Motor engineers accident damage report - Recommendations?

[costsmonkey]

My wife’s car was damaged in a road accident and we need independent motor engineer to inspect it and prepare an expert report setting out whether it is economically repairable and the cost of repairs or pre accident value, as appropriate, to support a third party claim.

Can anybody recommend a suitable firm or company to do that? We are based in London E15in case location is an issue.

[costsmonkey]

Bump for the morning crowd

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

Have the Third Party Insurers accepted liability? why are they not putting an engineers report together?

[Spudgunassassin]

Take it to a bodyshop of your choice for an estimate and go from there. Or put a claim in with your insurance company and they’ll take care of it.

[RotorRambler]

Last month I had one done by Davies Motor Engineering.
I’m in SE, their engineer was down my way.
I met him at the repairer & went over my car (the insurers had arranged & paid for this independent inspection), Just a few days after the initial contact.
I was very happy with the service & the subsequent report.
I’d recommend them.

[Doesitdrive]

I think a lot of them are working for DVLA since they closed the local offices, couple of times needed cars DVLA inspected, or rather they wanted an inspection and it was private companies doing it.

They might not need the work with lucrative government contracts?

[RotorRambler]

Doesitdrive said:

I think a lot of them are working for DVLA since they closed the local offices, couple of times needed cars DVLA inspected, or rather they wanted an inspection and it was private companies doing it.

They might not need the work with lucrative government contracts?

As in previous post.., a couple of weeks ago they came out to inspect mine after a couple of days

[costsmonkey]

RotorRambler said:

Last month I had one done by Davies Motor Engineering.
I m in SE, their engineer was down my way.
I met him at the repairer & went over my car (the insurers had arranged & paid for this independent inspection), Just a few days after the initial contact.
I was very happy with the service & the subsequent report.
I d recommend them.

That is excatly what I was looking for - thank you very much.

In answer to others that kindly answered this thread, our car is only insured for TPF&T, so we cannot claim for the damage it has sustained under our own insurance policy.

The car was hit whilst parked, so there can be no dispute on liability. I am in touch with the third party's insurers but I do not think he has reported the accident to them yet (and who knows whether or not he will do so), so they are being slow to respond.

The car is not drivable and the damage has probably rendered it beyond economical repair. I am therefore I am keen to arrange for an independent motor engineer to inspect it and prepare an expert report setting out whether it is economically repairable and, if so, the cost of repairs, or pre accident value, as appropriate, to support the claim.

It is currently parked on the road in a residents parking bay and is annoying the neighbours and attracting unwanted attention. If an engineer produces a report confirming it is beyond economical repair, I will have protected my position so for as the third party claim is concerned, and can then dispose of the salvage to avoid upsetting the neighbours further.

Thanks to all for your input - very helpful and much appreciated.

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

I wouldn't dispose of the car until you have some confirmation from the TPI that they are willing to deal with the claim, if they decide that they want to send their own engineers out to inspect the vehicle, it may cause issues with the claim if you no longer have it, as they may feel its repairable and want to deal with the repairs.

And although they normally don't, they may want to retain the salvage if they deem it a total loss.

I'm guessing you have evidence to show the other party at fault?

[Decky_Q]

You'll still need to hang onto the car untill both sides have agreed it's condition. Forget the tpft insurance in this instance. You find out who their insurer is using for repairs, get them to collect it, they assess the condition and cost to put right, and the insurer decides whether they choose to pay it and repair or prefer to dispose of it. You can put a bit of pressure on them with an accident mamanagement co. They will store the car, provide you with a courtesy car and due to ramping the daily costs your claim will be settled rapidly.

[Doesitdrive]

Don't let insurers take your car, they will send it to Copart, Copart will sell the salvage and you have no recourse if they do not pay out.

Accident management might be different, will store and charge, insurance companies do not store cars, they get repaired, or go to Copart.

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

A reputable AMC will only deal with the claim if they are confident that they will make a recovery that's worth their while. They would want to know that you had evidence that the TP was at fault, would likely want witness statements etc before they provided you with a Hire car, and if there was a chance the claim would be settled less than 100%, then it is unlikely that they would look to deal with the repairs/total loss