Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Mon 25 Feb 2019 18:16
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - Chris Medway

Whilst stationary in queuing traffic My Audi A3 was hit by another vehicle sustaining body panel damage to the rear offside quarter wheel arch. I was able to drive home.

The other driver reported it to their insurer (Admiral) as did I, and Admiral accepted responsibility to repair the damage their customer caused to my vehicle. Rather than go through my own insurer (although I did notify them of the accident) I decided to approach Admiral directly and agreed to use one of Admiral's approved repairers and Admiral also provided me with an Enterprise Hire Car, which I still have.

Admiral's approved repairer FixAuto now has my vehicle and has assessed the cost of the repair as £1,575.41 + VAT = £1,890.49.

Admiral has now advised me that they will not be authorising the repair as they have deemed it beyond economical repair and are looking at classifying it as category N.

They have initially offered me £2,050 as a write off figure or £1,660 and the un-repaired car (categorised as Cat N) returned back to me. They have also refused me a cash in lieu of repair settlement as the engineer has reported the rear offside wheel is out of alignment?

I have owned this vehicle since new, it has FSH, is well maintained and I really just want the minor impact damage repaired and my car back.

Would be grateful for your advice on what I need to do to ensure my car is repaired and returned back to me in the condition it was before the accident (that was not my fault)

What lines can I take with Admiral Insurance to ensure my vehicle is repaired?

The cost of the repair would appear to be less than Admiral's market value of my vehicle, also should VAT be taken into account when comparing the repair cost to the vehicle's market value?

Thanks

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 25 Feb 2019 18:50
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - Palcouk

If you are not vat registered any ins. claim includes vat

You would need to argue and produce price comparisons of other Audi's in the same condition, that they were valued at a higher amount than their uneconomic repair value.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 25 Feb 2019 21:53
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - Brit_in_Germany

Presumably, their starting offer is based on a valuation of the car pre-accident of £2,050 and an estimate of the current scrap value of £390. The first valuation is likely to be on the low side and could be raised if you provide some evidence of a higher value, which would then increase the second amount. What they do not want is to start repairing only later to determine it is not economic, essentially making you take the risk if you accept the second amount of £1,660 + x.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 26 Feb 2019 08:54
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - Cris_on_the_gas

You have a legal right to be put back in the same situation before the crash.

I would be requesting that Admiral pay you £1890.49. If they fail to do so give them 7 days notice and start proceedings in small claims court.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 26 Feb 2019 09:53
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - daveyjp

The problem with insurance body repair shops is costs can be inflated and they do like to replace parts.

An alternative is to find an independent bodyshop and ask them for a price. If it is well below the Admiral quote they may well pay it and not write it off.

That's what I did with my wife's car which was hit while parked - not much more than a paint scuff. Insurance quoted for a whole new rear bumper and respray, number plate (!), badges and it was well into four figures. They also expected us to take their expensive hire car which we didn't need.

Took it to my trusted body shop, they did an excellent respray of the affected area for about £300 which was paid by the other party insurance.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 26 Feb 2019 11:49
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - skidpan

The problem with insurance body repair shops is costs can be inflated and they do like to replace parts.

An alternative is to find an independent bodyshop and ask them for a price.

When the wife was hit by white van man when she had to make an emergency stop the quote from the authorised repair shop was just over £2000 +VAT. It was basically a new tailgate, rear bumper, paint, labour and sundries.

White van man offered to pay if I got a better quote so I went to a local bodyshop I had used before and he quoted for a new tailgate, rear bumper, paint, labour and sundries, seemed exactly the same. I asked if they used genuine or pattern parts and he said genuine every time unless there was no alternative, was told any cost saving could easily be lost adjusting poor fits. His price was just over £1500 inc VAT, about £900 less. The only item I could not see on his list was a rear screen but he assured me that they could reuse it despite the fact it was bonded in.

White van man paid and the job was perfect.

Shows how much they inflate prices for the insurers.

Another example was dads Micra which was hit (culprit unknown) on the corner of the rear bumper scuffing the paint on the bumper and rear wing slightly and exposing and gauging the black plastic the bumper was moulded from. Insurance quote was for a new bumper and repainting the whole rear end and 1/2 the side (to blend the silver metallic), about £500. This to me was a joke price so I took it to a local "smart repairer" who had worked on the wifes company lease returns very successfully. He quoted £60 to repair the bumper and bend the paint in. 5 years later when we sold the car it was still perfect.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 26 Feb 2019 12:25
Audi A3 Sportback - Third Party Insurance Claim - RichardW

Correct - they can't write it off, it's not their car. As said you are entitled to be put back in the position you were, this either means repairing your car, or getting another (or money equivalent to do so) if it is beyond repair, or the the cost of the repairs is more than the car is worth (retail, not trade in!)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance