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[paul.lovejoy]

Hi all wifey had her car broken in to friday night it was parked around the corner from us as no room on drive and double yellows outside house.

police turned up and alerted us sat morning they had smashed the passanger window and found the sat nav which was under the car seat, there was considerable other damage as well as screwdriver marks and scrathces to the front window side frame and around the door glass. Car is a megane convertable metal roof type.

the other damage was some big scratches on the actual passanger door panel and a large scratch which runs front to back of the car on the drivers side apart from other possible age related dings and small scratches nothing stood out.

the police said there had been a spate of breakins with vandalisim etc everything noted on report

car was uplifted to secure storage then to repairing garage recomended by insurance co

i phoned the garage monday to make sure they had the car etc and spoke to the guy doing the estimate explaining the areas of damage to my suprise he said he did not think they were associated to the break in but would put them on the estimate with comments

the assesor says from thier recomendations and his experience he will only authorise repairs associated to the now named attempted theft any scrathces will not be repaired unless i make a seperate claim 3 claims in his opinion 1 for attempted theft 2) vandelisim side scratch and 3) large scratch to passanger door acceident damage

i stated that no repairs should be started unless it was to the full damage on it goes plus more

any suggestions i am going to put things in writing to the insurance company tonight broker direct i do not see the point of only repairing half the car surley if i need to fight the case then it is bettert o do so with the full damage visible. the police certainley did not think all the damage was not assoicated

[pscocoa]

you might need statements from reliable witnesses as to condition of car. The observations of assessor need to be taken on board as to what his reasons/conclusions were based on. If you can then refute the basis of his arguments with another bodyshop opinion then you are on your way.

[ozzycat]

  sounds like some arsehole is trying to bumpup the price because what he is saying
is a load of crap  insurancs companies will pay only once for the damage and the assesor decieds what to do not the montake it somwhere else its your privalige they have more than one repair agent 

[cleggy]

A friend of mine had a similiar problem with his Audi A6, his wife dealt with the assessor for a rear end repair and before it went in someone hit it on the front, minor damage. When the car was delivered back from ARC it was pouring down so the delivery man said "when you check it over if there is a problem give us a call", Yes there were problems:- bumper misaligned, missing skirt connectors, cracked rear offside light cluster, badly sprayed etc. When he complained all he got was the car is scruffy anyway it is all we're doing, bearing in mind this was done on behalf of the insurance company of the third party who hit him. I suggested he write to them and the third party insurer that he should receive his car back in the condition it was before their insured caused the damage. He had just let them get on with it without reporting it to his insurance, therefore no joy. He ended up letting them repair the front from the second accident and then taking it to a good bodyshop to correct all the errors and a respray.

A lesson to us all, only deal through your own insurance company and don't let anyone remove your car without full documentation concerning the repairs to be carried out.

With an Omega they will just write if of anyway so demand an equivalent replacement or buy it back from them, but NEVER NEVER let them remove it for any reason, you lose all negotiating power and they will just say it was crushed, and pay you £500 if you are lucky.   

[Del Boy]

Paul, only advise I'd is what you've already said, a strongly worded letter to the insurance company, and await their reply. If you do however get stuck and need some paintwork doing, let me know and I'll sort it out with my Bodyshop man

[Kevin Wood]

I would demand the car back, take it to another repairer of your choice (or two, or three, depending on how many quotes the insurance company requires) and get them to quote for a proper repair.

You are not required to accept your insurer's choice of repairer. If they see that they are going to lose the job completely they might start talking sense.

[paul.lovejoy]

Thanks for the comments If time allowed i was going to visit the garage where the car is  to see the condition and see if it has been stored well or protected from elements ( no window) it certainley was not when towed away in the rain. would like to remove the car and as suggested get some more quotes/reports but we have nowhere to store the vehicle securely.

ref Cleggy the assesor was trying to describe the car as generally tatty when i was challenging his reasons. absolute rubbish car is typical 55 reg car thats seen a few car parks ie several door dents etc

we have also informed our brokers of the situation and the fact that we also have uninsured loss recovery and in any event this should kick in and sort the problem out( as we were informed when we purchased said insurance??)

all this was close to close of buisness last night and a dying phone battery

to be honest know nothing about the claims procedures and our rights I could arrange to collect the car at a stretch but then have to make it secure

at the end of the day as confirmed to the assesor all marks are fresh and noted by the police as being part of the incident.

something i forgot to mention was something our broker said is that the insurance company may make a cash offer for the part of the repairs they agree to leaving us to get the car repaired etc which was dismissed at the time by me. Maybe an option in view that we were going to sell the car as we do not need two cars at the moment and the miggys not going unless i found a nice elite estate  but then got to let wifey drive it

the cars at AB Crush panel craft ( good name ) near canterbury dont know if you have heard of them Del

[Bionic]

