Ever wanted to know why insurance is so expensive?

[sash87]

So in December I had a minor accident in my old 530i M Sport that I have recently sold (buyer was obviously made aware even though it's not a CAT C/D). It was her fault (would be a woman) and she admitted full liability at the scene and her insurers covered everything with my side of the claim going through a claims management company which made everything pretty painless.

In a nutshell she pulled out infront of me, I didn't have time to stop and I hit her at about 15mph doing the following damage. The car was fine to drive home and the airbags didn't even set off.




I asked for a copy of the final estimate to send on to the chap who bought the car for his records and this is what the BMW approved repairer billed.....







That's £1k more than the book value of the car!!! Wish they'd just written it off as I only got £8k for it. Including hire car at nearly £200 a day and other odds and sodds total claim must've pushed £15k!!!!

Obviously I'm not complaining as I'm not out of pocket. Genuinely shocked at the bill though. I was expecting about £2k.

[kambites]

Daft isn't it? I think some garages see an insurance claim as a licence to print money.

[MarkP1973]

jesus christ!

[sash87]

kambites said:

Daft isn't it? I think some garages see an insurance claim as a licence to print money.

Almost like wanting to get anything for a wedding!

[stormy22]

How much of that was labour cost?

Absolutely bloody ridiculous the costs these garages produce. How can the cost be that high when you can buy another car for the same money and have enough change to pay tax, insurance and some fuel too.

aholeS!!! As you say...driving up all our premiums

[MC Bodge]

For that price it would be cheaper to fix the headlights etc. to make it legal and just drive it until it dies.

[V6GTA]

You haven't exactly helped yourself by going through a claims management company have you?

[Flipatron]

2 mph scrape where my wifes rubber bumper just brushed the side of this Lexus, bill was 7k ish.

[Krikkit]

The whole system is ripe for a shake-up really - ridiculously inflated bodyshop/repair prices like that are ludicrous. I'd be interested to see the parts cost in the OP - obviously using new BMW bits for everything will give a hefty bill, but half of that invoice must be labour costs!

ETA: Nice keyboard OP, is it mechanical or just a lit-up rubber dome?

[sash87]

MC Bodge said:

For that price it would be cheaper to fix the headlights etc. to make it legal and just drive it until it dies.

Headlights worked fine, all it needed to be legal was a new front plate! No idea why fog lamps and jet washers were replaced too

With the claims management company I was told something along the lines of 'as it's a non fault claim on your side you can do it the normal way and we pay all apart from excess (about £800) and you lose NCB or you can go through claims management and it's all taken car of plus you get free hire car and you don't lose your excess or NCB' - No brainer

[Robmarriott]

When my wife's E46 32Ci with 122k on it, which we paid under £4k for was reversed into in a car park, causing probably £500 of damage, the car had a genuine new rear bumper, insert, exhaust system (!) and paint on the rear quarters, plus an E90 320d for 2 weeks at £400 a day....

[Jimmy No Hands]

Someone pulled out in front of us from a car wash place last year, couldn't have been avoided, wasn't more than 10 mph. Our my12 Up! bumper took the brunt and it mis-shaped it ever so slightly at the front and left a small scratch. Repair bill was just over £2k.

Oh yeah and a Fiat 500 courtesy car for a week at about £50 a day.

[The Vambo]

I was hit from behind while stationary at a red light, only really needed a new back box and bumper and as it was a 8 year old car I offered to settle for £1500 cash. They refused but as the other party had accepted fault I didn't really care and drove the free hire car for two weeks.

I called back for an update and was told the bumper was on a 6 week back order so just keep the hire car, i offered to settle for £1500 again and even told them if it was settled then I could guarantee there would be no personal injury claim, refused again.

2 months after the accident, I got my car back and found that the bill had totalled £4800 and 3k of that was hire car fees. That is the reason insurance is so bloody expensive, idiots.

[Triumph Man]

Flipatron said:

2 mph scrape where my wifes rubber bumper just brushed the side of this Lexus, bill was 7k ish.

Jesus! Why so much? Do you know the items that had to be changed?

[sash87]

The thing is you know if it was your insurer paying out for your damage that was your fault the costs would be as low as possible.
When it's the other side who are footing the bill I think they just try and hit them for as much as they can.

[Wombat3]

Why have they replaced both the headlamps and the headlamp ignition units I wonder?

[sash87]

Wombat3 said:

Why have they replaced both the headlamps and the headlamp ignition units I wonder?

Because the headlights are billed at about £600 each?

[MC Bodge]

sash87 said:

MC Bodge said:

For that price it would be cheaper to fix the headlights etc. to make it legal and just drive it until it dies.

Headlights worked fine, all it needed to be legal was a new front plate! No idea why fog lamps and jet washers were replaced too

With the claims management company I was told something along the lines of 'as it's a non fault claim on your side you can do it the normal way and we pay all apart from excess (about £800) and you lose NCB or you can go through claims management and it's all taken car of plus you get free hire car and you don't lose your excess or NCB' - No brainer

Something's not quite right somewhere along the line.......

...and somebody may well be, allegedly, absolutely coining it for work that may not need doing, at the expense of people who are having to purchase insurance....

[PhillipM]

Wombat3 said:

Why have they replaced both the headlamps and the headlamp ignition units I wonder?

TO make more work for themselves. Plus they get two old headlights/etc, to sell on ebay too. Win - win.

[ITP]

Triumph Man said:

Flipatron said:

2 mph scrape where my wifes rubber bumper just brushed the side of this Lexus, bill was 7k ish.

Jesus! Why so much? Do you know the items that had to be changed?

No doubt it was because it needed a new piece of trim from deepest Japan and in the meantime an equivalent RX was supplied at 700 a day for 9 weeks.........
Trouble is I believe the dealers are in on the rip-off too, being given a % of the hire car cost by the management companies, so it's in their interest to string out the repair for as long as possible. Sooner it's made illegal the better, to££ers, the lot of them.

Wonder how much the quote would be for the BMW if you weren't going through insurance?