Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash | Legal matters | Back Room Forum

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Thu 22 Apr 2010 09:29

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - back seat driver

We were recently ran off the road by another driver, He was charged with dangerous driving and leaving the scene and being an idiot.

During the hit and run, we were forced by the impact, off the road and went part way into a field, the car left front wheel was destroyed after hitting the roadside curb and the right wing impact side, was dented from the impact and mad max like behaviour of the driver. We fitted the spar on the destroyed tyre, phoned the insurance company and limped to a garage of their choice.

Now the short details of the accident are explained, when we went into our insurance company's agent garage, and we asked was the car safe to drive after a hit and run, we live in the country and don't want to drive with the spare for to long. We were told after the non mechanic drove the car for less than 5 min it was fine. No other check was done to see if anything else had gone wrong with the car. The insurance garage agent said it was Safe to drive, even with no spare and after the crash and we should have no problems, irony would prove him wrong.

The car never drove the same since the accident, we waited 12 days while driving with a spare and took the car to our own citreon garage, as it was acting well funny and a warning light came up on the dash an engine managment warning.

It turns out the car impact side spring is gone, other things have also gone wrong but the car is un-drivable till it's fixed, we had a MOT done 5 months ago and a service 2 months after that, the car was fine with no problems or concerns, coincidences happen but we were in a mad max type car crash and from that point the car was never the same, this is not about the money we will buy a new car on Friday the problem i have is safety my safety my wife and my childs and insurance companies acting like well insurance companies.

So the problem as i see it is the insurance company let us drive a car, that was crashed off the road with enough impact to destroy one tire and dent the drivers side wing, with enough force to cause more damage and to loosen the spring which puts the car in the you can't drive it catagory.

The insurance company have not been helpful at all, at this point i'm more concerned i've been in and driven around by a death trap for 13 days, so some questions i should be asking my insurance company when i phone them today are as i can gather.

Why no hire car so the car could be checked for further damage and roadworthy fittnes.

13 days is a long time to be driving around with a spare tyre, we live in the borders the raods can be challenging, we never went over 50mph but was this wise safe and what could, should they have done if anything about it.

I have left out some info to not make this post to long winded but i'm basically feeling the insurance company have seriously put us in a position after the crash, that we could have had another incident, they have not cared for us properly and have been negligent, they could argue the spring could have went after the crash but the rub is they can't know because no mechanical checked was done by them or there agents, if the spring had gone while on a country road and went through the tyre it would not have been pretty.

My wife is currently pregnant and she drives my 4 year old around in this car and has been since the accident, only our parental paranoia made us take it to our garage as the insurance company took 13 days to set up the tyre and wing repair. If they were physically infront of me i would wish them harm, since they are not i would like to report them how do i do this and is there any other questions i should be asking them?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

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Thu 22 Apr 2010 16:50

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - 2 Twisted Right Ears

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident - at least you appear to have got the other fellas details.

As for the issue here, it would appear that the fault lies with the garage that inspected your vehicle. Your insurer should be very interested in whats happened, especially if they care abouut their customers.

As your contract of insurance is with your insurance company, your best course of action for now is to raise a formal complaint with your insurer - they have timescales and processes to follow as set out by the fsa. If you get now joy then go to the FOS, but go to your insurer first.

Not convinced it's cost saving as the garage would be independent of the insurer (although they may be on an approved contract).

Good luck

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Thu 22 Apr 2010 19:59

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - back seat driver

Some good sounds advice here thanks fingers crossed i don't have to use it and the insurer helps out, to date its 14 days since we were ran off the road.

The garage agent, only took pictures of the car wing that was crashed into, the left wheel that was distorted beyond repair and broken from the curb impact and only drove the car for less than 5 min, to check its road worthiness. Clearly there was more going on under the bonnet but no actual structural checks were done.

We did ask as we were supprised was the car safe to drive and not being mechanics were told it was normal to exspect erratic behaviour due to the use of the spare tyre.

I have got to think that a turn around of 14 days is a bit to long to wait for a new front tyre and the wing to be fixed. Our real fear would be the garage that said the car was road worthy, would only have fixed the wing and replaced the wheel and done no further checks. I am not sure what would happen if a spring went at 60 mph on a country road?

Am i also to beleive that i can have the car fixed at the garage of my choice, as the current insurers garage is not trust worthy. It a moot at this point, we are told by Citroen, the damage totals more than the value of the car, we will have to buy a new car, as we have not choice really, what can we expect from the insurer can we go for a settlement of some kind?

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Thu 22 Apr 2010 23:38

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - bathtub tom

>>It turns out the car impact side spring is gone

What the hell's one of them?

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Fri 23 Apr 2010 08:47

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - back seat driver

Car impact side refers to the side the Mel Gibson road rage driver, literally crashed into our car running us into a field, braking the spring, coil thingy.

Not being a mechanic i'm guessing a spring is something that well, has a spring like nature and ha, sorry i have no idea its what the mechanic from citreon said was wrong with the car among other things.

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Fri 23 Apr 2010 23:23

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - 2 Twisted Right Ears

Last year I was involved in a minor accident (someone opened their door into my 6 month old car) and I had to claim.

