Car park accident

SamB16

Yesterday i was driving in a car park looking for a space when a reversing car hit me. The passenger door on my side took most of the damage and now won't open. My door also has a bit of damage but still opens. 

The car is a suzuki swift which i bought three months ago from a suzuki dealer. The car came with a leaflet saying i should call suzuki if i'm in an accident which i did after the accident yesterday afternoon.
Shortly after a company called Kindertons phone me saying they were working on suzukis behalf to process my claim. They went through the standard questions about the incident ect all fine i thought. 
Then they asked me if i wanted a hire car and i said no but they were insistent that i take the car and said the charges would be claimed from the third party insurer so i agreed to this. 

They then sent me an email with a form to fill out and some documents (driving licence/utility bill/ insurance certificate/ photo of damage) to send back which i did. I then did some googling as i was curious as to why they were so insistent that i take a hire car and it seems this is a way for them to make their money. What concerned is if the third party refuses to pay the silly costs then the charges could get to me which i absolutely do not want. I work from home and use the car mainly to go to the gym and shopping so its not an urgent need. 

This morning i have phone my insurer, admiral to make a claim and they have already arranged for an approved garage to take my car in for repairs. They also offered me the service of another accdident management company, something beginning with A but can't remember fully. I denied that. 

In the meantime i have emailed Kinderons saying i no longer wish to go further with them. I have not signed any contracts for a hire vehicle, the only thing I have signed is the incident report form but surely im not liable for any costs at this stage?!?! Thats my only concern. 

Also, the third partys insurance has texted me accepting liability so its a straight forward claim but I am annoyed that suzuki i've been suckered into starting a claim with Suzuki/Kindertons now knowing what their game is.

Anyone have a similar experience?

SamB16

Forgot to mention that the car is under warranty for another 18 months. Will i lose my warranty as i am getting the repairs done via my insurers approved garage? 

RogerPensionGuy

A general view of this situation. 

Insurance companies can contact rental companies or ask policy holder or both to get very quickly in to a nice replacement car in very quick order.

The rental company ask person to just confirm if they have any issue getting back costs, the person may need to attend court. 

In most cases person gets a very nice car delivered same day. 

Damaged car gets fixed or written off hopefully nice and slowly. 

The rental company then gets paid by insurance company of driver at fault. 

I've had three friends in the above situation, they all accepted nice rental cars. 

One damaged car took 5 months for repair due spares, rental bill was 16K and at fault driver insurance paid it. Accident car was only worth 9K so obviously the system is silly. 

The two others had cars valued less than 2K, but it took 3 and 4 months to complete the write off process and one got £600 and the other £1,450.

The two write offs rental amount was 12 & 14K, these two people had to engage more with rental companies as the paying insurers were saying costs too high, they were just advised a court attendance now more possible if negotiated settlement can't be agreed. 

In the end the companies all agreed a 20% reduction of the 12 & 14K and was all settled. 

The about looks like 42K or similar or wasted money, lots of paperwork. 

It's perfectly legal and makes lots of money for companies and all the bills and costs are just passed on to all customers ongoing. 

It sounds like a fantastic business to be in, I imagine the new rental cars are purchased at 50% of RRP and used for a year or so, then sold off for more money than the company paid a year before. 

It's a win win apart from people who actually pay car insurance. 

It sounds like a scam, but its 100%legal. 

Think my last insurance renewal went up 60 or 70% for being a loyal customer, so I shopped about and managed to get similar previous years policy +10% as new company just filling its books and will wind up price next year.

And lets not forget car insurance gets taxed at 8% IIRC, it all sounds like a cosy arrangement. 

Frozen_up_north

“The car came with a leaflet saying i should call suzuki if i'm in an accident”

Really, why? Suzuki are not providing insurance, so why contact them.

Dealers are always trying to sell additional junk with a car. I bought a new car 2 weeks ago and got the “free” Supagard, alloy damage insurance, etc. The salesman added the cost to the paperwork then knocked several thousand off the list price. Overall I think I got a reasonable deal, but find the “smoke and mirrors” from the salesman irritating and pointless. I think it is a fiddle... Would anyone realistically pay £449 for car polish? FWIW, they even tried selling GAP insurance, I thought that was kicked into the long grass some time ago and is included as “new for old” with my insurance for the first year.

SamB16

Frozen_up_north said:

“The car came with a leaflet saying i should call suzuki if i'm in an accident”

Really, why? Suzuki are not providing insurance, so why contact them.

Dealers are always trying to sell additional junk with a car. I bought a new car 2 weeks ago and got the “free” Supagard, alloy damage insurance, etc. The salesman added the cost to the paperwork then knocked several thousand off the list price. Overall I think I got a reasonable deal, but find the “smoke and mirrors” from the salesman irritating and pointless. I think it is a fiddle... Would anyone realistically pay £449 for car polish? FWIW, they even tried selling GAP insurance, I thought that was kicked into the long grass some time ago and is included as “new for old” with my insurance for the first year.

Well i would of thought a company like Suzuki are trustworthy, no other reason.

I was also offered all of those additional extras and i refused them.

DullGreyGuy

Frozen_up_north said:

“The car came with a leaflet saying i should call suzuki if i'm in an accident”

Really, why? Suzuki are not providing insurance, so why contact them.

Dealers are always trying to sell additional junk with a car. I bought a new car 2 weeks ago and got the “free” Supagard, alloy damage insurance, etc. The salesman added the cost to the paperwork then knocked several thousand off the list price. Overall I think I got a reasonable deal, but find the “smoke and mirrors” from the salesman irritating and pointless. I think it is a fiddle... Would anyone realistically pay £449 for car polish? FWIW, they even tried selling GAP insurance, I thought that was kicked into the long grass some time ago and is included as “new for old” with my insurance for the first year.

New Car Replacement under Comp cover can be problematic when finance is involved, depending on the exact type of finance. Where the finance company remains the legal owner of the vehicle then it's up to them if they accept the replacement car or not and many dont so the finance company get the total loss settlement and you have to pay any shortfall.

GAP was temporarily ceased selling by the largest 7-8 suppliers at the request of the FCA earlier this year as they questioned the value given it has one of the lowest claims ratios of any consumer insurance (claims -v- premiums). This was really aimed at dealer sold GAP which is often vastly more expensive than independently sourced GAP but the request was blanket. The FCA have since allowed them to restart sales. 


Any company in anyway involved in the motor trade or insurance will either have their own accident management company or at least partnered with one. At the end of the day they pay notable referral fees and if customers are going to be calling you about their accident etc you may as well monetarize it.