Hi Allan, It seems like a nightmare mate glad things are moving In the right direction now.
Having the car moved to Wilsons Is great news :-) I've had some servicing done by them In the past and can totally recommend them.

Hope things turn out well and soon for you.

Keep us updated on the progress.

Cheers
Rob

 

Wilsons won't do the work as they don't want the hassle of undertaking someone elses bodged job, which is more than understandable.

Car has now been moved to another repairer and work is already underway and have been advised completed date estimated for next Friday. In the meantime I have been provided with a nice Mazda 6 loan car which is virtually brand new.

This is more like it. Shame its reached the 6 month mark though, since the accident.


AllanB

 

Quick update, car was not completed on time and I had to chase Highway for an update. Seems theyt are waiting on two parts including the undertray that was on the paperwork when the car was collected on 20/12/2004 !

Should be back next week.

I understand a few people have moved thier insurance elsewhere as a result of this thread which could be a wise move all things considered.

I've also been contacted by the claims handler regarding the damage to the loan car and the letter they have sent makes no sense considering they were given the police crime refence number over a month ago. Not sure if they have followed this up at all. Mmmm.

AllanB

 

christ will it ever end!!! really feeling for you bud

 

I have had dealings with Auto Indemnity as well.

Whilst my claim was pretty complicated as the other party was being an @rsehole, i still felt that they were incompetent. It took ages to come through and even though it wasnt a large claim at c.£500, the amount of times i had to contact them to actually DO anything, it turned into a total pain in the ****. I eventually got paid in March this year after the incident in August 2004.

My advice would be to avoid Highway because a claim with them is an awful procedure but i imagine most other places are going to be just as bad.

 

dont count on it,,,

after my rear ender i contacted the insurance company and there are now 3 parties involved...

Highway who i have the policy with...

auto indemnity act on behalf of highway...

drive assist act on behalf of??

i was put through to both a.i. & d.a. after the accident, and d.a. provided me with a loan car... based on the info given... ie rear ended, and a smell of zorst fumes in the cabin...


after the crap repair process i get a letter off d.a asking for me to advise what was replaced in the accident??

I then get a letter stating that the numpty who hit me,s insurance co are disputing the claim as they have doccumented proof that my car was drivable after the accident..

strange really as the guy involved drove away and didnt report it to his insurance co.. and how do you doccument fumes in the cabin??

when i rang them and told them i had no data from AI they were a bit vague, so i advised DA of what the initial call to them had covered, oh yes "we thought it was fumes, we just wanted to confirm.. he said"

thing is i haven driven the car since the accident, so i dont know wheter they have sorted the smell or not?? oh well i,ll fins out on the test drives when i sell it

M

 

Well I got the car back on Thursday and the bodywork was miles better.

However the brakes felt terrible probably due it it being unused for 6 months.

When I got the car back I cleaner it up proerly as it was really dusty and the inside was covered with some kind of very find dust. I then noticed some small blemishes and bubble in the pain in a couple of places that need re-doing but overall its not a bad job , not perfect but much better.

However after driving to XTreme Scoobies today to get the alternator belt changed, the brakes are still naff and there is a great deal of vibration through the sterring wheel so it looks like it will have to go back again.

I've sent a number of mails chasing regarfing my conpensation for days I have had to take as holiday, loss of insurance and road tax etc and got no reply apart from another confusing letter advising me of the complaint procedure and they would write back in 28 days ! For the love of god they've kept me waiting long enough !!

You never know I might have a working car and by the end of the year.

I think time to contact trading standards and Watchdog is approaching.

Allan

 

You should contact the Insurance Ombudsman. This is absolutly ridiculous and should be right up the obudsmans street..!

 

Yove got the patience of a saint mate !!!

I am afraid that in this day and age you wont get anywhere being patient and reasonable with the type of people you appear to be dealing with.

Trading standards and your solicitor should have got there teeth into this one a long time ago.

Dont put up with this any longer, give them seven days (in writing) then go for the throat. A good solicitor will be rubbing his hands with glee when he sees the history.

You really cannot loose

Good luck but you really shouldnt need luck after this carry on!!!!!

mickp

 

Oh I can assure you time is running out for them. I have every call and email logged. I have also got a breakdown of my costs so far that without any compensation for goodwill are well over a grand in the 3 days holiday I've had to take , premiums being paid whilst I ahve had no car, loss of road tax etc

I also have plenty of contacts in the publishing industry from the Telegraph to our local newspaper some of which would be intersted in the story.

At the middle of June I will stop being reasonable and unleash hell on them, giving them two weeks to get this sorted.


AllanB

 

OK this gets better. According to my local Speedyfit who did the tracking, nobody could ever have checked it as it was so far out. Also one of the wheels is totally buckled. So waiting to hear back about my compensation, my re-imbursment for the tracking and balancing and when the blemishes in the bodywork are going to be done and when I will have a new wheel.

Nice to see a thorough job has been done, NOT !!

Like I said if you and looking to renew your insurance I would strongly consider who you go with.


AllanB

 

Loan car was due to be droped off at 1:30 but turned up early whilst i was mega busy which was a right pain, lucky is was not in a commercial meeting. The repairer was meant tocall me but just turned up to collect the car with no warning and was given the wroing name by the people who arrnaged the collection so nobody knew the person they were asking for.

It has also become apparent the repair was not as good as first appeared.

