Car Insurance Dispute

daithi666

Recently, our car was involved in an accident. It was our fault. We feel that the damage done by our car was not to the extent claimed by the other party. We raised this with our insurance company. They have not been helpful at all in the matter. The problem is both ourselves and the other party are with the same insurer... AXA. I have seen the other party now with a new car and the damage done is not fixed to their work vehicle. I feel the other party has screwed us to be honest.

My question is; have I any rights in the matter? Especially since my premium has been affected. I asked the insurer to re-asses the damage with an independent assessor with a possibility of contesting the other party's estimate. They have not replied to any of my concerns.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

January

Did your premium go up as a result of you losing your no claims bonus or as a result of how much was paid out in the accident?

If it went up because of your no claims bonus then it won't have mattered how much was paid out in the claim.

But if it's cos of how much was paid out, then dispute it.

daithi666

It was as a result of the amount claimed. We have a certain amount our policy covers each year.

Have I a right to dispute and request a second opinion? The fact both of us are with the same insurer I feel has meant the insurer is against any disputing of the amount claimed. But I'm determined to sort this out.

Do insurance companies pay the mechanic or do they send on the money to the insured to pass on to the mechanic once the work has been done? I need to know this as I feel insurance fraud is happening here. It would really help my case I think.

Del2005

daithi666 wrote: »

It was as a result of the amount claimed. We have a certain amount our policy covers each year.

Have I a right to dispute and request a second opinion? The fact both of us are with the same insurer I feel has meant the insurer is against any disputing of the amount claimed. But I'm determined to sort this out.

Do insurance companies pay the mechanic or do they send on the money to the insured to pass on to the mechanic once the work has been done? I need to know this as I feel insurance fraud is happening here. It would really help my case I think.

If they right the car off they may take it off the other person, but since it was only damaged they will send the money to the person who made the claim. It's then up to the person you hit to get their car fixed, but there is actually no need to fix the car as they are being compensated for the damage you have done. Since they already have a new car why should they fix the car you damaged.

With modern cars while the damage may appear minor, there could be a lot of structural damage that can't be seen untill the car is put up on a ramp.

I'm sure the person you crashed into had to send in quotes to your insurance company for the work to be done, if the insurance company agree they'll send them money if not they may get their own assesor to have a look at it.

You could try the insurance ombusman, but I don't think you have much of a case.

daithi666

I agree. I know I'm in the wrong at the end of the day and compensation has to be paid one way or the other. But I'm going to try my best to beat that estimate for repair down. I'm going to see if I can find out if the mechanic or the other party were paid. If it were the mechanic and having established no repairs were done I think it shows the mechanic may have been complicit in exaggerating the claim. The work was quoted to cost e80 per hour for 8 hours. As we were reversing very slowly the damage amounted to a tiny dint. It's crazy IMHO....

Thanks for your replies anyhow!

chrislad

To be honest, and I mean this nicely, you don't know what you're talking about, in terms of damage/costs unless you're a qualified mechanic or know **** loads about cars. Last summer, a girl reversed a grand distance of about 2 meters into the right wing of my car. I figured it would cost 2 or 3 hundred, tops. It cost her almost 900euro. There was a lot more involved than I thought.

Labour
RH Wing
RH Indicator
RH Buld
Repainting

It's not as easy as just slapping on a new part.

Del2005

daithi666 wrote: »

I agree. I know I'm in the wrong at the end of the day and compensation has to be paid one way or the other. But I'm going to try my best to beat that estimate for repair down. I'm going to see if I can find out if the mechanic or the other party were paid. If it were the mechanic and having established no repairs were done I think it shows the mechanic may have been complicit in exaggerating the claim. The work was quoted to cost e80 per hour for 8 hours. As we were reversing very slowly the damage amounted to a tiny dint. It's crazy IMHO....

Thanks for your replies anyhow!

You have no option in how much the quote for the repair cost. If you had offered to pay for the damage you would have, but once it goes to the insurance you have no say what so ever in the cost.

All the mechanic/garage does is provide a quote, and if it's for insurance work they all quote for new parts and full labour, and no more. It's up to the person you crashed into to then get their car repaired, or not, when they want to. And when the person you crashed into gets the check off your insurance company they can then go and get the car repaired with 2nd hand parts by their mate down the road and keep the difference.

