Does anyone know this answer please?

denyse_marston

Thankyou vikingaero at last a sensible answer.

denyse_marston

Excuse me but when answers asked are not given and responses use the words like dictate are used how do you expect me to respond, it would actually have been suffucient to have answeres politely that I did have to accept his choice no more no less, it looks like however that it is you who wished to add more comments than necessary............ and actually eventually I did get the answer I was looking. So thank you all.

Quentin

Ignore the posters above who have advised that if you use your insurer to deal with the third party's damage you will have to pay your excess.

This is not true. There would be no excess to pay if your insurer dealt with the third party's claim. (You only have an excess to pay when you make a claim for damage to your own car).

Everyone has the right to use the repairer of their choice, irrespective of whether they are the innocent or guilty party in an accident.

Garages can (and do) quote cheaper prices for non insurance work (insurance companies expect a discount!)

The worry about deciding to pay yourself (rather than let your insurer sort it) is that more damage is found during the repair, there are other costs to pay (hire car/loss of earnings/fares/etc), an injury might "materialise" etc etc.

You can let your insurer deal with the third party, then when the matter is concluded see how much is involved, and if viable reimburse your insurer their outlay and get your NCD reinstated.

Strider590

denyse_marston wrote: »

last week I accidentally reversed (slowly) into a 'friends' car, the result was a dent and a scratch, he has a skoda octavia. I said I would pay to have the repair done. The next day he took it to a main dealer,stating it was an insurance claim and got a quote for £1232! I suggested he get 3 quotes, which he has refused to do.

My question is do I have to accept his choice of repairer? and is it true that garages have a price for insurance companies and one for cash payments?

Any advice?

Firstly, the dealership is the wrong place to go..... They sell cars, repairs are not their highest priority and as such id throw into question the quality of the workmanship. They'd probably have a 3rd party repair it anyway and just add a chunk of profit on top.

Where's the damage? is it to the front/rear/side?

bigjl

It is the vehicles owner that can decide on where they have their car repaired, Insurance companies try to get you to use an approved repairer as that makes it cheaper to repair, due to the volume of work that they will get from being an approved repairer.

The vehicle doesn't "have" to be repaired by Skoda, though your "friend" may chose this, but so long as the garage is VBRA approved then I can't see the point in insisting on this, would be different if it was a £100k Porsche or £100k Ferrari, as if these are repaired outside of the main dealer network it can affect resale value.

And main dealers are notorious for billing high, hence why insurers want you to use the approved repairer, as they are locked into contracts, which help to limit the insurance companies liabilty.

You do seem to be a little abrupt in reply to advice given.

This is MSE, so saving money is a priority, but if your "friend" is insisting on using a main dealer then you have to pay main dealer rates, even though the main dealer might not even repair the car themselves but actually sub contract the job to a local VBRA approved bodyshop, and making a nice profit for little more than delivering the car to them.

A main dealer charges what they charge, they won't negotiate, approved repairers will negotiate with the Insurance company, hence why they are approved, they will have to be able to guarantee a good quality of repair and bill on an agreed pricing schedule.

Not many main dealers have their own bodyshops these days, loads of the main dealers near me use one or two large independant VBRA bodyshops located close by.

Your "friend" sounds like a bit of a tool to be honest.

BillTrac

Mind you, some friend eh?

If a friend of mine accidentally bumped into me I don't think I would be an a**e about it.

C_Mababejive

Probably not a good idea to go via main dealer. I'd suggest he gets a quote from a Skoda approved body shop. Repairing seemingly small damages on modern cars can soon rack up these days especially if the paint is laquered/metallic etc....

Wig

Triskaidekaphobia wrote: »

Well I for one think you've been particularly hostile because you haven't received the answer you wanted.

I think it all started with the way you wrote your first reply, it doesn't read very politely.

The OP was under the misunderstanding that there might be some area of of law (used by insurance companies) that would allow for the 'liable party' to choose the repairer. A perfectly reasonable question to ask given the tactics used by insurance companies, which the OP has had dealings with in recent times.

But I think both you and the OP need to take a chill pill.

As it happens the law would allow the 'liable party' to challenge a repair quote as excessive if they could show that it was excessive or it could be argued that only 1 repair quote obtained meant that the aggrieved party (the one with the damaged car) had not done enough to minimise their losses, by asking for several quotes from several qualified repairers.

I am not familiar with any case law on the subject, but if a defendant could show the court that the car could have been repaired by a number of different qualified vehicle repairers all for substantially less than was actually paid or claimed for, then I fail to understand why a court would uphold a plaintiff's request for substantially higher repair costs simply because they went to the local stealership. The stealership repair would not -in most examples- be necessary or offer any advantage. I think the only example I can think of (with regards to standard 'run of the mill' road cars) would be the effect on a manufacturer's paintwork warranty. In response to this idea I would reply that I would find it very hard for a manufacturer to reject a claim under paintwork warranty simply because the car had been repaired once by an independent fully qualified vehicle repairer.


To the OP....
Why not use your insurer? What is your current NCB? protected? and current premium? Let's see if it makes sense not to use your insurer. There won't be any excess to pay, as previously said.

andygb

denyse_marston wrote: »

last week I accidentally reversed (slowly) Totally irrelevant!
into a 'friends' car, the result was a dent and a scratch, You are liable!
he has a skoda octavia.Totally irrelevant!
I said I would pay to have the repair done.He had every right to refuse this (I would have refused)
The next day he took it to a main dealer,stating it was an insurance claim and got a quote for £1232! He has provided you with a quote, then either pay it, or give him your insurance details and admit liability!
I suggested he get 3 quotes, which he has refused to do. He has every right to refuse, and he should now forward the details to his insurance company and make a claim against you!

My question is do I have to accept his choice of repairer? and is it true that garages have a price for insurance companies and one for cash payments?

Any advice?

Yes, I would advise you to expect him to make a perfectly legitimate claim against you, and for you to see your premium go up next year.
Probably not the advice you were looking for, but as you seemed to adopt a certain "attitude" with posters giving you advice, then take it or leave it!
The truth sometimes hurts, and in this case it will probably hurt your bank account.
You may wish to brush up on your reversing technique as well!;)

andygb

Wig wrote: »

I am not familiar with any case law on the subject, but if a defendant could show the court that the car could have been repaired by a number of different qualified vehicle repairers all for substantially less than was actually paid or claimed for, then I fail to understand why a court would uphold a plaintiff's request for substantially higher repair costs simply because they went to the local stealership.
To the OP....
Why not use your insurer? What is your current NCB? protected? and current premium? Let's see if it makes sense not to use your insurer. There won't be any excess to pay, as previously said.

This is not a "case", it is a very simple insurance matter, where there are clear guidelines and procedures available to both parties.

Accident where one party is clearly at fault
Both parties exchange insurance details, and do not start a slanging match over choice of repairer.
The person whose car is damaged waits for the other side to admit liability, and then has his car repaired, by a repairer which his insurer recommends.

So simple, what is the problem?