Churchill car insurance advice

khw

Hello,

I had a car accident a couple of days ago, the first ever. It was at a roundabout just off the M25. From my side of the roundabout there were three lanes going into the roundabout (which had lights which were red) - the first lane heading left, the second heading straight over (second exit), the third heading right around the roundabout (third exit). I was going left so was going into the first lane, a juggernaut (like a huge Tesco truck) was going into the second lane. We reached there around the same time. As the lights changed, the slight curve to the left of the roundabout meant the juggernaut whacked into the side of me.

All passengers were OK but the juggernaut took off the driver mirror, the cover to the fuel cap and there was body damage to the drivers side. I was around 20 mins from home, so drove home as the car was still drivable. I suspect there may be more damage than just as described though. It didn't seem right when driving back. I stopped by my local garage on the way back and he suggested there would be around £1000 or more's damage and he's someone I'd definitely trust.

I called Churchill who said an approved repairer would contact me the next day. They haven't - and I gave them 2-3 days to give them the benefit of the date. Some of you may know which repairer I'm talking about but they have a terrible online reputation. People who've been referred to them complain of poor customer service, poor repair work that was needed additional work, work taking much longer than suggested - basically you want to avoid them. After Christmas, I will call Churchill. What can I do to not use their approved repairer and suggest my own garage instead? I trust them to do the work correctly and fairly.

I've been driving 3 years but I'm not a young driver - I learned late! My insurance is around £850pa. I've had no accidents, no speeding incidents - my record is clean. My car is a 2014 Vauxhall Corsa with no modifications and around 12000 miles on the clock - one previous owner before me. The car's value is around £3000-3500.

Does anyone have any advice? How much should I expect my insurance to increase by? My no claims bonus was not insured. If the work comes up to say £1500-2000 does the value of the car matter? Can the insurer play hardball with the repairer? Literally everything I've read about them is atrocious. I don't know why the insurer uses them - unless there's something nefarious going on?

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it - and Merry Christmas

Cheers!

khw

Sorry missed one important detail - I don't think the driver of the juggernaut even realised he whacked me as he didn't stop!!! He just kept going to wherever he was going. I couldn't get the number plate - in the panic, I had to go left as intended and pull up in the next road to assess the damage. So I won't have any supporting statements for this.

Quentin

You can do dummy quotes online now to get an idea of future premiums with this in your history as a fault claim and your NCD reduce

You can insist on using your choice of repairer

jk0

No dashcam I take it?

I had a similar accident about 15 years ago and just took my car to the main dealers. I can't see why you can't still do this.

I'd guess insurers may try to get repairs done on the cheap by asking for a higher excess if you don't use their repairer. What does your policy say?

khw

Thanks both - the incident happened on Thursday and when I called the insurers, they said Company X would call up tomorrow (Friday) and take the car. They didn't bother and having read what I had about them, I didn't want to proactively call them. As it's Christmas now, it'll go quiet for a few days, but I'll call the insurers back on the 27th. I want to insist on taking it to my garage as I trust their work. I don't know if this will run into issues. Churchill strongly mention their own approved repairers and don't mention the use of others. Obviously they'll say their repairers can give guarantees, etc. But if you Google them, you'll find a succession of angry customers. I don't want to be another one and have a few months of unnecessary stress - I'll make the point that this company has a poor reputation. My excess is £350 so the work will exceed that. Hopefully Churchill doesn't have the right to play hardball but as a first time accidenter, I was curious to know what options I'd have.

sheramber

With our insurance( not Churchill) if we went to their approved repairer the work could start right away.

If we used our own preferred repairer then they would need to send an assessor and approve the cost before the work could start.

khw

Yes, that's what I suspect. I wonder if they'll ask for say three quotes. It's obviously easier to use their repairer and I absolutely would if they were any good. I just hope insurers don't make things awkward if you don't want to do exactly what they want.

Quentin

Using your choice of repairer is your right!!

jellie

I made a claim through Churchill approx 18 months ago, they gave me 3 local alternatives to choose from for the repair. Car was driveable and I wanted to use the main dealer (Audi, car still in warranty). I got a quote from Audi, Churchill engineer came to inspect when they said he would, repairs subsequently authorised by Churchill.

Very painless process.