KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!
If you need to make a claim on your motor insurance or on the insurance of an identifiable 3rd party who may have damaged your vehicle, remember one thing when dealing with the insurance company:
DON'T BE BULLIED
The Association of British Insurers and the Financial Services Authority agree, it's your car and the choice is yours. There are very few exceptions to this rule.
What sort of obstacles will your insurance company put in your way in order to wriggle out of their obligation to allow you freedom of choice? Well these can be many and varied and over the last 10 years I have to say I have heard plenty. If you have been in this situation before, maybe you will recognise some of these........ if you haven't, or if you have been lucky enough never to have made a claim, bear them in mind, you never know when being prepared for them will come in handy in the future.
"The "You simply have to..." Ruse"
When you first report the incident to your insurance company, they will normally inform you that they will arrange for their "authorised repairer" to contact you. There is nothing wrong with this, except that it implies you have no choice and simply have to use their nominated garage. The use of the word "authorised" also implies that all other repairers are "unauthorised". This is not true, and if you wish to use your own nominated repairer, tell them so.
"The Courtesy Car Dodge"
Many insurance policies provide for the use of a courtesy car when your car is in the garage. Your insurance company will probably emphasise that in order to qualify for a courtesy car, you must use their repairer. However, your chosen repairer will very often offer the same service, so remember to ask.
"Approved v Non-Approved Ploy"
The call centre operatives will normally refer to their own repairers as "approved" or "authorised", implying that all other garages are not approved to work on your car. This again is quite incorrect and you are entitled to consider the benefits of using a garage of your choice. Maybe you already have a relationship with a local garage or have been referred to one by a friend or relative. It is quite natural after all, to want your car to be repaired by someone you can trust rather than a member of a large group who may be some distance away who you have no experience of.
"The Guarantee Trick"
It may be implied to you by your insurance company that should you choose your own repairer, you will forgo any rights to a guarantee with your repairs. However, if your chosen repairer is a member of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association (VBRA) then you will always receive a 24 month guarantee with your body repairs. Some repairers offer much longer warranties including, in some cases, a lifetime warranty (e.g ChipsAway). It pays to check what guarantee your repairer is offering and to read through the terms and conditions to make sure you are satisfied. Just remember it's not just insurers "approved repairers" who offer guarantees, any reputable repairer will do the same.
"The Busy Engineer Manoeuvre"
There are occasions when an insurance engineer will need to inspect your vehicle before work is carried out. If the vehicle is taken to an "approved " garage, then this will normally happen there. If you choose your own repairer, then the engineer will view the car either at your home or at your chosen garage. You may be told that the inspecting engineer is busy and will not be able to view your car for a long period if you use your own repairer. This is a fallacy. The insurer has to deal with your repairs in a timely fashion and cannot threaten to penalise you in this way. You should insist on your claim being handled in the same way, whoever you decide to use.
"Multiple Estimates Gambit"
Another ploy used by insurance companies to try and make life so inconvenient for you, that you give in and simply agree to use their repairer (when we are busy, it's sometimes a case of "anything for an easy life!"), is to tell you that you need to get multiple estimates for the repairs. You do not! You only need to supply one estimate from your chosen repairer. Further estimates are only required if the insurance engineer and your repairer cannot agree costs.
"The Increased Excess Strategy"
Something which has been introduced in recent years by some insurance companies in order to force you to use their garage is to increase your excess for not using their repairer. So, instead of paying an excess of £150, you have to pay £350 because you have not used your insurers garage! Two companies that do this currently are Aviva (Aviva excess policy - see page 2) and E-Sure (Click here and see point 5)
BEWARE: This increased excess is something that you must check when considering which insurance company to use, you are committed to it once you have taken out your policy. You could also infer from this that your insurance company typically makes £200 out of every repair passed to their network and that they are just trying to recoup this from you, their customer.
Some useful links:
VBRA Code of Practice
Know Your Rights
No comments:
Post a Comment