Settled car insurance claim but repairs not right

UnicornGirl81

So I had a non fault accident resulting in the whole of the passenger side being damaged, my car was repaired and was collected last Thursday. I was driving home yesterday and the engine management light comes on, my neighbour who knows their cars has a diagnostic reader so they read the codes and is sure it’s been caused by the collision. 

The car was driven around 3 miles home after the accident, was then parked up for 2 weeks while they decided whether to repair or total loss. Deemed repairable so went on the back of the truck to the garage where it sat for 2 weeks whilst being repaired. The engine management light was not on as it hadn’t picked up the faults due to being stationary. 

It’s been driven approximately 70 miles since being collected. 

There were no issues at all before the accident it’s very well maintained and an expensive car. 

Will the insurers still authorise further repairs even tho the claim has been settled? Or do I contact the repair shop?
Not in a position to fix myself and feel I shouldn’t have to as it isn’t my fault. 

Thanks in advance

Nobbie1967

If it was caused by the accident, why has it taken since last Thursday to come on? Without knowing the reason for the engine management light, nobody on here can tell if it’s related. Why does your neighbour think it was caused by the accident?

Hoenir

UnicornGirl81 said:

It’s been driven approximately 70 miles since being collected. 

There were no issues at all before the accident it’s very well maintained and an expensive car. 

Not in a position to fix myself and feel I shouldn’t have to as it isn’t my fault. 

Nothing you've said points to it being anyone's fault. Expensive cars are generally expensve to maintain. Anything could go wrong at any time. 

Grey_Critic

IF you believe the fault is due to or connected with the accident then go back to the repairer. IF it is due to the accident then the repairer should contact the insurer for authority for additional work.

Mildly_Miffed

What fault code is your neighbour reading, and why is he sure it's caused by collision damage to the passenger side?

UnicornGirl81

Nobbie1967 said:

If it was caused by the accident, why has it taken since last Thursday to come on? Without knowing the reason for the engine management light, nobody on here can tell if it’s related. Why does your neighbour think it was caused by the accident?

So the car was collected on Thursday and I have had no need to drive it until I picked my children up from school yesterday. 

the engineer that looked at the car to seem whether repairable started the car up and there was no lights on the dash so there was nothing there before the collision 

it was serviced an mot’d 4 days before the accident 

My question was merely to find out if I go to the insurers or the repair company 

angrycrow

Difficult to help if you won't tell us what the fault code was.

Given timeline other than short stop start to get it on and off recovery trucks and around the repairers site it's barely been driven for a few weeks, the battery could well be low.

Starting a car with low battery can throw up loads of fault codes and result in poor running. 

Charge the battery fully, have the neighbour clear the current codes then drive it and see if they come back. 

If they come back let us know what they are so we can advise further.

DullGreyGuy

Who chose the garage? 

If it's the insurer's garage then contact the insurer as they are on the hook for the quality of the repairs. If you choose the garage it's between you and them as they were your pick. 

UnicornGirl81 said:

my neighbour who knows their cars has a diagnostic reader so they read the codes and is sure it’s been caused by the collision. 

You haven't said what happened in the accident nor what the code is for but the fact no lights were on pre-repair doesnt make it sound very accident related. Certainly if its a code to say the side indicator isnt working then that could make sense given the side has had extensive work on it and the garage may just not have reconnected it properly but I wouldnt expect a light failure to cause and engine management light to come on. 

born_again

Did this go via your ins co or the 3rd parties?