Car Insurance Query

teepee1

Good morning all

My wife had a car crash in October 2022, where some damage to the bodywork was incurred. She advised our car insurance provider within 24 hours. Under the terms of the insurance policy, we are entitled to a courtesy car whilst repairs are undertaken.

We are still waiting the car to be collected for repairs to be undertaken. We have been told variously by our insurers that a courtesy car would not be available, that the garage into which they booked the car for repair was too busy to do the job, and now that a different garage, which was due to collect the car for repair today, does not have the parts necessary to do the job.

To date, the only inspection of the car has been via photographic evidence provided by us to the insurer. Whilst the car is currently able to be driven, I am not a car mechanic and I am concerned that further damage may be caused by doing so. For info, we have the car on a PCP deal which is due to end in April at which point we plane to buy the car.

Is there anything I can or should do to get the repairs completed.

Many thanks 
Tom 

baser999

October?? and it’s not been repaired yet? I’d have been chasing the insurance company daily 

teepee1

baser999 said:

October?? and it’s not been repaired yet? I’d have been chasing the insurance company daily 

Speaking to the insurance company has been problematic, chat communication is extremely hit and miss, and on the one occasion I phoned them, I was left waiting in a queue for over three hours. I'm afraid I don't have the time to go through that every day.

What I'm hoping to find out is whether I have any consumer rights in terms of reasonable time frame for repairs, and whether there is any regulatory body I can speak to in order to get this resolved.
 
 

SaverRate

Who is the insurer? 

Put in an official complaint to the insurer

DullGreyGuy

A traditional courtesy car is typically just a car provided by the garage thats doing the repair and is subject to both the car being repairable and the garage having one available. 

You can potentially solve both problems by finding a bodyshop yourself thats able to do the job promptly and would be willing to give you a courtesy car. Hopefully your insurers will then be happy to authorise this garage to do the work. Be aware that some insurers however charge an additional excess if you use your own garage rather than their network. 

Longballman

I am in the same situation. Though so far only one week between the accident and the lack of courtesy car or contact from the approved repairer appointed. car is undrivable and initial insurance company contact was that a garage would contact us within 1 to 2 days.

I have been in contact two or three times daily with both the insurance company and the agent (Vizion Network) they have appointed to manage the repair. The car seems to be constantly in 'reallocation' mode between garages, none of whom can accept the job due to lack of courtesy car availability, which apparently is likely to be an ongoing issue. I have gone down the 'find my own bodyshop' route but again there is either no capacity and/or the insurance company (FordInsure, which appears to be a front for Admiral) only approves a narrow range of repairer.

I can't see any obvious resolution to this. Surely at some point, the insurance company is in breach of its contract to me. The policy explicitly states that a courtesy car will be provided in the event of an at-fault or no-fault accident and I have the initial email from them saying 1-2 working days for a garage to arrange a repair.

Any ideas which buttons I can press with the insurance company?

DullGreyGuy

Longballman said:
Surely at some point, the insurance company is in breach of its contract to me. The policy explicitly states that a courtesy car will be provided in the event of an at-fault or no-fault accident and I have the initial email from them saying 1-2 working days for a garage to arrange a repair.

Any ideas which buttons I can press with the insurance company?

Is this a fault or non-fault claim? On the basis you havent been passed to Auxilis and its an Admiral operated policy it seems likely to be fault?

The current policy wording is unusual in that it does state you will get a courtesy car, most caveat it with "if available". However it says you get it once repairs have been authorised and as the vehicle isnt into the garage yet then repairs wont be authorised yet. 

Ongoing issues with parts means garages are backed up and hence they're struggling to find a garage willing to take the job. There is no contractual timelimit for the repairs and it does appear that they are making what efforts they can to get it to a repairer. 

Insurers approve both garages and jobs, if a garage is approved they often can do certain levels of repairs without needing explicit authorisation from the insurer etc. If you go to a non-approved repairer then an engineer site visit may be required to inspect the vehicle and negotiate the costs with the repairer... its fairly rare that garages and insurers cannot come to an agreement. You should therefore be able to use a garage of your choosing but you then lose the fixed entitlement to a courtesy car (though you can naturally agree with the company that they give you one anyway).

All you can really do is log a complaint but it sounds like both sides are just victim to the current circumstances.

Longballman

Thanks for replying. Yes, 'victim to the current circumstances' seems about right. Trying to be nice to the call handlers. Not their fault. Just seems the entire country is grinding to a halt atm. Nothing is functioning as it should be. The B word, pandemic, Ukraine...perfect storm. I've spent over 3 hours on the phone to these guys today. Oh well. 1st world problems. The complaint card is up my sleeve still. 

DullGreyGuy

Longballman said:
The B word

Blancmange?

Alderbank

Longballman said:
The B word

    Boris?