I have become aware that in Europe if your car is damaged in an accident you take 2-3 estimates to the insurer and they reach a figure to pay out.
In the UK your car is taken for inspection by the insurer usually to their repair depot, they will either repair it or tell you the car does not have the value of the repair. At this point they offer a figure which falls short of the repair estimate (parts & labour) and unless the car is totally unrepairable tell you you can buy YOUR car from them!
Just what is going on!
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Standard Insurance procedure….whats your gripe?
europe is bad
We are being held to Ransom.I believe all insurance companies are in cahoots.They go under different names yet there is usually a consortium of business people that own the lot.
I agree! My car was written off as a category B (never allowed back on the road). I could have repaired the damage myself but since another car was involved it had to go through the insurers. I was ‘awarded’ £500 for a car which was probably worth £1200. No chance of appeal, no point in getting the car back as it would only have scrap value. I was ripped off!
I dunno – our insurance company have just been fantastic! I got rear-ended the other week, they gave me a car to drive while they did repairs (a brand new one!) – they brought my old car back, it was like brand new! All insurance companies not the same but ours was absolutely fabulous..
Yes there are a lot of variables with car insurance when things go wrong.They have to be very careful with claims now because so many are trying to defraud them.If you can produce evidence that they have made an error in the calculation of a write off an agreement can normally be made about a cars value.
You are legally entitled to choose your own repairer for a damaged car – you don’t have to accept the repairer the insurance wants you to have.
You’re wrong there, buddy. Your car is not taken by the insurer to their repair depot, you’re entitled to take it to any repairer for an estimate. People tend to accept the insurer’s “approved” repairer simply because it’s quicker and the insurer will take their word for it instead of requiring you to obtain several estimates. If and when they accept an estimate you are required to pay the excess element as detailed in your policy and the insurers pay the rest. That’s why it’s called “excess”.
If your car is considered a write-off the insurers do indeed own it once they’ve paid out; the value they use for paying out is that obtaining on the market at the moment.
Hi
Most of the other answers are perfectly correct. In the main most people involved in an accident just opt for the easiest system to get back on the road. With the introduction of a car hire and approved repairers it enables Insurers to contain costs and prevent possible fraud. There were a lot of cases of second hand parts being used on damaged vehicles in the past and Excess’s being absorbed within the total repair. That said you have a choice under consumer law. The Insurer cannot force anyone to accept their repairer and providing the costs from your own chosen garage are the same as the approved one, there is no problem. The motor insurance market is very agressive out there and the insurers want you as a client to sell you other things and mail shot you. Just look at all the TV / Radio adverts the roadside advert hoardings etc. The dancing red phone the grouchy bulldog etc.
I may sound cynical but I have been a broker for 44 years and seen many changes. Some for the better. We all live in a conveyor belt society to some degree but you still always have choice.
Thanks
I was hit in drivers front side wing, i had a modified mk2 1997 ford mondeo, the wing/bumper/suspension was replaced and because they could not replace the modified alloy wheel, they replaced the whole set which cost £1600 with all new tyres, and i must admit, the new set of alloys were a lot better than the ones i bought 3 weeks before the crash, that was with tesco insurance, after it was proven that it was not my fault, 1 week later, the excess i paid was paid back to me in full, very happy chap indeed.
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