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Thanks for suggesting that I should get an independent repair quote following an accident.

Thanks to your advice, after a recent crash, I have had a quote from an independent garage which was quite a lot cheaper than the quote from the insurer's recommended repairers, and the insurance company has agreed to cover this cost. Presumably the insurance repairers were trying to maximize their profit from the repair.

Asked on 8 November 2010 by JO, via email

Answered by Honest John
I'm pleased that your insurers were so sensible about this. Feedback is that some insurers are getting their act together, preferring to allow more economical local repairs that the car owner can organise. It's not that their contracted repairers rip anyone off. The just do a very complete job to a standard, often with new parts, and sometimes with severe delays that put up the cost of the hire car you are in while the repair takes place. But if the cost of this writes the car off, the sensible way out is to approve a cheaper repair that doesn't write the car off.

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