[zaytar]

Its not entirely down to fraud and uninsured drivers.....read on.

A couple of weeks ago somebody pranged my front bumper in the works car park - My car was unoccupied and considerately parked. The culprit owned up and admitted liability - He gave me his insurance details and informed his insurance company immediately.

The damage was minimal - The bumper was scuffed to the plastic and the mark was no more than 3 inches tall and about the width of a pencil - The next day I phoned his insurance company, they said there is no problem here and would fund the repairs. However I had a choice I could use their approved repairers which was about 4 miles from where I live, or I could use my own garage, however they would have to have the car inspected prior to them authorizing the repair (inspection not necessary if I used their repairer). Coincidentally my car was booked for a service at a franchise dealer the next day, I asked they quote for the repair also - They quoted £90. The damage was minimal and in such a place that smart repair could be affected. Problem being they could not book me in for a couple of weeks as busy. So on the off chance I popped into the approved repairer - Immediately they said the bumper needed a full respray - I love my motor and would never have it sold short, but even I though this was excessive. They even said that the wing would need sprayed also!! They said this was because the gloss had been chipped - I swear I could not spot this, when pointed out it was the size of a pin head!! Anyway, I did not argue and they said the car could be booked in next day and turned around in 3 days - So I went with this. The body shop is quite a large professional outfit. The insurance company then offered me a rental car at no cost to me, which I accepted - I was duly called by the rental company and told a 4x4 (like for like) would be delivered the next day. I said an Astra or a Mondeo type would be fine, but no the 4x4 was almost forced upon me.

Long and short of this is I'm happy as my car gets put back the way it was at no cost to me (only inconvenience) - However the total repair bill including car rental will total well over £1.5k for something a franchised dealer quoted £90.

The process and turnaround has been efficient, however the insurance company have clearly been butt probed by their own approved repairer and rental firm. Ultimately the punter pays. Left slightly bemused by the whole experience.

[rich1068]

Seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=550833

[MattOz]

You're not alone. I had a similar experience and genuinely believe that the insurance company, Aviva, well and truly got shafted by their approved repairer. Definitely not just the "whiplash" claims that are forcing our premiums up.

[willhollin]

They are all in it together.

Load of corrupt bastards.

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by MattOz

Definitely not just the "whiplash" claims that are forcing our premiums up.

That's it exactly. Whiplash claims and uninsured drivers go down well with the press and Joe Public because it's easy to understand. Once you have first hand experience of the repair process you know where the money really goes.

[Baby Dave]

On a par with our MP's

[Kerr]

Originally Posted by willhollin

They are all in it together.

Load of corrupt bastards.

Exactly that.

I know a guy who got rear ended in his Merc. He was given an old Alfa 156 and the charges for usage were crazy,(£100 per day IIRC) but he did not know this until final bill arrived.

Likewise someone bumped my rear in my 09 Citroen C5 when I was sitting stationary at the lights.

The other guys insurance(Direct Line) organised everything and the replacement car was from Enterprise at a very good rate.

The replacement rear bumper was £1500 though.

[dghdgh]

Dont always knock whiplash I have just had a cervical disc replacement and I am on 25 tablets a day following whiplash. A cervical disc replacement involves cutting my throat taking out the disc and screwing a plastic disc into my neck. May well cause early retirement so far 9 months of hell and counting.
So not all claims are a sham.

[zaytar]

Oh it got better.......I then get called by insurance company to ask whether I had sustained injury!!

I asked they referred to their own notes...the car was unoccupied and parked up! They were inviting me to claim for injuries against them, no doubt a referral fee is involved somewhere.

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=550833

Me too. Not seen the final bill; daren't ask .

[MEGA]

Originally Posted by rich1068

That's it exactly. Whiplash claims and uninsured drivers go down well with the press and Joe Public because it's easy to understand. Once you have first hand experience of the repair process you know where the money really goes.

I've also experienced this.

I recently had my front and rear bumpers privately repaired and resprayed (Someone smashed into the back.. hit and run, and the front was just stone chips) and it cost me £500 all in.

I however remember from my prang 4 years ago where a wing and door were replaced/repaired respectively that the insurance company's approved repairer (And this was with Norwich Union.. now Aviva) charged almost 2k for in total (Hire car for just 3 days).

Disgraceful.

[mowflow]

Being an approved repairer is a license to print money. As soon as an insurance job comes in to these guys they charge like the light brigade. I can't just blame them though, you would think insurance companies would make sure they were getting value for money.

