Car hit need advice

pm.

Hi lads

Bought a new car ( 2 years old) from the UK 4 weeks ago. The car has a full main dealer history and has passed the AA 127 point check with flying colors.

I drove the car from Liverpool to home and it drove like a new car and herself has been driving it for the last 4 weeks and loving it.

This is were the story changes.... When picking the kids up from school last week someone reversed a car into the side of our new car.

The drivers door and wing have been damaged and the drivers wheel also got a bang. Called the guards did the usual insurance stuff and herself drove the car home ( 1km or so)

I arrived home almost crying 😠 and decided to drive it just to make sure it was OK. It was far from OK the car is now pulling to the left pretty bad. So the following morning I drove the car to the designated garage as advised by the insurance company.

The lads put the car on the lift and couldn't find anything dangerous.. Just to be sure I Parked the car up for the weekend.

The following Monday the guilty parties insurance called and admitted they were in the wrong and arranged a hire car.

We received the quote just over 1500 euro, but I called into the garage today to be told that the bonnet and both wings have been resprayd and that the passenger wheel is off....

They tried to track the car but could not get it done and that something is wrong with the left side and they don't think it's anything to do with the car getting a smack.....

They are going to call an engineer from the insurance company and its basically there call?

The car was driving perfect before this and as I said I have a full service history ( was an ex leaseplan car) and the full AA check

What would you advise I do if they decide that they are only going to repair the driver side?

Can they do this?

The AA check clearly shows that the whole undercarriage was checked and passed

Getting worried lads tbh

Atlantic Dawn

I would say the only trump card they would have is if they ran a HPI check on the car and it turned out it was in a serious crash before this, otherwise they will have to fix it.

GustavoFring

Sounds like the repairer didn't check it out properly in the first instance tbh.

pm.

The car has a full HPI check in fact the garage carry out one before they buy it and they the AA carry one out

This is the garage you will see all cars are AA approved http://www.georgesonscars.co.uk/

Atlantic Dawn

There won't be any issue fixing it, looks like as was said they didn't properly investigate the initial damage, would be common enough on a crash like that.

Toyotafanboi

Just because it's HPI clear doesn't mean it hasn't been in an accident.

I wouldn't worry just yet. An initial estimate is just that, an estimate. Insurers are well used to figures changing after work has started and further damage is found.

Irish Steve

based on the comments, if the car was parked and then side swiped enough to damage the offside wheel, there's a very good chance that the impact may have also pushed the nearside wheel against a kerb, which could have done all manner of nasty things to the suspension and tracking on that side of the car.

Atlantic Dawn

Irish Steve wrote: »

based on the comments, if the car was parked and then side swiped enough to damage the offside wheel, there's a very good chance that the impact may have also pushed the nearside wheel against a kerb, which could have done all manner of nasty things to the suspension and tracking on that side of the car.

Yes in the days after the repairs I'd take it on the motorway for a run to see it's all sorted.

pm.

The wheel was turned to the right when the car was stationary, when the car was hit the steering wheel flew around and the wheel was pushed straight.

The passanger wheel did not hit anything, but I can assure you that the car was 100% perfect before this.

J.pilkington

pm. wrote: »

The wheel was turned to the right when the car was stationary, when the car was hit the steering wheel flew around and the wheel was pushed straight.

The passanger wheel did not hit anything, but I can assure you that the car was 100% perfect before this.

That sounds like a hell of a lot more the €1500 worth of damage that the garage first quoted.

Assuming that's it's just a case of the initial garage doing a poor inspection you should be fine as the initial quote is never the final quote and will have contained wording to the affect that it's based on an initial review and once parts are stripped more damage may be unveiled and insurance companies expect this and will pay out.

Also try claim for deprecation. Standard payouts range from 10 to 25% of the ex vat price of the parts adjusted for the age of the car.

Special Circumstances

Strange stuff. I know the local "insurance approved / designated" crash repair place here in limerick would hardly sort two lightly damaged doors for 1500*
If there was a whisper of subframe damage etc as well as panels and paint I don't think they would get the ball rolling anywhere under twice that figure.


*insurers never mention the exaggerated costs they pay out to these boys, it always the customers fault that costs are inflated through exaggeration lol.

pm.

J.pilkington wrote: »

That sounds like a hell of a lot more the €1500 worth of damage that the garage first quoted.

Assuming that's it's just a case of the initial garage doing a poor inspection you should be fine as the initial quote is never the final quote and will have contained wording to the affect that it's based on an initial review and once parts are stripped more damage may be unveiled and insurance companies expect this and will pay out.

Also try claim for deprecation. Standard payouts range from 10 to 25% of the ex vat price of the parts adjusted for the age of the car.

That's almost Word for Word from the mail that we received from the insurance company. It's the way the garage were talking to me yesterday evening that made me feel like I was trying to pull the wool over there eyes...

That's a great point on the depreciation value it did cross my mind but I was unsure how to approach it.

The full AA inspection was carried out at the end of August. It's a really detailed report that covers every mechanical part and also a report on the overall condition inside and out.

The AA inspector also drives the car and if the damage that the garage say is on the other side( car pulling like mad to the left) was evident then surely the car would have failed?

pm.

Called leaseplan UK ( it was a leaseplan car) and they have no record of any damage to the car. Laseplan sold the car with 85152 on the clock and the AA report had 85201 on it and I bought the car at 85397 on it

I have been driving leaseplan cars for years and know that any accident / damage has to be reported. It will be interesting to see what the insurance assessor says

pm.

This is turning a disaster... The insurance company called today to say that they will not pay for the repair to the passanger side as it was the driver side that was hit and this is a defect not connected to the accident... Even though they replaced the drivers wheel due to damage.

On the service history I can see that the Tyres were changed at 79.5k and with just over 6k ( miles) the tread ware is 100% perfect.

If the car was pulling like it is now you wouldn't see 2k from the Tyres...

They have an engineers report but when I asked for a copy I was told it's an internal document and they won't share this. Am I entitled to this?

The engineer never even seen the car so I'm not sure how he has a report. They have agreed to send an independent asser to look at the car ( a company they use all the time called assessment Ireland or something to that) what a joke...

At this point should I call the insurance ombudsman? Do I need to get a solicitor involved? I have never felt as let down by any company if I'm being honest

Appreciate your support lads

amcalester

Time to see a solicitor and let them deal with it.

pm.

amcalester wrote: »

Time to see a solicitor and let them deal with it.

I think so it's like the insurance company and accusing me of fraud...

amcalester

pm. wrote: »

I think so it's like the insurance company and accusing me of fraud...

I wouldn't go that far but insurance companies will always try to payout as little as possible.

A solicitor will cut through the red tape and let you get in with your life.

Tails142

Yeah, your wife is probably starting to feel a pain her neck and back at this stage too, takes a while for these injuries to show.