Adidas

Just before Christmas we were in the other half's MY53 Fiesta Black (Ltd edition), when we were rear ended. The other driver admitted full liability, the car was taken off to our Insurers approved repairer for assessment. Given the damage I was pretty convinced it was going to be written off as the the floor pan was pushed in so far, I could not remove the spare wheel from it's well.

To our amazement the garage said it was repairable, by the looks of things it was put onto a jig and straightened out. The final bill came in at about £3,300 (inc VAT). The garage valued the car at £4000 although I feel we'd struggle to get that sort of money if we tried to sell it. When we had a look, the body work had been fixed to a good standard. However, an element in the heated rear window was not working, there was a problem with the hatch lock, it would not close. As the car is a 3 door, we've also noticed that the drivers seat is now difficult to unlatch to gain access to the rear. There was also a strange noise coming from the rear suspension that was not there before the accident.

We took the car back to the repairers (who are a well known and established firm) last Friday. The Manager agreed that there were a few issues that needed addressing and admitted the hatch door was in need of alignment. Therefore we left the car with them in exchange for one of their courtesy cars. Since then, the Manager has actively avoided taking calls and there is no ETA for the cars return.

Now, I suspect that the damage was far worse then the repairers first thought, and that they never even did a road test to see if there was any mechanical damage. They then went ahead with the repair as it was in their interest to work on the car (£1500+ for labour alone), rather then to write it off. The position they are now in is that there is more work to do, that if they attempt to claim any further monies from the other parties insurance questions will be asked why the car was not written off.

I fully intend to get the car looked at by a qualified examiner if and when it's returned. However, my questions are as follows:

1) Who is liable for any extra work on the car? The garage, our insurers or the 3rd parties insurers. I know one thing, it won't be me!

2) If the car is unroadworthy/dangerous condition, clearly we do not want the car back. Is the garage compelled to retain the car and give us what they valued it at?

3) At what point can we say we don't want the car back (and can we?) and where do we stand with a) our insurance company, b) the garage. Can we legally refuse its return and who pays us out?

Any thoughts or advice gratefully received.

TIA

Moley

iTrader: (9)

I'd recommend speaking to the claims people dealing with it, as they should be doing the running around on your behalf.

I am amazed an engineer agreed the work, if the cost was £3300 on a £4000 car.

Something not right there (IMO)

Adidas

Thanks mate. I agree re: the cost of the repair V the value of the car. It's right on the cusp of 80% of the value of it.

I'm not going to name names as I don't want to make life awkward for anyone, but if you're interested in the repairers name I'll PM it to you as I'm certain it's someone you have heard of and perhaps some of your frims use in sunny Essex. The assessor I'll be using certainly raised an eyebrow when I told him the whole story

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Hmmmm, sounds interesting.

Pm the name

Adidas

YHPM

Moley

iTrader: (9)

I don't think they are a company we have any dealings with, but will try to get some info about them.

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Rob Day

iTrader: (78)

Having not been involved in any RTA insurance claim in the last 13 years i m not sure of the protocol. But one thing for definate if i was in your shoes would be to getting prices from the AA or simular to come and give the car the full 200point inspection (even if its for black mail purposes), i'd Ring the garage the cars at or pay them a visit to tell them that is your intention if things dont start rolling. I think the AA are expensive if do go ahead with it but you can find cheaper ones, but as Moley says: speak to the claims people, get a name of someone your speaking to, prompt questions, and clarify everything ensuring that they know you are writing everthing down, and also point out that your situation is getting YOU down.... this always works well (the new bad back = STRESS) If this doesnt get the ball rolling I dont know what would. HTH

Rob

deanb1980

right where do i start firstly the insurance co value the car not the garage as its a non fault accident they can repair upto the value of the vehicle if they wish sometimes over on limited edition cars. the garage are responsible for the extra repairs unless they didnt notice them at first which the insurance will pay . you as a customer have every right to refuse the car as it wasnt your fault sounds as if your not sure so i would if i was you otherwise you will be finding faults for ever

Adidas

Quick update:

As suggested, the other half spoke to her insurance company today. They were a tad surprised what had been going on. The woman handling her claim said she was going to speak to the Manager of the repairers to get to the bottom of the whole sorry tale. Up until now, he has failed to respond to her calls Seems that history maybe repeating itself.

I'll keep you posted

Brun

Subscribed

carl heath

better than eastenders me thinks.

MOTORS S GT

iTrader: (2)

I have had this with my daughters car, a Toyota Corrola T Sport, which required a complete front end including air con / water rads etc.
I was amazed that they never wrote it off as its a 54 plate & valued at £6500. as its repair was £4895.
When it was ready after the repair i went & looked at it, and it was'nt to bad until i opened the bonnet, the wiring which was damaged in the accident for the aircon & abs unit had been repaired, although the repairer said it had been done by an auto electrician. I unpeeled the tape on the loom, only to find it had been cut about & crudely soldered together.
I was not accepting this on safety grounds being the braking system.
Apparently a new engine loom was quoted for & the repairer just bodged it.
As this was the insurers preffered bodyshop i complained at the repair, also what other corners had been cut to get the repair price down.
The outcome after a fair amount of hassle was they paid us out the price
of the car £6500 & the car was passed on to a salvage company as a rejected repair.

Adidas

Thanks for that, it makes interesting reading and may come in handy.

A quick update

Due to the problems wew were having with the bodyshop, the head of the Claims Department has taken on for us. We cannot fault the service he has provided and has been in touch with the other half almost on a daily basis. Apparently the Manager of the body shop has been giving him the run around too

After spending over a week at the repairers, it was returned to us last Friday. The tailgate issue has been resolved to our satisfaction. I wasn't at home when it was delivered (I was at the Autosports Show ), but the other half took it out for a drive. She called to tell me that there was still a noise coming from the rear, that the car was driving strangely and that she had called the Insurance Company to inform them of this. The Manager stated he'd call the repairers and arrange for it to be collected again and for them to give us a replacement vehicle. True to his word he called back and said this would happen yesterday. He added that before any work was to be completed, he'd be sending out their own Senior assessor to examine the car.

I took the car out for a run on Sunday. Before leaving I checked the tyres just in case the pressures were low and this was why she had said it wasn't running properly. All the tyres were below their recommended levels but only by 2 PSI. I then drove off, within 1/2 mile I found that the car was barely drivable. It felt as if the rear end wanted to swap with the front. I had to pull over and let the following traffic pass. I continued to give it a run, and completed a 15 mile drive. After the car had warmed up the handling issues had disappeared but there was still a noise coming from the rear.

The other half had to call the Insurance Company yesterday as neither of us was going to be at home when the repairers were due to pick the car up. She had a good chat with the Manager and told him of my experience. It seems he is quite on side, he asked her what she would like. She stated she'd prefer it if they write the car off rather then have it returned. He seems quite agreeable.

The car was picked up at 8.30 this morning. I warned the driver to be careful on the way back!!

Update to follow.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Subscribed - hope you get it sorted

53

iTrader: (41)

Get Tissy to pull him over and declare it unroadworthy

Adidas

TBH I know a couple of people who are a bit more qualified then Tissy. The issue is if they stick a prohibition order (PG9) on the car we'll be left with a car that cannot be driven until all the faults are rectified. It's quite possible that it may never be fully roadworthy.

I prefer it the way is currently is, i.e the repairers have it clogging up their workshop & we've got one of their cars until it's sorted.

Apparently we'll get some sort of answer on Thursday

urban

iTrader: (1)

Any news?

Adidas

Indeed there is, the car was examined by the Insurance assessor who found there was damage to the rear nearside suspension, which had caused the tyre to 'feather'. This had caused the handling issues.
He had serious concerns that the Bodywork shop would be ineffective at repairing the mechanical problem, therefore they arranged for the car to be sent to a Ford Main dealer for the rest of the repair to be completed. That was a week ago. In the meantime the car belonging to the Bodyshop had to go back, but the insurance company arranged for us to have a rental car in the interim.

We received a call today saying that the car is all complete and that they wish to return it to us tomorrow.

All I know is that all the repairs, added to the various inspections on top of all the various cars we've had in the last 2 MONTHS certainly add up to more then the car is worth. Only time will tell.

We're now looking at getting a new car in a couple of weeks time