Car insurance chosing own repairer

dotchas

HI,

We have 2 cars insured under a multi car policy with Hastings Direct.

Unfortunately both have been involved in accidents.

Car 1 was hit on a roundabout. Most likely a no fault claim but not confirmed. We elected to send this car to our preferred repairer rather than the approved one, which has a poor reputation. After a lot of back and forward it eventually is in for repair.

Car 2 was involved in a collision where both cars were reversing. I stopped but the other driver claimed he stopped and I reversed into him.

Again we elected to take this car to our preferred repairer. This time they have refused to accept the hourly rate the garage charges, despite it being the same as before. No more negotiations. The hourly rate they are willing to pay is £40!

Apart from taking my car to their approved repairer where can I go from here?

I'm going to get another quote today but feel I am being forced into using their repairer and not being able to exercise my right to use my own garage.

It seems because they may not be able to claim these costs back from the third party they are not willing to pay market rates. My repairer is not a flashy expensive place just a local garage with a good reputation.

Any advice welcome thank you

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6668821/car-insurance-chosing-own-repairer

Is your garage actually a bodyshop or do they just hand it on to another place and add a margin on top. I remember one customer was very insistent on using their preferred garage because ours had a bad reputation but a quick check showed that as soon as the car was delivered to them they just drove it to our bodyshop but the customer was happy because they got an invoice with their preferred brand of car on the letterhead.

There is a big difference in rate between bodywork and mechanical work, some garages try it on and try to charge the mechanical rate for small bodyworks stuff… in the aforementioned case the garage was trying to charge over £100/hr but we pointed out we knew where they were sending the car, we know what the job would cost us with them and we wouldnt pay more than 10% more than that but if they agreed we would authorise the work without inspection etc (as was normal for those using our approved repairers)

Is the work all bodywork? What hourly rate are they trying to achieve? Normally its the total cost that really matters, the insurers software tells them the exact time the job should take times by the hourly rate they are willing to pay gives the job price. They can stomach a higher rate if the garage estimates the time is less and so their total comes under what the insurer estimates it to be.

Are you getting a courtesy car? If you are then thats normally passed through in the hourly rate, they may be willing to go to a lower rate if you dont have one.

dotchas

It's a proper bodyshop.

What I dont understand is why they want a different hourly rate for Car 2.

To me it seems that Car 1 get repaired because 3rd party are paying. Car 2 they want done cheap as they may be paying themselves.

No courtesy car involved

MyRealNameToo

Are you sure the rates are the same? Maybe the garage agreed to be negotiated down on one but isnt agreeing to on the other.

As already mentioned the estimated hours is also important as a slightly high rate can be accepted if the number of hours is low.

Certainly with our engineers the likely outcome of the claim isnt a consideration on if repairs will be authorised or not, for a start plenty of "non-fault" accidents dont end up as such by the time we get into the details which is often after the engineers have already authorised repairs. Obviously different insurers may have different approaches, can only comment for the 3 that I worked for.

dotchas

Thank you for your help. I'm just at a loss. However I have obtained 2 more quotes from bodyshops of my choice. One a main dealer as car is only 2 and under warranty and another one with excellent reputation.

We will see what happens from here.

Thanks again.

sheramber

Many years ago we declined the insurance company’s recommended repairer on the grounds that to comply with the bodywork warranty repairs had to be done by a brand approved repairer.

The insurance company accepted this.