should I allow my car to be repaired by 3rd party's 'cousin mechanic'

Shedman

My car was tail ended at pretty slow speed.  Looked like the only damage was that the bumper had popped off the bracket and there was a slight scratch (that quite frankly I would have buffed out and left, as being an estate it was bound to get a few more over time).  Was going to let the third party pay for any cost of getting it sorted so nipped into the garage on way back from work to see if they could just put the bumper back in place. They put it on the ramp to have a look and turns out there's a bar behind the bumper that is designed to distort to absorb impact which was quite noticeably deformed and that needed to be replaced.

So decided that it was definitely an insurance job.  Turns out it was best part of £3,000 to fix.  So even minor stuff these days on modern cars that are designed to crumple can turn out very costly so I would definitely recommend going through insurance rather than letting them get it fixed...peace of mind and all that.

Al3x

Thanks for all the comments!
Just to conclude, the third party agreed to go via their insurance company and I've been contacted to see how I would like to proceed. So I'm just in the process of gathering some quotes from local garages

red_eye

Goudy said:

If it was me, it would all depend on what damage there is and the car.
If it was some paint and plastic damage I might be tempted to accept the offer if my car wasn't high end with metallic or pearlescent paint.

If is has or has some panel damage I would really want an insurance approved bodyshop to sort it, they will obviously warranty their work and should do a better job of matching the paint, which can be very tricky with special finishes.

It's worth remembering a mechanic and a body repair specialist aren't the same thing.

Very true but some mechanics can do bodywork it’s actually not that hard until you get to painting.
i would find out what garage this cousin is at and see what reviews say.
would be nice to see what the damage had been done as it could be anything from paint transfer to creased boot floor.

red_eye

Shedman said:

My car was tail ended at pretty slow speed.  Looked like the only damage was that the bumper had popped off the bracket and there was a slight scratch (that quite frankly I would have buffed out and left, as being an estate it was bound to get a few more over time).  Was going to let the third party pay for any cost of getting it sorted so nipped into the garage on way back from work to see if they could just put the bumper back in place. They put it on the ramp to have a look and turns out there's a bar behind the bumper that is designed to distort to absorb impact which was quite noticeably deformed and that needed to be replaced.

So decided that it was definitely an insurance job.  Turns out it was best part of £3,000 to fix.  So even minor stuff these days on modern cars that are designed to crumple can turn out very costly so I would definitely recommend going through insurance rather than letting them get it fixed...peace of mind and all that.

Body shops inflate prices for insurance jobs. Outside of insurance that job would be probably be around 1k with paint

treeroy

Get your car repaired for free VS having increased insurance premiums for the next 5 years
I know which I would choose  

Jumblebumble

pramsay13 said:

Get details of the mechanic cousin. If it is a proper garage and gets decent reviews then crack on.
You will still need to inform your own insurance company anyway.

without forgetting that the Mechanic is going to do the minimum possible to make it look as though the job has been done correctly and you will have a huge headache  if it is actually bodged