Repairs and impact on Porsche warranty
Discussion
So, last Saturday, my beloved reversed her Golf into my spanking new Targa on the driveway, both cars now need fixing. I spoke to my insurance company, Admiral (wife is with LV for her Golf) who advised that it was a no fault claim and would be handled by Albany Assist, but they won't allow me to use a Porsche approved garage for the repairs and, if I do choose to do that, then Admiral will need to fight out with LV to make sure that my excess is covered and my no claims isn't impacted. I have too many fears of one of the old "knock for knock" jobs being done, and me losing no claims and paying a whacking excess on my car and my wife's car. Albany are telling me that all repairs are done with Genuine Porsche parts etc, but I don't want a 100k+ car being worked on in some back street garage. I'm also concerned that having bodywork done by a non-Porsche approved garage might have an impact on my warranty. Albany seem more interested in getting game to hire another 991 at the expense of my wife's insurance company, and I'm not interested as I don't NEED the car, and I feel the whole system is an utter rip-off which costs us all dearly, and I don;t want to feed that monster.
Anyone got any experience of this kind of thing? Can my insurer insist I get repairs done which may end up devaluing my vehicle, etc?
Thanks everyone.
Phil
Anyone got any experience of this kind of thing? Can my insurer insist I get repairs done which may end up devaluing my vehicle, etc?
Thanks everyone.
Phil
Albany are Admirals accident management company and are beyond useless, seriously have nothing to do with them and you'll save yourself a load of grief.
It's a non fault claim (for yourself) so ring the wife's insurance (LV) and tell them where you want it going, it's your car and up to you where it goes.
You could in theory use a management company of your choice and get a like for like hire car whilst yours is repaired but all your doing is ramping up the size of the claim against your wife's insurance.
It's a non fault claim (for yourself) so ring the wife's insurance (LV) and tell them where you want it going, it's your car and up to you where it goes.
You could in theory use a management company of your choice and get a like for like hire car whilst yours is repaired but all your doing is ramping up the size of the claim against your wife's insurance.
Edited by arcticGT on Saturday 4th July 16:17
Don't use an accident management company if you don't need to hire a car. That's all they want to do - hire you a car comparable to yours and (hopefully) charge it back to the other party. I looked into it about 5 years ago and read reviews from many disgruntled customers who had been charged for damage to the hire car that was noticed when it was collected and that they clearly hadn't caused. I told them I had use of another car and didn't want to hire one. They admitted there was nothing in it for them in that case and referred me back to my insurer. By this time their approved repairer had assessed the damage to my car and I asked to see the quote which they weren't happy to release but did eventually - £2200. I took the car (a BMW 335i) to my BMW bodyshop and they quoted £1800!! I called my insurer and said I want my BMW repaired by BMW and it's going to save the 3rd party £400 and they agreed.
You don't mention what it's going to cost to fix both cars but consider whether it really is worth using the insurance companies. I'm nearly 5 years down the line and still having my premium loaded for a no fault claim! Like you, i wasn't anywhere near my car when it happened, but apparently, I am now statistically more likely to have an at fault claim!
If you know your OPC well, get a quote from the bodyshop and explain that you'll be paying yourself. I'd be amazed if your wife's approved repairer will be cheaper - it's all a wheeze to make money out of us as you've said.
Good luck and I hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.
You don't mention what it's going to cost to fix both cars but consider whether it really is worth using the insurance companies. I'm nearly 5 years down the line and still having my premium loaded for a no fault claim! Like you, i wasn't anywhere near my car when it happened, but apparently, I am now statistically more likely to have an at fault claim!
If you know your OPC well, get a quote from the bodyshop and explain that you'll be paying yourself. I'd be amazed if your wife's approved repairer will be cheaper - it's all a wheeze to make money out of us as you've said.
Good luck and I hope it gets resolved to your satisfaction.
As the car is brand new, if it was mine I would insist that it goes to a Porsche approved bodyshop to make sure that the corrosion warranty isn't affected.
The guarantee states "All body repairs must be performed in accordance with Porsche AG instructions regarding bodywork, paintwork, corrosion-proofing and preservation". If it goes to a non-approved are you confident that they will follow the specific instructions laid down by Porsche? I'm not sure I would be.
My worry would be that if any corrosion problems did arise down the line then Porsche might use the non-approved repair as an excuse to refuse a claim, whether justified or not. Maybe I have an overly pessimistic view of how Porsche deals with warranty claims but I wouldn't want to take the chance.
The guarantee states "All body repairs must be performed in accordance with Porsche AG instructions regarding bodywork, paintwork, corrosion-proofing and preservation". If it goes to a non-approved are you confident that they will follow the specific instructions laid down by Porsche? I'm not sure I would be.
My worry would be that if any corrosion problems did arise down the line then Porsche might use the non-approved repair as an excuse to refuse a claim, whether justified or not. Maybe I have an overly pessimistic view of how Porsche deals with warranty claims but I wouldn't want to take the chance.
windym said 'You don't mention what it's going to cost to fix both cars but consider whether it really is worth using the insurance companies. I'm nearly 5 years down the line and still having my premium loaded for a no fault claim!
I have had this happen twice to me, both times the car was parked and nobody in it when hit, but I am still more risk according to the insurer!
If you do consider getting the work done yourself, as suggested, it would be worth checking with your insurer if there is any point now, as they will already have logged it.
Paul
I have had this happen twice to me, both times the car was parked and nobody in it when hit, but I am still more risk according to the insurer!
If you do consider getting the work done yourself, as suggested, it would be worth checking with your insurer if there is any point now, as they will already have logged it.
Paul
I'm with Admiral and work in the industry (not for them). They can't force you to use their own repairer, you'll forfeit some of the supposed benefits if you don't (hire car as mentioned).
Should you pursue the claim through Admiral, it's their job to recover any of their losses regardless of who repairs your vehicle, they can't use that as a justification for you to use their repairer. Tell them you are using an OPC, they will need to authorise the estimate and it's then their responsibility to recover the outlay from the third party insurers should the third party not admit full liability prior to Admiral authorising the estimate (unlikely in the circumstances).
The only difficulty you are likely to encounter is the OPC estimate, which of course will be significantly higher than what their own repairers would be. But that cannot be used to force you into using their own repairers. The alternative is to simply claim through your wife's insurers directly. Hope that helps and you get sorted.
Should you pursue the claim through Admiral, it's their job to recover any of their losses regardless of who repairs your vehicle, they can't use that as a justification for you to use their repairer. Tell them you are using an OPC, they will need to authorise the estimate and it's then their responsibility to recover the outlay from the third party insurers should the third party not admit full liability prior to Admiral authorising the estimate (unlikely in the circumstances).
The only difficulty you are likely to encounter is the OPC estimate, which of course will be significantly higher than what their own repairers would be. But that cannot be used to force you into using their own repairers. The alternative is to simply claim through your wife's insurers directly. Hope that helps and you get sorted.
Edited by andyc11 on Sunday 5th July 11:55
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