car crash repair dilemma

tornado310

I’ll try and keep this short, otherwise it’ll be a l o n g thread

6 weeks ago I was unfortunate to have a car accident [only me involved and 100% my fault].

My insurance company moved my car to their “approved” car repair centre, it took them 2 weeks to authorize the repair [touch and go on whether or not it was a write-off] and after 5 weeks I got the call to say my car was ready

When I went to collect the car, I was annoyed and disgusted that I found so many obvious faults, but the main one was that 2 alloy wheels had not be repaired/replaced

After a week of phone calls between me, the insurance company and the car repair centre they have informed me that they’re not replacing the wheels, saying the damage was done in a prior accident [basically calling me a liar]

I’m at my whits end, any advice on what I should do? The 2 extremes are….

• dig my heals in and refuse to collect the car, pay my excess and hold their courtesy car as ransom
• Don’t say a word, pay up and take it on the chin [and find some wheels on ebay]

I’ve already contacted the FOS and lodged a formal complaint, but that can take up to 8 weeks

Are there any other options to me?

Thanks, Paul

colino

If it has obvious faults, list them in writing and calmly inform your insurer you are not accepting the car in this condition and ask when it will be repaired to your satisfaction. They can't force you to take it back, and if you did, no doubt they would claim you had accepted the repair.
I suspect in this era of lowest tender wins, the repairer has cut corners and bodged the job to keep the workshop busy.

tornado310

Thanks for the advice Colino

one of the [repair companys] arguements is that I didn't tell the insurance company that the wheels were damaged, but how the heck am I supposed to know what's damaged?!

I've also got a few photo's of one of the wheels showing the damage immediately after the crash [with scuff marks on the tyre wall] - do I divulge I have these pictures or keep it quiet for now?