The joys of making an insurance claim

Rambling from the Sage of Oxford
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Charles
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The joys of making an insurance claim

Post by Charles » Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:20 pm

Minding my own business in the local supermarket carpark last night and I spot a space. Pull past it in order to reverse in and as I look over my shoulder to start the manouevre, I spot the reversing lights appearing on the Discovery in the next bay. No time to get out of the way but enough time to sound the horn.

Sadly, the idot concerned failed to look in her mirrors or use her ears - leaving me with a rather badly damaged NSR door :evil:

Now I am dancing the dance of the seven veils with the insurers but this has been made easier by having two witnesses who backed my story - even still, the paperwork and phone calls needed to arrange repair and a replacement vehicle is a nightmare!
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Post by Deeg » Mon Feb 23, 2015 12:55 pm

I feel your pain... just recently had to do this for my girlfriends brand new Fiesta ST, 850 miles on the clock and a low loader coming out of a junction a little bit up the road decided to side swipe her car and the one next to it... as my girlfriend was standing waiting to get in the car!

luckily it was a busy time so loads of witnesses, but dealing with the insurers can be a right nightmare with all the phone calls and forms to fill in.

2 weeks to get it assessed and approval to commence repair. now only a further 3 weeks to wait for the repair to be completed :shock: :x
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Post by Charles » Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:05 pm

Just booked the car in for Monday, so things appear to be progressing steadily.

As it is, I have to have an emergency knee operation tomorrow so won't be able to drive for a few days anyway - so not really much inconvenience, just the hassle factor of form filling.

At least it is definitely being handled as "no fault", so that's a blessing :D
Charles
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B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by B10BRW » Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:30 am

Hope your operation goes well, Charles.
You will be hopping along in no time :lol:

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Post by Charles » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:05 pm

Thanks Brian - in and out in a day and no major pain at the moment.

Mind you, given how my pain threshold has been pushed up over the last three months, I'm probably putting up with a lot more than others would normally endure without pills!

Now I have to be patient for the next two weeks - not easy, I tell you
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B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by Charles » Wed Mar 04, 2015 2:39 pm

Well, the B3S is in the garage, the Audi hire car is on the drive and the third party insurers have admitted liability :D

Should have her back next week when I can post some before and after shots.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by Charles » Wed Mar 04, 2015 7:50 pm

I must say that, so far, I have been impressed by the customer service from Motofix in Oxford, who are undertaking the repairs.

Not only have they kept me updated via text messages but they have a nice little tracking app on their website that allows me to review progress and all of the communications between us.

Of course, the proof of the pudding will be the quality of the repair but when I popped in there last week, the whole area was extremely clean and tidy and the finished cars looked very tidy indeed.

Fingers crossed - estimated finish is next Wednesday :D
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by ali » Fri Mar 06, 2015 9:59 pm

An entire week to fit a door?
Seems a bit long to me.
Hope they manage to get the paint all blended in so it matches.

The one and only insurance claim I ever had to make took Admiral 2 1/2 years to pay out on.
I had to pay the repairs myself and all but sue them to get the money out.
Even after that they penalised me with a your fault claim after my parked car had been hit by another car so I can appreciate the nightmare you have been going through but at least it sounds like positive progress is being made
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Post by Charles » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:48 pm

Hasn't really been a nightmare - just an extremely long-winded and tedious process to start with as Admiral took details and then handed me over to Albany Assistance (their claims management firm) who then sent me numerous agreements for God knows what. Once these had been agreed, everything has been relatively painless.

Thankfully they treated it as "no fault" right from the start - probably because I had two independent witnesses - so it's just a case of going through the system. With the confirmation of the third party insurer accepting liability, the pressure is off and I just have to look forward to getting my car back.

As for the length of time - this isn't too much of an issue at the moment as I am laid up following a knee operation and I have a very fine Audi A6 Avant to drive until the B3S is back. I'd prefer them to take their time and make sure the paint is blended thorugh and I have been most impressed with the Customer Service I have received.

Roll on Wednesday :D
Charles
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B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by Charles » Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:42 am

Got her back today :D

Generally looks fine but close inspection has revealed some orange peel on the leading edge of the rear wing, where they have not blended in very well.

Already logged it and they have been great about arranging to book it in to rectify and will provide a courtesy car.

Good service response but why couldn't they have checked for this before releasing the car in the first place :evil:

That said, I had to take her out for a quick spin and was reminded of how magical the feedback is through the wheel - whereas the Audi might have had all the toys but the steering response was dead in the hands.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by John_C » Thu Mar 12, 2015 8:40 am

Most people probably would have just accepted the car back, I've always found a "that'll do" mentality with insurance repairs :(

Glad it sounds like it's going to be a happy ending.

This is exactly the sort of thing I have a dashcam for, imagine if you'd had no witnesses.

Hope the knee is better!

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Post by Deeg » Thu Mar 12, 2015 5:12 pm

Good to hear Charles, funnily enough we just picked up the girlfriends car yesterday too. 6 weeks in total since the accident.

Hope you are recovering well from your op.
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