LV car insurance - Take care

dogshome

Been with LV for our two cars for some time - Get the renewal, check the comp sites and haggle the premiums down every year.

Just gone through the renewal for my car and a brand new condition has been inserted, which says that if an Accident Repair is not done by one of their "Approved Repairers", then an extra £200 will be loaded onto whatever the the agreed Excess figure is on the policy.


That maybe fine for an older car, but what about newer models still under the manufacturers warranty?
Does the owner sport out an extra £200 to have the repairs done by the main dealer to just ensure the warranty remains valid ?

AdrianC

The repairs don't need to be main dealer to maintain warranty.

facade

dogshome wrote: »

That maybe fine for an older car, but what about newer models still under the manufacturers warranty?
Does the owner sport out an extra £200 to have the repairs done by the main dealer to just ensure the warranty remains valid ?

Yes.


The insurer gets "special prices" from their approved repairer, so they punish you if you won't go there.


Most insurers have this clause, they usually won't give you the "courtesy car" either, but any decent bodyshop will lend you one.

Car_54

And the main dealer probably sub-contracts to the 'approved' bodyshop ...

Jumblebumble

AdrianC wrote: »

The repairs don't need to be main dealer to maintain warranty.

Maybe true but there will be a huge difference if it comes down to an out of warranty goodwill gesture.

owen_money

Jumblebumble wrote: »

Maybe true but there will be a huge difference if it comes down to an out of warranty goodwill gesture.

I can imagine this true on a mechanical repair/service work, but accident damage?

Car_54

owen_money wrote: »

I can imagine this true on a mechanical repair/service work, but accident damage?

Indeed. How would they know?

hollie.weimeraner

Car_54 wrote: »

And the main dealer probably sub-contracts to the 'approved' bodyshop ...

A lot of main dealers have their own bodyshops and you need to use an approved bodyshop to maintain any bodywork guarantees.

Last accident I had my insurers tried to send me to Just car Clinic which I refused (very poor reviews). I insisted they use the dealers and as the accident wasn't my fault there was no issue.

AdrianC

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

A lot of main dealers have their own bodyshops and you need to use an approved bodyshop to maintain any bodywork guarantees.

That would be illegal.

As has been said, first they would have to detect any repairs. If they were bad enough to be detected, that's the issue - not who bodged them.

neilmcl

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

A lot of main dealers have their own bodyshops and you need to use an approved bodyshop to maintain any bodywork guarantees.

As mentioned, simply stating a warranty is invalidated by not using an approved bodyshop is illegal under European Block Exemption rules. However the warranty can be invalidated if an independent doesn't repair to the manufacturer's guidelines and use OEM parts.

Also, if you lease or finance a car then they can insist you use a manufacturer's approved repairer.