forced to go a certain garage for car repairs?

McKneff

It can affect next years premium, lots of companies do this on a no fault incident.
You have to inform your insurance company of any incident even if you are not going through them.
Ask them if the premium next year will be affected. And make sure you inform that it is For Information Only. Note the time and date of the call, and check
yur renewal when it is due.

Tilt

Can the OP give us a clue on how old the car is? If the repair is arranged via an Alfa dealer then any bodywork warranty will be maintained. Most insurers will be aware of this and from my experience will play ball. As stated, the OPs excess will be fully recoverable if liability is with the TP. Without going through the normal motions first, court proceedings should not be considered at this stage.

Randy_Trouserman

Thanks,

the car is 5 years old and out of Alfa warranty.

We're on a multi-car policy with Admiral so will check with them later.

With premiums rising every year, regardless of accidents or convictions, how will I know if the policy has risen?

RT

Flyboy152

Randy_Trouserman wrote: »

I don't really mind where it goes as long as they do a good job. Hopefully I'm not paying for it, dealer or independent is ok with me.

So if we speak to the insurance company, we won't pay the excess and it won't affect next year's premium?

I don't really want to have to take a couple of hours off work to get a quote from his garage when I don't want to use them. I know now it'll be us that lose out on time and petrol.

Small claims court not worth thinking about? If I don't go to his garage for a quote, would that go against me?

Thanks RT

Initially you will probably need to pay the excess and then either you, or your insurers claim from the other party.

Mustard_Dave

Has the owner of the wall accepted liability yet?

Randy_Trouserman

No, he's not accepted any responsibility. Difficult for him not to as we've pics of the wall over the war and floor.

The owners of the garage that's next door that we took it to said he'd be slippery and arrogant. He's proving to be so.

A text from him says "if he's going to contribute, he wants it taking to this particular garage". That's ok but it's a round trip of 40miles for me and a couple of hours out of work.

Don't even want the car to go there, I know nothing about them, don't know if they have a good reputation or not. If it went to the Alfa dealership, you'd expect it to come back 100%, even if they only outsource the repairs.

RT

marlot

Randy_Trouserman wrote: »

No, he's not accepted any responsibility. Difficult for him not to as we've pics of the wall over the war and floor.

He's only responsible in law if he's been negligent. If he's been told the wall was in a bad state, or it have been obvious to a normal person then you have a case.

I've formally told one of my neighbours that they have a dead tree in their garden which could cause damage when it falls - for just this reason.

Randy_Trouserman

think you could tell from what's left of the wall what a poor state of repair it was in.

RT

Tilt

Randy_Trouserman wrote: »

Thanks,

the car is 5 years old and out of Alfa warranty.

We're on a multi-car policy with Admiral so will check with them later.

With premiums rising every year, regardless of accidents or convictions, how will I know if the policy has risen?

RT

I thought Alfa's had an 8 year anti-perforation warranty? This would probably be voided if any bodywork repair is carried out outside of the dealer network.

As for the insurance side of things, you could write directly to the TP holding him responsible for the damage. Include a copy of your estimate and request that he pays the amount in full within 14 days otherwise you will not rule out taking the matter to the small claims court. End the letter by suggestiong that he forwards the letter on to his insures who may wish to deal with this matter on his behalf.

Alternatively, pass it over to your own insurers as already been suggestend in which caes you will still have to persue the TP for your uninsured losses unless you have legal protection.

zzzLazyDaisy

I would have thought it would be the garage's responsibility to put the damage right, as it was done while the car was in their care custody and control. They should have insurance for that sort of thing. Their insurer would then pursue the owner of the wall. It seems to me that the garage is trying to pass the buck.

I'd leave it to my insurer to deal with, but if you decide to go the smc route, I'd name both the garage and the wall owner as co-defendents and let them argue it out between them.