There are now a number of small bubbles in the paint on both front wings and on the rear bumper and the paint now has an orange peel effect in a couple of places. Also you can now see scrathes on the panel that look like they have been sprayed over. Looks like possibly a poorly prepared panel.

I'll keep you posted


AllanB

 

Wrote a lenghty email to 5 or 6 contacts at Highway as my main contact has gone on holiday asking who was dealing with and a couple of other questions and guess what..... yes no replies at all.

Can't say I'm surprised.

What did surprise me was the call I had from the police saying the insurance company had never been intouch regarding an accident invovling thier loan car from several months ago !

Oh well.


AllanB

 

On the topic of getting a main dealer to sort your car out - I had this trouble with the Insurance refusing a loan car if you don't take their repairer. - Turned out not to be a problem after I insisted on Main dealer since they gave me a 'free' loan car for the duration of the work anyway... Worth thinking about!

Is it legal for them to refuse you a loan car under this situation anyway - especially if it is stated as being covered in your policy... ???

All the best Allan

Mick

 

It turns out this is not the case and they should have allowed me to choose where the car went and provided a loan car. They only have to provide a loan car for 14 days though but then it should have been sorted in that time.

I finally got a call today and they are attempting to get everything fixed ready for the weekend ( Jap Performance Show, I run the Charade GTti Owners Club), I just hope a quality job is done not a half-arsed rush job.


AllanB

 

They have now offered to replace the damaged wheel which is not much good as they went out of production years ago so they have offered me the cash value for one OZ Supertourismo which is pretty useless.

So if anyone knows of a gold 17" SuperT the original design , let me know.


AllanB

 

No further updates, they have not called me yet despite asking for an update at 9am.


AllanB

 

Ahh insurance companies - you gotta love em!! Have had an ongoing dispute since 2003 when a wheelie bin rolled into my S2000 in works carpark and caused £4Ks worth of damage - aparently it is my fault and have not had my XS back yet.

 

I had nowt but hassel with highway/auto indemnity. My car was written off cos a stupid bint pulled out without looking. Sunday morning it happened, rang the claim line, they took some details, and told me to ring back the next day cos the claims office was shut! To cut a long story short, got £900 back for a modded Cav GSI. Was not impressed.

From this:


to this



To say i was less than impressed would be an understatement. I had to do all the chasing up, neither company knew what the other was doing, highway didn't even know it had been written off.

Oh well, got my Scooby now so life aint all bad, lets see how much i get for my personal injury claim.

 

Jesus, hope you were OK that looks like a heavy smash !

Highway have upped to offer to £250 to replace the wheel and are rolling out the obsolete products clauses. Has they told me in Feb when I was assured the wheels had been checked I could ahve had a cheap set of 3 off ebay. So I'm insisting they replace the lot at thier expense due to thier negeligence.


AllanB

 

Can not understand why after all these events and all this time you have not taken legal action against them. Unfortunatly it is the only thing large companies will listen to now. Go to your local magistrates court, pick up a smalll claims form and isue them with a writ. You will need to pay the court fee at first. This should be submited a a cost as part of the claim - as should interest.


see here for more info

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/...arting_a_claim
Ask yourself are this lot really ever going to sort this out if you do not - the longer it goes on the less they will care as the will become more convinced that you will not take legal action against them - do it!

 

Sorry for not getting back sooner...not a regular visitor to this site ( Twas it Ye and Southern Section )......Does this guy still want my comments....If so let me know via PM and I will check in more regular....It seems to me you have been treated really shabbily....What sort or recompence do you think you can get out of this.

 

Right things are moving along now. They initially offered me £150 for the damaged wheels but I have insisted they replace all 4 wheels with brand new OZ Racing wheels which they ahve agreed to do after I pointed out what I feel is the negligent conduct of their agents.

I should have the car back at the start of next week and they have promised me a compensation package by the 1st of July. I have asked for a substantial amount as I ahve paid for nearly 7 months of insurance and TAX and had to cancel many trips including a planned drive accross Europe and I've also had the indignity of drive a Micra a Ford Ka and a Mondeo Diesel.

Should anyhting be less than perfect then I will be completing the reams of paperwork I ahve to put in complains with Watchdog, the FSA etc and issuing a claim against them.

Thanks for your support guys. It has certainly helped with so many people on Scoobynet watching this thread and a couple of you emailing me to let me know you have cancelled your insurance with them as a result.

Edmondo yes I think you should still contact them. Drop me a mail at allan.bayman@btinternet.com


AllanB

 

Will send tomorrow from work.

 

Cool and I'll forward the guys details on then


AllanB

 

Got a call late yesterday and the car is ready. They say it has been re-inspected twice and the new wheels fitted along with the new tyre so should finally get it back today !!!



AllanB

 

Well cannot say I'm suprised but the car was delivered back and appear to have not been rapired. Blemishes remain in the paint in all the same places.

Ridiculous !!!

New wheels are nice though

Will keep you posted


AllanB

 

Agent from Highway came to my place of work to see the car himself and it seems he may feel the work carried out is not good enough so hope to hear more in a few days



AllanB

 

Did 250 miles on the car yesterday and something is not right, the car is very fidgety and quite nastly to drive. I'm asking they take the car to Xtreme Scoobies to get it checked over and any machanical work sorted out.

Will keep everyone updated


AllanB

 

Car was picked up today and more bodged repairs were found once the car was up high on the pick up truck.


Grrrrrr



AllanB