB7 I must make sure I don't have a bump. 
Doesn't the policy state who the repairer is and have conditions for if you want to use your own repairer? So you either get a policy where you can choose who you use, or a policy where you are content to use who the insurer chooses?Bert
You could get an independent inspection:
https://www.iaea-online.org/
As above, I'd be asking for the insurer's assessor to confirm their thoughts in writing. Then if I still wasn't convinced and they weren't budging I'd be on to the above to find a local assessor ofr their opinion.
https://www.iaea-online.org/
As above, I'd be asking for the insurer's assessor to confirm their thoughts in writing. Then if I still wasn't convinced and they weren't budging I'd be on to the above to find a local assessor ofr their opinion.
fourstardan said:
Only issue I find with non approved is if its a leased vehicle and you want to hand the keys back, BCA will notice everything and I mean everything.
I handed back a PCP car to Manheim auctions with some non-approved repairs and they didn't spot anything - it was a full bumper respray and a crushed sill pinchweld. It was done by an extremely good local bodyshop though (but still 1/4 the price the Nissan place wanted!).BertBert said:
N7GTX said:
My current policy is loaded with a £500 excess if I do NOT use their approved repairer. As it is a DB7 I must make sure I don't have a bump.
Doesn't the policy state who the repairer is and have conditions for if you want to use your own repairer? So you either get a policy where you can choose who you use, or a policy where you are content to use who the insurer chooses?Bert
The other issue is that if your repairer does not do an acceptable job, then the insurance company cannot intervene on your behalf. This also happened with my TVR.
It was my fault for not reading the small print about the repairer before paying up.
BertBert said:
N7GTX said:
My current policy is loaded with a £500 excess if I do NOT use their approved repairer. As it is a DB7 I must make sure I don't have a bump.
Doesn't the policy state who the repairer is and have conditions for if you want to use your own repairer? So you either get a policy where you can choose who you use, or a policy where you are content to use who the insurer chooses?Bert
https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/ICOBS/2/5...
Note the link in ICOBS to Chapter 5 of the DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/97 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Chapter 5)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTM...
What the insurer can do is try to make things less attractive to the consumer.
BertBert has provided an example (which I reckon is sailing a bit close to the wind*).
Another would be excluding the provision of a courtesy car which would otherwise be included.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/534...
https://blog.greenflag.com/2016/crunch-time-how-a-...
* Paging Twig.
Edited to remove unnecessary/superfluous link.
Edited by Red Devil on Friday 25th September 17:21
fourstardan said:
This does seem to be becoming a shift towards the insurer winning.
You've always had to "ask" to use a different repairer, and you can see why, I've only ever had work done on cars <3 years old at "approved" bodyshops who have the fancy waiting room and endless amounts of coke in the fridge.
Don't be fooled though, I've had work done and refused it with approved repairers.
Only issue I find with non approved is if its a leased vehicle and you want to hand the keys back, BCA will notice everything and I mean everything.
They cant be that good. They didn't spot the plastic welding, filling and full respray of the bumper on my lease. they also didn't spot the massive dent on the top of the boot which would have required a new boot. They did however spot a tiny scratch on the door sill that was only just visible to the naked eyeYou've always had to "ask" to use a different repairer, and you can see why, I've only ever had work done on cars <3 years old at "approved" bodyshops who have the fancy waiting room and endless amounts of coke in the fridge.
Don't be fooled though, I've had work done and refused it with approved repairers.
Only issue I find with non approved is if its a leased vehicle and you want to hand the keys back, BCA will notice everything and I mean everything.
Red Devil said:
BertBert said:
N7GTX said:
My current policy is loaded with a £500 excess if I do NOT use their approved repairer. As it is a DB7 I must make sure I don't have a bump.
Doesn't the policy state who the repairer is and have conditions for if you want to use your own repairer? So you either get a policy where you can choose who you use, or a policy where you are content to use who the insurer chooses?Bert
https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/ICOBS/2/5...
Note the link in ICOBS to Chapter 5 of the DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/97 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Chapter 5)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTM... - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTM...
What the insurer can do is try to make things less attractive to the consumer.
BertBert has provided an example (which I reckon is sailing a bit close to the wind*).
Another would be excluding the provision of a courtesy car which would otherwise be included.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/534...
https://blog.greenflag.com/2016/crunch-time-how-a-...
* Paging Twig.
Don't get too hung up on using the official repairer of the manufacturer.
I have a 21 year old BMW which I've owned from new and has been damaged twice over the years. First time it went to the official "BMW Body Clinic" who made such a pig's ear of the repair that it had to go back repeatedly over the course of six months. Second time it went to Just Car Clinic (the insurer's choice) who did such a good job that I'd take a car straight there by my own choice in future.
I have a 21 year old BMW which I've owned from new and has been damaged twice over the years. First time it went to the official "BMW Body Clinic" who made such a pig's ear of the repair that it had to go back repeatedly over the course of six months. Second time it went to Just Car Clinic (the insurer's choice) who did such a good job that I'd take a car straight there by my own choice in future.
Red Devil said:
Compelling a customer to use the insurer's bodyshop would be considered an unfair contract term as well as being contrary to the TCF provisions of ICOBS 2.5
https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/ICOBS/2/5...
Note the link in ICOBS to Chapter 5 of the DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/97 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Chapter 5)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTM...
What the insurer can do is try to make things less attractive to the consumer.
BertBert has provided an example (which I reckon is sailing a bit close to the wind*).
Another would be excluding the provision of a courtesy car which would otherwise be included.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/534...
https://blog.greenflag.com/2016/crunch-time-how-a-...
* Paging Twig.
Sorry, the fca and eu links make no sense to me. Could you explain further please? I don't understand how a clause that says "we (the insurer) choose the bodyshop to use to repair the car" being an unfair term in the general sense. Is it in the CRA as the cringeworthy green flag article says?https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/ICOBS/2/5...
Note the link in ICOBS to Chapter 5 of the DIRECTIVE (EU) 2016/97 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Chapter 5)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTM...
What the insurer can do is try to make things less attractive to the consumer.
BertBert has provided an example (which I reckon is sailing a bit close to the wind*).
Another would be excluding the provision of a courtesy car which would otherwise be included.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/534...
https://blog.greenflag.com/2016/crunch-time-how-a-...
* Paging Twig.
Cheers
Bert
MitchT said:
Don't get too hung up on using the official repairer of the manufacturer.
I have a 21 year old BMW which I've owned from new and has been damaged twice over the years. First time it went to the official "BMW Body Clinic" who made such a pig's ear of the repair that it had to go back repeatedly over the course of six months. Second time it went to Just Car Clinic (the insurer's choice) who did such a good job that I'd take a car straight there by my own choice in future.
I'd be the only place that exists is on paper, in truth most dealerships (including BMW) use 3rd party repairers. In fact most of the more difficult work gets subbed out, the dealerships only really want to keep the work that can be completed quickly, and having ramps taken up with lengthy repairs means they can't meet targets.I have a 21 year old BMW which I've owned from new and has been damaged twice over the years. First time it went to the official "BMW Body Clinic" who made such a pig's ear of the repair that it had to go back repeatedly over the course of six months. Second time it went to Just Car Clinic (the insurer's choice) who did such a good job that I'd take a car straight there by my own choice in future.
Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff