Insurance repair - part on back order

NQManchester

Hi,

My husband was involved in a collision three weeks ago and our Seat Arona is currently with the repairers.
We’ve been advised that they are waiting on a new bonnet but it’s on back order so no ETA for when that will arrive and they won’t start the rest of the work till thats in. 

I know it’s possibly a how long is a piece of string situation but does anyone know how long we’re potentially looking at? They won’t indicate whether it’s day/weeks or months.

Does back order mean we’re probably waiting for it to be shipped from the continent? 

Thankfully never had to deal with this before so no idea where to set our expectations and we’re currently car less.
We don’t have car hire cover on our insurance but is there any obligation for them to provide one if it’s going to be months? My husband is definitely at least 60% at fault for the collision.

Thanks! 

Grumpy_chap

Is the car driveable without the repair being completed?

Or driveable if only a very small amount of work is done - such as new light?

That might be an option to ask be considered.  The take the car back in once the parts are available.

AdrianC

NQManchester said:

Does back order mean we’re probably waiting for it to be shipped from the continent? 

Or that VW's European spare parts network don't have any in stock to ship to the UK...

Seems unlikely for a car that's still in production, but if there's been minor changes to spec then it's entirely possible.

Remember it's August, so there may well be factory shutdowns or other seasonal issues at play.

NQManchester

Grumpy_chap said:

Is the car driveable without the repair being completed?

Or driveable if only a very small amount of work is done - such as new light?

That might be an option to ask be considered.  The take the car back in once the parts are available.

We did ask if they can reuse the existing bonnet whilst we wait for the new one to come in but they said it wouldn’t pass their quality control whatever that even means. Might ask again. 

The damage wasn’t actually to the bonnet but it also wouldn’t close properly so might not be a goer. 

NQManchester

AdrianC said:

NQManchester said:

Does back order mean we’re probably waiting for it to be shipped from the continent? 

Or that VW's European spare parts network don't have any in stock to ship to the UK...

Seems unlikely for a car that's still in production, but if there's been minor changes to spec then it's entirely possible.

Remember it's August, so there may well be factory shutdowns or other seasonal issues at play.

I really hope that’s not the case but you might be right!

AdrianC

NQManchester said:

We did ask if they can reuse the existing bonnet whilst we wait for the new one to come in but they said it wouldn’t pass their quality control whatever that even means. Might ask again. 

The damage wasn’t actually to the bonnet but it also wouldn’t close properly so might not be a goer. 

Damage isn't always visible.

If the slam panel has been bent, the interior frame of the bonnet may be damaged without the exterior skin showing anything.

Ebe_Scrooge

NQManchester said:

We don’t have car hire cover on our insurance but is there any obligation for them to provide one if it’s going to be months?

I can't add anything to the good advice you've already been given about the parts issue.  But in answer to the hire car question, the answer is "no".  Unfortunately this is one of those cases where "in hindsight, I wish we'd have paid the extra to have courtesy car cover".

You could ask the repair shop whether they could do you a deal on hiring one of their courtesy cars.  Normally, they'd just give you one and bill the insurance company directly, but obviously that's not an option here.  There's no harm in asking whether they could hire you one at a decent rate.

Otherwise, if you absolutely need a car it'll be a case of looking around at any of the standard car hire firms and seeing what's available.  If you have any local independent hire places, they may possibly be cheaper than the well-known names like Hertz, Avis or whatever.

NQManchester

AdrianC said:

NQManchester said:

We did ask if they can reuse the existing bonnet whilst we wait for the new one to come in but they said it wouldn’t pass their quality control whatever that even means. Might ask again. 

The damage wasn’t actually to the bonnet but it also wouldn’t close properly so might not be a goer. 

Damage isn't always visible.

If the slam panel has been bent, the interior frame of the bonnet may be damaged without the exterior skin showing anything.

I did obviously consider this but it was their vague “wouldn’t pass quality control” answer that made me think it’s worth asking again as previously we were just putting the receptionist on the spot. I understand it’s probably a long shot. Thank you 

gambleruk

This happens quite often and could be down to various problems including covid of course but it as always happened, worse case I ever dealt with was an exhaust for a Mercedes which took 8 months to finally arrive, bonnets, bumpers, wings etc usually worst case around 3 months but this was pre covid and now there could be transport issues along with all the things. 

If there is a major delay then the insurance company would normally ask the repairer if it is possible to do a temporary repair, we have done it many a time, the hire car company not so keen because obviously they are making money out of the hire car. I would ring the repairer back and ask very nicely to speak to one of the managers and explain your situation and ask if they can do temporary repairs until the bonnet arrives in stock.

Sandtree

Ebe_Scrooge said:

You could ask the repair shop whether they could do you a deal on hiring one of their courtesy cars.  Normally, they'd just give you one and bill the insurance company directly, but obviously that's not an option here.  There's no harm in asking whether they could hire you one at a decent rate.

Agree that as the part situation is not the fault of the insurer they have no obligations to pay for something that your policy doesn't provide for. 

As to garages billing insurers for courtesy cars, they normally don't bill them directly but there is a slight difference in the hourly rate charged for labour however these things are ultimately a commercial negotiation and a big insurer who requires the garage to provide courtesy cars may be paying a lower hourly fee than a small insurer who doesn't require the cars to be given just because of the difference in buying power/volume discounting.

NQManchester

Ebe_Scrooge said:

NQManchester said:

We don’t have car hire cover on our insurance but is there any obligation for them to provide one if it’s going to be months?

I can't add anything to the good advice you've already been given about the parts issue.  But in answer to the hire car question, the answer is "no".  Unfortunately this is one of those cases where "in hindsight, I wish we'd have paid the extra to have courtesy car cover".

You could ask the repair shop whether they could do you a deal on hiring one of their courtesy cars.  Normally, they'd just give you one and bill the insurance company directly, but obviously that's not an option here.  There's no harm in asking whether they could hire you one at a decent rate.

Otherwise, if you absolutely need a car it'll be a case of looking around at any of the standard car hire firms and seeing what's available.  If you have any local independent hire places, they may possibly be cheaper than the well-known names like Hertz, Avis or whatever.

Thank you, I hadn’t actually looked at more local hire car companies and I’ve now found one potentially a lot cheaper than the big companies