Norman Dog

iTrader: (1)

Had minor bump at a roundabout which is probably going to end up knock for knock, my insurance co. sent me a letter saying they had arranged repairs with their approved repairer.

Where do I stand on this?
Would rather get the repair done somewhere I know will do the job properly..

scoobyboy

no you don't but it takes them longer to sort it out if you go against their wishes!

200sex

iTrader: (2)

as long as the garage you want to use is vat reg i think your free to go where you want with some exclusions against the repair ie if the paint falls of they wont sort it out, we done a few cars and not really had to much trouble always got the company to fax paper work we need while they are on the phone to make sure we get it

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

As above, YOU can use who you want so long as they are VAT registered, but THEY can withold the courtesy car, and will not take it up for you should you have probs with the repair later.

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

I had a Volvo that was shunted at the rear about five year ago. I took the car to my local garage which was a Ford dealer, and the nearest Volvo dealers and they both estimated that cost of repairs would be £1600.
I then took the car to the repairer that my insurance company told me to take it to and the estimate was nearly double. This meant that the car would be written off.
I wanted to take it to the Volvo dealer to get it repaired, but was told that if the cost of repair was more than the estimate, then I would have to pay the difference.
I let them write the car off.

Ozzy_B

iTrader: (2)

you can decide where the car goes, however if its not the insurance recommended repairer, there may not be any warranty on the work done

dj219957

no, you TELL them where YOU want it fixed. end off.

scooby seb

iTrader: (1)

Your car your choice, the insurance company will play the courtesy car and warranty card, but most bodyshops have thier own courtesy cars and will warrant thier own work

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

As above.

When someone crashed into my old Scoob I wanted it repairing by a Subaru specialists and not one of their "approved" repairers. This lost my right to have a courtesy car off them but I received a phone call from a company call 'Angel Assistance'. They offer courtesy cars and chase the cost off the liable parties insurers. So for me as it was non fault on my part, I got to drive around in a brand new £27k top of the range Passat whilst my Impreza (worth £4-4.5k) was repaired And it cost me nothing apart from a couple of phonecalls.

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Although if your repairer takes the **** with their prices it could cause an issue, but is unlikely

Pink_Floyd

As others have stated, you can take your car where you wish. Most insurance repair shops have long lists of work to get through which often means poor quality repairs. Warranty is a card always thrown up by insurers, but it's a red herring generally as the repairer will warranty their work anyway.

Where the whole warranty card comes into play is on newer cars with an anti-perforation warranty. If your car is well within that, say 4 years into a 12 year warranty and you have a bump repaired at an insurance approved repairer then you'll loose the balance of the cars warranty. The manufacturer will argue that should rust etc appear that the problems might be caused by the 3rd party repair.

So the quality issue aside, that'd be my main reason to specify a repairer. There's a reason insurers want you to use their repairer and it's not that they've thoroughly checked their work, rather they have a deal in place that saves cash.......

WRXrowdy

iTrader: (2)

Half of the authorised repairers are con artists anyway. Mate of mine collects scrap metal from a few of these places and says a lot of the time the repairer will charge for a replacement panel, buy the panel, repair the old panel and scrap the new panel and not bother to fit it, saving on labour but still charging for it.

That is why, as mentioned earlier, it would have been a lot cheaper to go to Volvo to get my Volvo repaired than it would to go to the repairer the insurance company recommended I went to (which happened to be one of the bodyshops my mate was on about).

You can also specify what needs to be repaired and what doesn't if you choose your own repairer. For instance the Volvo repairer was happy to re use the undamaged black plastic bumper strip so it matched the rest of the plastics on the car, whereas the approved insurer would replace everything for new parts (or at least charge for them) including all the badges on the back of the car (in my case totally unnescesarily), all boot hinges even if undamaged etc.

This is also why I recieved a quote for about £1400 once, for a golf ball sized dent my wife put in the plastic front wing of a Citroen AX that she reversed into at about 3mph. The repairer quoted not only for the wing to be replaced and sprayed, but for the door next to the wing, the bonnet, the front bumper and the wing on the opposite side of the car to be resprayed to match, a new tyre, four new wheel trims and the tracking to be adjusted.

Norman Dog

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys.

scud8

iTrader: (1)

We're all paying for it in our inflated premiums.