Where on the other car did you crash into them? It will have a bearing on roughly how much work is required.

rotinaj

I was reversed into last year. The car that hit me was proberly moving at less than 10kph. It cost 1650 to repair. On the surface it looked like a minor dent but the main damage was done behind the bumper.

boopolo

I symapatise with you but:

daithi666 wrote: »

I agree. But I'm going to try my best to beat that estimate for repair down.

You did not request the estimate, so I am sure the repair company (rightfully) will not enter into discussion with you

I'm going to see if I can find out if the mechanic or the other party were paid

Why?

If it were the mechanic and having established no repairs were done I think it shows the mechanic may have been complicit in exaggerating the claim.

Yes, 'may have been'. But the insurance company has seen the quote, and are satisfied it is not exagerated (they are paying)

The work was quoted to cost e80 per hour for 8 hours.

Sounds okay rate.

As we were reversing very slowly the damage amounted to a tiny dint. It's crazy IMHO....

A small dent is not a description. Seeing as you have a copy of the estimate, could you give some details of it here. Maybe somebody else here could see if it is excessive. Is the total price more than €1,500?

Boo

david

To be honest if somebody crashed into my car I'd be raging and looking for the best repair available regardless of price to get it back to pre-crash condition. Modern cars are designed with crumplezones etc to cushion the impact with an emphasis on occupant safety not sturdiness and economy of repair. Post up more details of the claimed damage

daithi666

I don't mean to sound pompous or on my high horse about this. That's not my intention. But I'm going to be as prudent as I can and put pressure on the insurance company to keep costs down. I know I was in the wrong but nobody should profit out of an accident. It was an accident and I didn't mean to cause the damage. The other party deserves to be compensated for damage done and nothing more.

In my opinion insurance companies don't look into the estimates of these accidents. I believe a lot of those estimates include unnecessary extras and exaggeration of work needed. Would you not agree? I think pressure needs to be put on these companies to insure our premiums aren't increased to cover these expenses. Sure why are our premiums much higher than abroad?

I haven't a copy of the estimate. We were read the estimate received by the insurance company. I remember the work included changing the skin on a Ford Transit van door and a repaint. The total repair work amounted to €1700.

XJR

I'm not sure whats at issue here. Its irrelevant how much was paid out if you're losing your bonus your losing your bonus irrespective of what the estimate was.

You should also realise

• When you enter into your insurance contract - you give AXA the authority to settle a claim on your behalf
• it is in AXA's interest not to pay out huge amounts on claims - getting a second opinion will not change that

In my opinion insurance companies don't look into the estimates of these accidents.

Frankly this is nonsence and anyone who has worked in the industry will tell you keeping claims costs down is vital to running a cost efficient business.

Del2005

daithi666 wrote: »

I don't mean to sound pompous or on my high horse about this. That's not my intention. But I'm going to be as prudent as I can and put pressure on the insurance company to keep costs down. I know I was in the wrong but nobody should profit out of an accident. It was an accident and I didn't mean to cause the damage. The other party deserves to be compensated for damage done and nothing more.

In my opinion insurance companies don't look into the estimates of these accidents. I believe a lot of those estimates include unnecessary extras and exaggeration of work needed. Would you not agree? I think pressure needs to be put on these companies to insure our premiums aren't increased to cover these expenses. Sure why are our premiums much higher than abroad?

Most quotes will include everything that has been damaged and needs to be repaired, this quote will be for all new parts. If the insurance assesor has looked at the van and said the quote is OK then it's legit. How do you know they've exagrated what work needs doing, are you a qualified panel beater who's had the van on a ramp?

Let me ask you the question the other way around. If the van had crashed into your car would you not try and get the best deal for yourself or would you use sub standard parts to keep the claim down so the other person doesn't loose out?

Our insurance is higher then abroad because of our tendency to claim at the drop of a hat for everything and anything.

I haven't a copy of the estimate. We were read the estimate received by the insurance company. I remember the work included changing the skin on a Ford Transit van door and a repaint. The total repair work amounted to €1700.

That doesn't sound to bad for a fairly big job. They'd also have to respray the door skin and, if they are good, a good bit of the side of the van also to get a good colour match.

You do know that if you can afford it, you can pay the insurance company the €1700 and it won't affect your NCB. It depends on how much extra it cost you with the lower NCB if it would be cheaper then this.