My insurance said if I take my car to the garage where I want it to go they will only pay so much and I will?

Question

have to pay the rest, I already have to pay £200 excess and can't afford to pay anymore so it's got to go to a garage of their choice, is this wright? When the engineer from the insurance came out to look at the car I gave him the estimate from the garage that I had chosen he said fine book it in,then I found out a few days later he had changed his mind.My car is brand new and I am worried about it just going to any garage

Answer 1

your dealing with the most corrupt people when you deal with insurance c/o

Answer 2

Your insurance contract is a contract of indemnity - meaning the insurance company will put you in the same position after the accident as before - subject to the excess. You also have a duty to minimise your losses so if the insurance company can get the vehicle fixed by a reputable garage at lower cost then this is the value of indemnity. Most decent insurance companies deal with garages that will guarantee their work for a reasonable period. My only concern would be if you were in breach of a manufacturer's warranty by not having the vehicle repaired through the manufactirers dealership.

Approved garages may also provide courtesy cars whilst your car is being repaired - this is not guaranteed with other garages. Of course if you are with a direct company you may not have this policy benefit - they do have to cut corners on benefits to reduce premiums you know,

Answer 3

If you're not using an approved-repairer of the insurer, normal procedure is to submit two estimates for repairs. The insurer will normally authorise the lower of the two. You would also be responsible for sorting out the insurance on any courtesy car provided as this is normally only covered under the standard terms of the policy where an approved repairer is used.

The purpose of the approved repairer network is to (a) offer the client a streamlined service without the need for obtaining estimates and sorting our courtesy car insurance and (b) to protect the insurer from inflated prices quoted by garages for "insurance jobs".

The scheme works very well generally but, if the car is new, and failure to use a main dealer for the repairs would invalidate any warranty, I think you have a case for asking your insurers or the engineer to reconsider.

Ultimately, as the customer you do have the choice as to who repairs your vehicle. The choice you need to make is: "do I use an insurance-approved repairer or not?". If not, submit your estimate along with an explanation as to why you want to use a particular repairer. In your situation, I wouldn't expect you to face too much resistance from your insurers.

Good luck!

Answer 4

The work is actually guaranteed no matter where you go, as long as it is a legal and licensed shop, all these shops will have a warranty and they have to do the work properly.
Insurance companies tell you that it is guaranteed if you go to their approved shops, but the reality is they guarantee it even if you choose your own shop (unless otherwise stated in your policy). They just want people to go to their approved shops, which means they don't have to pay as much.
I would be very cautious as well, California has found many vehicles that have been repaired, but not to the standards that they should. They say that 42 percent of body shops are fradulent, billing for work that they do not actually do. They even offer free inspections to people who have had body work, to check for proper work and safety. So I would be very picky about who did the work. Ask if they use oe parts.
But the insurance company is only going to pay so much for your car to be fixed, that's just the way it works. They put a certain value on it and that is all they will do. So you are free to go anywhere you want, but you will have to cover the excess.
I am sure there is some sort of appeal process or something you can do to try to get them to cover all of it, but it's probably not worth the time and effort.

I don't know what the laws are where you are, so I would look into that. (Also about the work being guaranteed, I don't know about where you are, but here the insurance company has to guarantee the work on your car, no matter where you go)
This may or may not apply to you, where you live but I'll post it anyway. http://www.hammerautobody.com/ripoffs.html

Answer 5

Insurance is only required to pay reasonable repair cost. Your body shop must either have extremely high labor rates (which is not reasonable) or claimed something is damaged that the insurance does not feel is.

Insurance SHOULD attempt to work with the shop to solve these issues HOWEVER- if they cannot come to an agreement your insurance is not required to go off their estimate.

Usually the insurance companies body shops offer a guarantee on their repairs- which you would probably want for your new car. why dont you consider saving the hassle and going through them?

Answer 6

Insurance repairs are like the Mafia. The garage and insurance work hand in hand. some are fair some are not. make sure every thing the insurance assessor says is written down. They are just assessors not true engineers, The garage makes a lot more from an insurance repair. than a private one, they justify it by the wait for the payment.
ask for the help line for the insurance company. and take it as far as you can, as a dissatisfied customer, Perhaps they are playing on you not knowing what is wrong, get information about what is happening and what is wrong, and get informed to sound confident on that phone.

Answer 7

It's a catch 22 for you! The insurance company can and will choose the garage you can get the car serviced at and they will guarantee the work. The catch is they will not use genuine parts most of the time but will require the shop to use either remanufactired parts or aftermarket parts which are cheaper in quality and fit. I used to deliver genuine Honda parts for a dealer and many many times I delivered to one of those shops who finally told the insurance co they could not complete the job because the cheap knock off parts just would not fit. I saw fenders up to 1 inch too short, warped lamp housings, and many bolt holes that would, not line up. You can choose your own shop, but as they say, you pay the difference. If the car is rather new, I'd bite the bullet and get the genuine parts, if not just be as pickey as all get go when you pick it up to make sure the parts fit and finish are perfect otherwise make them do it over again. That is your right.

Answer 8

Actually, your dealer probably doesn't have a bodyshop of their own, they will farm it out to one and it may well be the one the insurers want to use!
Normally the places chosen by the insurers are approved, in that the quality of their work is checked, as are their prices, and the whole process is much smoother at a fraught time.
I suppose as the insurance are paying the piper, they can call the tune.

Answer 9

If you have accepted the settlement, the insurance company chooses who does the work, unless you find one cheaper, not more expensive. The engineer/adjuster, works for the insurance company, not you, he is there to be sure the company isn't being taken, and will come back with the lowest pay out possible.

Answer 10

i think its a bloody cheek telling you what garage to take your car to, most people have a favorate garage , one that they have bin taking there car to for a long time and gives good service im sure your garage will give a garantee, if it was me i would realy complain , could it be that the estimate from your garage is a very highprice ? if so get a few more estimates from main dealers they should be more expensive than your own small garage .

Answer 11

Your insurance company will have a set contract to take your car to specific garages for all accident repairs in your area.

You may know someone that is more capable and cheaper this is of no interest to your insurance company.