What I don't understand about this story is why the person that hit your car didn't just offer to pay for the repair. Surely they must be paying a similar excess to everyone else, around £400-£500. If I scuffed a bumper that's what i'd do. Insurance claims are a last resort.

[kaishang]

I think both you and the person who hit your car are foolish. You could have sorted it out between yourselves for £90. Or maybe £300-ish total if there was similar damage to their car.

Now both of you are going to be paying increased insurance premiums for the next 5 years. It doesn't matter if it was the other party whose insurance paid up, you are going to be paying more for your insurance next year, mate.

[zaytar]

Originally Posted by kaishang

I think both you and the person who hit your car are foolish. You could have sorted it out between yourselves for £90. Or maybe £300-ish total if there was similar damage to their car.

Now both of you are going to be paying increased insurance premiums for the next 5 years. It doesn't matter if it was the other party whose insurance paid up, you are going to be paying more for your insurance next year, mate.

He drove a company car with company insurance, hence he was not going to pay anything out of his own pocket.

It was my insurer who advised I went and dealt direct with his insurer - hence my insurer has no costs to recover and hence my insurance record with them remains unblemished - They confirmed this.

Best obtain the full facts before calling anyone foolish pal.

[xenon]

It will still effect your premium nevertheless. It's not fair, but there you go. I've been through this recently and posted on here. My wife's car was unoccupied too and her insurance recorded it as a "fully settled, no fault claim". But her premium still went up.

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by xenon

It will still effect your premium nevertheless. It's not fair, but there you go. I've been through this recently and posted on here. My wife's car was unoccupied too and her insurance recorded it as a "fully settled, no fault claim". But her premium still went up.

How do you isolate the blame of the increase on the 'non-fault' incident???

I ask because I've just been through this, posted on here for advice, but because of the costs involved I was forced down the insurance route. My insurance company also assured me that my premium would be uneffected (so did an insurance broker; not linked to my policy).

Are you sure the premium didn't just rise because of general escalating costs?? I mean, my premium has tended to increase every single year, yet this is the first claim I've ever made (again, this was a non-fault claim dealth with solely with their insurers).

[xenon]

Simply because if I fill in the proposal and make no reference to the claim I get price "x" and if I resubmit and I fill in the details of the claim, stressing that it was fully settled and no fault, the price is "x+y".

[zaytar]

Originally Posted by xenon

It will still effect your premium nevertheless. It's not fair, but there you go. I've been through this recently and posted on here. My wife's car was unoccupied too and her insurance recorded it as a "fully settled, no fault claim". But her premium still went up.

If it goes up then so be it, there is nothing I can do. My premium went up £400 this year and I have 15 years NCD. My wife's premium went up 100% and none of her details had changes, she had merely collected another years NCD. This experience has shown me one of the reasons why this has happened to almost everyone in the country.

My car was damaged and had to be repaired. The culprit had no interest (understandably) in settling outside of the insurance process.

[rogerxp]

Originally Posted by xenon

Simply because if I fill in the proposal and make no reference to the claim I get price "x" and if I resubmit and I fill in the details of the claim, stressing that it was fully settled and no fault, the price is "x+y".

Fair enough. You mean on an online comparison type of system (or just direct).

I don't know what is the truth to be honest. When I posted my queries a couple of months ago I got loads of contradictory information. Time will tell come renewal time I suppose.

[xenon]

Quite understand zaytar, not much you could have done.

[kaishang]

> It was my insurer who advised I went and dealt direct with his insurer - hence my insurer has no costs to recover and hence my insurance record with them remains unblemished - They confirmed this.

Wrong; your NCB remains unaffected. Your base premium will go up, just like your base premium goes up if you have speeding fines even though there is no direct cost to your insurer. It's going to cost you several hundred pounds over the next 5 years.

Even if you have one of those rare insurers who don't jack your premium up, if you ever want to change insurer in the next 5 years, your premium will be going up with the next insurer.

If you want to check the effect of your non-fault claim, you can go to an online comparison site like confused.com or gocompare.com and plug in your details with and without the non-fault claim. This separates out the effect of the claim with the general rise in premiums.




> My car was damaged and had to be repaired. The culprit had no interest (understandably) in settling outside of the insurance process.

You would be better off eating the GBP90 yourself if you were happy with the GBP90 repair; or telling the other party that in the interests of good intra-office relations, they should give you GBP90 out of their own pocket. This is going to cost you a lot more than 90 pounds over the next 5 years.

[kaishang]

Anyway, sorry if my tone was a bit abrupt. Hope the repair works out.

My personal philosophy is if it costs under GBP1000, pay it yourself and don't mention it to the insurance company.