F.A.O, Paddy, insurance Q

[rwaterman]

We spoke a while back on the forum about this claim im going through i was wondering about getting my no claims reinstated........ Anyway as from this month i have been reinstated my 2 years which is good news, now i dont no if you could answer these questions, but, how much longer can i expect to wait before i get the money to pay for the damage, clearly the claim has gone to my advantage so is it just round the corner? Also the quote from my local garage was about 490 but the people who come to inspect the damage estimated the damage to be at about 650, how much of the money do you reckon i could get? Cheers for your help if you can

ROB.

 

[paddymph]

Hi Rob,

Good to see you got your ncd then! What would normally happen is that you submit a written estimate for repair (from a garage) and the Third Party Insurers send an Engineer to look at your vehicle. He should compare your quote with the damage in front of him and as long as he agrees with a) the damage is consistent with the estimate, and b) the actual cost of the estimate (ie parts, labour etc) hell authorise repairs direct to the garage who compiled the estimate for you. If you intend to fix the car yourself then hell suggest that the Third Patry Insurers pay you enough money for parts only.

When you get to this stage then youre normally right at the end of your claim, youre normally just waiting for the engineer to write a report and send it to the TPInsurers...

Does that help???

Paddy

 

[rwaterman]

The letter which comes with the engineers report says, qoute You will see that the engineer is of the opinion that your vehicle is economically repairable and has assessed the total cost of repairs at 643.43.

Then on the actual report it says Repair costs. An estimate for repairing the vehicle has been obtained from.......... in the sum of 287.84 plus the parts at makers list prices. It goes on to say how they think the garage is a bit to expensive and have agreed a reduction of 52.64 which brings it to 235.20. However the cost of the paint and materials would amount to 111.60, the cost of the necessary new parts would be approx 200.80 + vat liability on the total amount 95.83 giving a total cost of repair 643.43

Settlement We consider that an equitable settlement would be 643.43 which represents the total cost of the repairs.

What i have actually done, because it has taken so long for it to go through i have bought the necassary parts but have not as yet had them fitted or sprayed. Would i recieve the 643.43 figure, or the figure agreed by the garage, which now i dont tend to use for the repairs?

Also how do i get the money is it payed to me buy cheque in the post?,or is it arranged by the insurance co that coz i said i was gonna get the work done at this particular garage they would pay the garage and i would not see the money but just get my car fixed for free so to speak?? I would rather have the check because i no someone who can respray the whole of my car for the price of the repairs.........

ROB.

 

[paddymph]

Firstly, if youve already bought some parts then what theyll probably want you to do is to send in the receipts and theyll pay you back (as long as the parts you bought did indeed need replacing...). It sounds like the TP are just going to authorise repairs to your garage (the place that did your estimate) but from what your saying it sounds easier if they would just send you a cheque through the post (which they can do). If you decide to do this they will only pay you for the parts, you dont normally get the money for Labour, what you need to do is to speak to the engineer who inspected your car, have a good chat with him and talk figures usually much quicker and youre open to a bit of bantering then.... any probs give us a shout.

Paddy