Car insurance claim using my own repairer?

mandyboops1973

My car was hit by another driver my insurance company has informed me that the third party have admited liability, They also told me somebody will contact me shortly to arrange a hire car and for one of their approved bodyshops to come and collect my car and assess repair cost.

I just googled the bodyshop that is supposed to be calling to arrange collection and notice they have ALOT of negative google reviews,

Here is just one example of many

"Avoid at all costs! My insurance company choose this garage as an 'expert approved repairer' but unfortunately they have shown themselves as far from that. My car was with them for 3 months after I was driven into and after 3 attempts to fix it has now been taken to another garage to be repaired to dealer standard. First attempt the car was returned with 22 faults to include unaligned panels, damaged interior, glass still in the vehicle, one door with a big amount of damage not reported to insurance (which would have written off the car), shoddy paintwork and pieces missing from my car they had taken off and thrown away! No attention to detail or competency shown at all. Some members of staff very unprofessional, rude and blatantly lied to both me and the insurance assessor, who I think will be removing them from their 'approved list'"

Sorry but that dose not sound like a company i want my car going to for repairs!

I was under the impression i just had to do what ever they told me and i had no say, I really have no idea how this stuff works its all very scary to me. I was however looking over my documents and noticed this statement.

"you can arrange for reasonable and necessary repairs to be carried out at a repairer of your choice However, you must give us full details of the incident and we must approve the detailed repair estimate before the work begins."


So it seems i can use a bodyshop of my choice, i had no idea but do people really read all of these super long detailed documents you get when you take out insurance? i guess i really should do such things but half of the time i have no idea what any of the jargon means.

Anway a quick google brings quite a few bodyshops in a much closer proximity to my house and all have far better reviews on google. The plus side is my car is still drivble its only cosmetic damage so i am happy enough to go and get some quotes my self.

A question i do have is when asking for quotes should i mention its for an insurance claim or not? i was wondering if doing so could effect their quote for instnace if they know its for an insurance claim they may quote higher knowing it will be all paid for if approved and thus increasing the chance of the insruance writing the car off due to cost ( which i want to avoid at all costs as the car has sentimental value)

If i were to just go and get some quotes and not mention its for insruance they may be more inclined to offer a cheaper quote thiking i am a private customer who isn't here with a no expense spared wallet. The other concern is on what basis will the insurance comany aprove the quote? I am wondering if there are any potential tactics they can use to get me to ultimetly use their bodyshops with the bad reviews? For example what if i get quotes and they say that price is too high. can they then force me to take it to one of their bodyshops? i am worried they may say our bodyshop can do it 99p cheaper so you must use them unless you can find somewhere to beat our quote?

facade

Usually there is a larger excess for using a repairer you trust rather than the one who has a contract with insurers to work for peanuts.
Worth paying if you have found a body shop that is any good.

daveyjp

If the third party have admitted liability deal with them. Don't accept an expensive hire car from your own insurance company. You will also have to pay an excess if you go through your own.

If you know a good bodyshop use them instead and advise the other side, they will probably be much cheaper.

I have done this, my bodyshop charged the other insurance about £250. My insurance said it would be into four figures!

sheramber

When we wanted to use our pwn choice of bodyshop the insurance sent an assessor to that garage to approve their estimate. We would have to wait for that to happen to get the go ahead.

If we had used their choice of garage it would have been automatically approved so would be done quicker.

peter_the_piper

daveyjp wrote: »

I have done this, my bodyshop charged the other insurance about £250. My insurance said it would be into four figures!

Yes --- £250 for the panel shop and the balance,£750 for the insurance company.:)

mandyboops1973

The car that hit me was a company car, the guy only gave me his company name at the time and it didn't register that i should have got his insurance details also i was a bit shaken up.The more i read online the more i see other people recommending going through the 3rd party especially when liability has been admitted as they are more likley to bend over backwards to settle your claim than drag it out like the non fault side will do.

I am not sure what to do now, My insurance company made me feel very rushed when i called, i initially thought this was a good thing, hire car asap, collect my car asap etc but after reading the reviews from their approved bodyshop i do not want to use them at all, i also want to find some place that can do it cheap enough to save the car from being written off which is my biggest concern right now due to the cars sentimental value.

Am i legally obliged to rush this process or anything? I had a missed call from the hire car place yesterday i am guessing first thing monday they will be ringing me again wanting to get me into a hire car. I don't even need a hire car straight away but will do once mine is in for repair, i would like some time to speak to some local body shops and get some of my own quotes, i literally have no idea how long a bodyshop is going to need my car to just to inspect the damage and give me a quote, Can they do this while i am there?, will they need it for a couple of days? i have no clue about any of this.

When the phone lines open again on monday i will give them a call. i would just like to know where i stand before i speak to them again so that i don't feel pressured or rushed into taking a hire car i don't need just yet or having my own car taken away to their bodyshop that has so many negative reviews online. What is a reasonable time scale i have to get some of my own quotes from local bodyshops?

Scrapit

mandyboops1973 wrote: »

The car that hit me was a company car, the guy only gave me his company name at the time and it didn't register that i should have got his insurance details also i was a bit shaken up.The more i read online the more i see other people recommending going through the 3rd party especially when liability has been admitted as they are more likley to bend over backwards to settle your claim than drag it out like the non fault side will do.

I am not sure what to do now, My insurance company made me feel very rushed when i called, i initially thought this was a good thing, hire car asap, collect my car asap etc but after reading the reviews from their approved bodyshop i do not want to use them at all, i also want to find some place that can do it cheap enough to save the car from being written off which is my biggest concern right now due to the cars sentimental value.

Am i legally obliged to rush this process or anything? I had a missed call from the hire car place yesterday i am guessing first thing monday they will be ringing me again wanting to get me into a hire car. I don't even need a hire car straight away but will do once mine is in for repair, i would like some time to speak to some local body shops and get some of my own quotes, i literally have no idea how long a bodyshop is going to need my car to just to inspect the damage and give me a quote, Can they do this while i am there?, will they need it for a couple of days? i have no clue about any of this.

When the phone lines open again on monday i will give them a call. i would just like to know where i stand before i speak to them again so that i don't feel pressured or rushed into taking a hire car i don't need just yet or having my own car taken away to their bodyshop that has so many negative reviews online. What is a reasonable time scale i have to get some of my own quotes from local bodyshops?

You probbably have all the details he has regarding insurance I gave over my business card when involved in an accident and took the reg of the liable party and my own was taken. That was sufficient to get the claim sorted within 14 hrs overnight.