  Sorry to hear of your problems m8 but in my experience I demand that my vehicle is repaired by a centre I trust and that does work for other insurance companies as proof they are on the Recommended Repairers lists the insurance companies refer to when looking for a local repairer.
Its not the first time that I have opted to repair an accident myself either due to the 'company' policy of writing them off for no valid or sensible reason. How can a desk bound moron more interested in last nights events see the damage and so draw a conclusion against what the Police have stated? Easy; desk bound, seat polishing, papershuffling, tea swigging, biscuit munching, pen pinching wannabies believe they are irreproacable and their word is final. You pay them, they work for you so your words count.
Next time, if there is a one, stand up to them and if you are really that unhappy with them then vote with your feet and take your business away from them. I insure now with Performance Direct and after the last no fault accident they went way further than any other company I have used in the past, including some of the biggest names and heavy advertisers. Even though the other parties insurers denied responsibility and took it to court they lost, then lost again when the did the same stunt for the cost of the top end hire car that was supplied to me as part of my insurance policy. It cost me not one cent so yes, I am a very happy bunny and have just renewed with them again. Way I see it is that the more they advertise the worse their service in the long term. Could that be linked to unhappt insured leaving them? Makes me wonder

[paul.lovejoy]

Sorry to hear of your problems m8 but in my experience I demand that my vehicle is repaired by a centre I trust and that does work for other insurance companies as proof they are on the Recommended Repairers lists the insurance companies refer to when looking for a local repairer.
Its not the first time that I have opted to repair an accident myself either due to the 'company' policy of writing them off for no valid or sensible reason. How can a desk bound moron more interested in last nights events see the damage and so draw a conclusion against what the Police have stated? Easy; desk bound, seat polishing, papershuffling, tea swigging, biscuit munching, pen pinching wannabies believe they are irreproacable and their word is final. You pay them, they work for you so your words count.
Next time, if there is a one, stand up to them and if you are really that unhappy with them then vote with your feet and take your business away from them. I insure now with Performance Direct and after the last no fault accident they went way further than any other company I have used in the past, including some of the biggest names and heavy advertisers. Even though the other parties insurers denied responsibility and took it to court they lost, then lost again when the did the same stunt for the cost of the top end hire car that was supplied to me as part of my insurance policy. It cost me not one cent so yes, I am a very happy bunny and have just renewed with them again. Way I see it is that the more they advertise the worse their service in the long term. Could that be linked to unhappt insured leaving them? Makes me wonder

good discription  spot on he sounded just like the arse wipe i spoke to at the garage who was preparing the estimate on his first job of a miserable monday morning. apparently fully approved repairer but you get the extra shite attitude with it

have always gone through my brookers for insurance mainley due to good service levels etc and trading history but this particular insurance company brooker direct are hard work

[Kevin Wood]

...something i forgot to mention was something our broker said is that the insurance company may make a cash offer for the part of the repairs they agree to leaving us to get the car repaired etc which was dismissed at the time by me. Maybe an option in view that we were going to sell the car...

Stick to your guns. The insurance company will be facing a mounting bill for storing the car so dig your heels in and insist, especially if you don't need the car back ASAP.

[paul.lovejoy]

no do not need car back although they should be supplying a hire car!!!

wifey is quite happy driving the miggy   

[tigers_gonads]

If you ain't happy, don't accept it 
Have a word with the Insurace Ombusman too 

[the alarming man]

Thanks for the comments If time allowed i was going to visit the garage where the car is  to see the condition and see if it has been stored well or protected from elements ( no window) it certainley was not when towed away in the rain. would like to remove the car and as suggested get some more quotes/reports but we have nowhere to store the vehicle securely.

ref Cleggy the assesor was trying to describe the car as generally tatty when i was challenging his reasons. absolute rubbish car is typical 55 reg car thats seen a few car parks ie several door dents etc

we have also informed our brokers of the situation and the fact that we also have uninsured loss recovery and in any event this should kick in and sort the problem out( as we were informed when we purchased said insurance??)

all this was close to close of buisness last night and a dying phone battery

to be honest know nothing about the claims procedures and our rights I could arrange to collect the car at a stretch but then have to make it secure

at the end of the day as confirmed to the assesor all marks are fresh and noted by the police as being part of the incident.

something i forgot to mention was something our broker said is that the insurance company may make a cash offer for the part of the repairs they agree to leaving us to get the car repaired etc which was dismissed at the time by me. Maybe an option in view that we were going to sell the car as we do not need two cars at the moment and the miggys not going unless i found a nice elite estate  but then got to let wifey drive it

the cars at AB Crush panel craft ( good name ) near canterbury dont know if you have heard of them Del

i have paul...we used to use them and tbh we stopped as they didnt like too work or work was of very poor standard or took way too long....the final straw was when they refused too repair a car that went in with a dented tail gate and 1t come back with a tramline down one side and a smashed fog light ..
and as tiger as said insurance ombusman they are your best route and belive me any insurance company does'nt need that hassle