Car crash

stingyfish

Hi all - we were in a car crash in June 2010. We were hit by a group of drunks who all fled the scene.

thankfully non of us were hurt ( wife 7 months pregant and 1 year old son). But our car had a lot of damage to front.

The insurance company had our car fixed by their chosen/ preferred garage - when I asked if I could bring it to the official dealership I was fobbed off with them saying it would take an awful lot longer ( I've since learned my lesson)

Anyway it took 6 weeks to repair the car - We thought they were a bit crap. For instance I noticed that they had crossed the wires on the windscreen wash ( pull stalk back and the rear was activated instead of front). When I brought this issue to them they made me wait for 30 mins and when I got back in the car - nothing had changed - so if it was like this for a menial problem...

Fast forward to last week and the car cuts out while being driven. Alernator belt snaps and goes into engine. I get towed to nearest official dealership ( who are brilliant ). They ring me and ask me to get my insurers to contact them as they are quite concerned about how the car was repaired.

The engineer from the insurers is dropping over tomorrow.

So here is the issue - if the official dealership gets the insurers to admit the car was not fixed properly do I have a case to make?

It would appear we may have been driving an unsafe car for the last 4 months or so.

I am livid with anger ( we were only talking about taking the car into this dealership for a service as we just wanted the experts to take a look at it).

Guys - all comments are welcome - thank you very much

dacouch

What issues have the dealer found

Tilt

Mmm, I make it 6 months that you have been driving it unless my maths is wrong. Could be a tricky one this. Just to be clear about the 'chosen repairer' angle... as it is your car, you can actually decide where it is repaired. If it's still under any manufacturers warranty (especially bodywork), the t & c's will most likely insist on any work being at least approved by an official dealer in any event. The insurance co have their own 'approved' repairers simply to save costs.

As for your situation, i would wait untill you get a detailed report from the official dealer and see what they come up with. If it is that the repair done has made the car un-roadworthy then the insurers are may be in hot water and I would imagine will be keen to sort it out very quickly.

vaio

Yep, but if you take it to a repairer of your choice then you are responsible for sorting out any after repair defects whereas if you take it to the insurers pick of repairers then they are responsible for later defects.

stingyfish

thanks both - really appreciate it

yep I reckon the insurers may be worried - they've sent their guy out very quickly - the person at the dealership was amazed at their turnaround.

vaio

what are the issues discovered?

Lum

If the insurance wont play ball, ask if the dealer will produce an engineers report and a quote to put everything right, you will probably have to pay for this report.

Send a copy of the report to your insurer and invite them to pay for the repairs and your reasonable costs as a result of them failing to do so.

Then ombudsman.

Keep all receipts (eg. for hire cars, busses, taxis) and log all mileage back and forth that is directly related to attempting to resolve this. Bill the mileage at 40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles as per HMRC approved mileage rates.

knightstyle

I had a similar issue many years ago, accident 100% other persons fault and my insurance insisted on repair being done by their repair center. Supplied an awful loan car and did a bad job, overspray everywhere and even sticking the front plastic grill together and putting it back. Eventually after a local body shop did a report they agreed to pay to have the job redone by a garage of my choice but it was a battle.
May be too late now but if you sign for the car when it is returned to you always sign "unexamined" this means you are just saying that the car was returned to you and not confirming you are satisfied with the standard of work.
If the insurers don't play ball you may like to consider small claims Court.

stingyfish

Hi here is the latest - yes 7th March and still not fixed - insurers eventually gave dealership authority to inspect engine - result?

The car needs a new engine - valves are bent. So I dont know how long this is going to take

The cars warranty ends 16th March and I wanted to get a service in before then.

Should I get legal assistance now? This delay is getting ridiculous.

Should I wait until car is repaired and we have all calmed down before approaching solicitors ?

All tips appreciated

stingyfish

Hi just to give you an update - we finally got authorisation to repair the car - brand new engine.

Insurance company have said they wont pay the garage the storage costs for a month - - 700 quid.

I feel they shouls as it was their dilly dallying that caused the delay.

Does anyone know what I should do here?

stingyfish

all cleared up - that only took over a month - for the initial crash that was 8 weeks - ridiculous amount of time to be with out a car......

Anyone got any suggestions on possible further course of action?

Are the initial repairers liable as they didn't spot the tear in the cambelt last year that caused all the damage this time around?
Should I take a case against the people who crashed into us for all the hassle and stress?
Even though my car has a brnd new engine is it no goign to be hard to sell due to all the repairs?


sorry for bumping again its just I am not too sure what I should do