Claims management company

scooter100_2

I had a no fault accident on Sunday (see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3509373) and spoke to the insurance company yesterday who said that drive assist would be dealing with my claim. Initially drive assist rang up, took the details then offered a hire car, which i accepted. I then had a nagging doubt about this company and did a web search with the inevitable results, after which i cancelled the hire car. They have also arranged for my car to be picked up to be repaired by a company based about 60 miles away. This repair company on its website says it is manufacturer approved by various car company’s but NOT by Vauxhall which is my car. Does this make a difference to car warranty’s etc which has 1 year remaining.
Do i have to accept this claims management company and if i don’t will i have to pay out and arrange everything myself before claiming it back? Do insurance companies not deal with claims themselves anymore?
What else should i be wary of?
I have never had an accident or claimed on a car insurance policy in 22 years of driving so am a little naive when it comes to all this.
Any help or suggestions appreciated

InsideInsurance

Some insurers have decided it is better to pass non-fault claims out to third parties to manage as handling a claim costs money and insurers are not entitled to claim those costs back from the third party. Claims management companies on the other hand tend to be making reasonable incomes from providing credit hire or even larger if they encourage you to claim for injuries.

If the management company has incurred costs or you've signed a contract with them then switching how the claim is handled could be problematic. If you've done nothing other than have a phone call then it is unlikely to be a problem to switch.

mikey72

You can insist on using a vauxhall approved repairer. If you don't you will find there can be problems with warranty, if you can't prove they used manufacturer approved parts, and used copy parts instead.

Your own insurer won't be keen, as they get a good commission from the claim management company, and from the hire car company, and from the garage. If you make a pi claim, they also get more commision.

We went this route, we had to get two vauxhall quotes, and arrange repairs ourself, but the insurer paid direct.

The odd insurer has a larger excess if you don't use their approved repairers, one or two do have t&c' that remove your right to use your own company though.

magpiecottage

mikey72 wrote: »

You can insist on using a vauxhall approved repairer. If you don't you will find there can be problems with warranty, if you can't prove they used manufacturer approved parts, and used copy parts instead.

However, if the insurer appoints the repairer, they are responsible for the quality of the repair. If, through substandard work or parts, a warranty was invalidated the INSURER would have to put it right for you and if necessary you could take them to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

mikey72

magpiecottage wrote: »

However, if the insurer appoints the repairer, they are responsible for the quality of the repair. If, through substandard work or parts, a warranty was invalidated the INSURER would have to put it right for you and if necessary you could take them to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I'd much rather just keep the manufacturers warranty intact and not have to spend months argueing though, with either no car or a large repair bill.

McKneff

If you have a no fault accident and the other person admits responsibility the process is so simple.
You do'nt need a CMC.

First you ring your own ins. co and tell them its for'Information Only'

The third party instructs you to take it to a garage, get a quote, garage sends ins. a quote, if they accept, they tell you to take your car to the garage (of your choice) get it mended, they sort you a hire car out, you pick up your car when its fixed and go home (job done)

It really is as simple as that.

mikey72

McKneff wrote: »

If you have a no fault accident and the other person admits responsibility the process is so simple.
You do'nt need a CMC.

First you ring your own ins. co and tell them its for'Information Only'

The third party instructs you to take it to a garage, get a quote, garage sends ins. a quote, if they accept, they tell you to take your car to the garage (of your choice) get it mended, they sort you a hire car out, you pick up your car when its fixed and go home (job done)

It really is as simple as that.

By "hire car" you mean courtesy car from the repairing garage?

But before then, your own insurance will sell your name on though, even for "information only".

Then you get suckered into the hire car from the cmc that now has your details, and then chased to make a pi claim.

McKneff

mikey72 wrote: »

By "hire car" you mean courtesy car from the repairing garage?

But before then, your own insurance will sell your name on though, even for "information only".

Then you get suckered into the hire car from the cmc that now has your details, and then chased to make a pi claim.

No, when it happened to me the insurance company had a contract with Enterprise so they sorted me with one of them, the repair only took 2 days.

Yes, be prepared to be bombarded with 'can we help you letters'
I had about 10 asking if they could help with injury claim, and I wasnt even in the car.