I was seen by the approved repairer within a day or so, and the repairs where scheduled as soon as possible afterwards, I didn't have the same issues as you, as my vehicle was driveable.

In theory you can have the vehicle repaired at a garage of your choice, but the insurer is likely to only pay up to the value of the repairs if the repairs had taken place at their repair. This is usually more of an issue with prestige makes e.g. Mercs.

Perhaps a daft question but why is the garage not trustworthy - is this just from your initial experience of them, or is there other reasons?

14 days without being the claim being progressed is too long. This may be because the insurers repairers also believe the costs of repairs will be worth more than the value of the car - which would mean the vehicle would be written off and you'd be offered a cash settlement.

Another point to make you aware of is that because the crash was due to the negligence of the other driver if you end up out of pocket, you can reclaim your losses from the other driver (or his insurers).

The only way to find out why it is taking so long is to ask your insurer - they are supposed to be there to help you.

Please keep us updated with your progress.

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Sun 25 Apr 2010 11:38

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - back seat driver

Our initial impression from the garage right from the start was not good, they did not have a mechanic check the car, they dragged their heels getting price details to the insurer, holding everything up.

I'm confident they would have not looked under the car for damage, or done a intensive check for safety, as the price quoted was for the wing and spring wheel repair only. They missed that the crash caused damage to the ECU and CAT and spring.

So their track record is, one of being sloppy, not thorough and uninterested and that is not someone i want fixing something that travels up 70 mph, what else might they do wrong or miss.

The cost of the repairs are currently higher than the current boot value of the car, accoring to citreon, and online checks. The insurer call centre said we would not be offered a cash settlement, at that point i escalated the call. This was done on Wednesday, still no as promised call back from the insurer and that is 4 days and counting from when i escalated the call not the 17 days since the crash and initial call.

The information about being out of pocket made my wife smile, to date we have had to have the car looked at by a garage at our own expense, hire a car for several days and counting.

I will certainly try and claiming back this back, if and when the insurer contacts me, they don't operated on sundays but sheilaswheels is the name of the company and so far they don't seem to want to help; pregnat mothers driving the 4 year old children, who are ran of the road by 19 year old boy racer type drivers, he was charged with the offence so claiming back might be easier.

Thanks for the info its very useful, ill post any updates as and when they come in.

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Sun 25 Apr 2010 13:10

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - 2 Twisted Right Ears

Back seat driver,

I'm guessing you've already looked on your insurers website, here is a link just in case about claims: http://www.sheilaswheels.com/faqs/swm_cfaqs/car_claim_faqs.html

If you want to use your own repairer then you can but they say

If you choose to use your own repairer rather than one of our recommended repairers, they will need to send us a repair estimate which must include all prices for paint, materials and labour and a list of parts. Our engineers will then liaise with them to agree and authorise the repairs within 5 working days.

Please ask the repairer to send the estimate to us, if possible, via Audatex (the repairer estimating system) along with images of the damaged areas. If the repairer does not have Audatex, please ask them to fax it to us on 0161 830 8084.

Please note that if you choose to use your own repairer:

You will not receive a courtesy car unless this is agreed directly between you and your repairer
The repairs, unlike those carried out by one of our recommended repairers, will not be guaranteed for 5 years - unless your own repairer offers this
The repairer, unlike our recommended repairers, is not contractually obliged to provide a specific level of service to you
We will not be able to assist you with any aftercare issues

So it is an option for you. But you may have to wait longer.

Sorry for not being 100% clear before, if I were in your shoes I would

Understand what the current position of your claims is.
If they are classing the car as repairable, ask whether or not they have included damage to the ECU etc that was not initially picked up - this may be enough to make it a write off as they are not cheap
If they are going to write off you car they should tell you when they will be able to discuss figures (approx timescales)

Irrespective of this I would formally complain, http://www.sheilaswheels.com/faqs/swm_faqs/car_insurance_faqs.html#faq_15 this is the link on their website. Escalating a call is ok for you on the phone, but its more of a grumble than a complaint so they are not forced into the complaints handling process that the FSA insist on.

Your complaint would be based around the quality of the repairer and also the time it has taken so far with your claim that is unacceptable.

The other point to stress is your out of pocket expenses would have to be claims from the other person / insurer, not your own (just for clarification, don't want you getting the wrong end of the stick).

If you want to speak to me mail me - snip- and I'll send you contact details.

Sorry to edit out your contact details - but it reads too much like an advert for your services - given that you`ve signed up to the site with the company email address..

Edited by oilrag (Moderator) on 29/07/2010 at 08:17

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Tue 25 May 2010 12:36

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - LucyBC

Please note that if you choose to use your own repairer:

You will not receive a courtesy car unless this is agreed directly between you and your repairer

The repairs, unlike those carried out by one of our recommended repairers, will not be guaranteed for 5 years - unless your own repairer offers this

The repairer, unlike our recommended repairers, is not contractually obliged to provide a specific level of service to you

We will not be able to assist you with any aftercare issues

This is a clear attempt to lock you into their accident management service so they can pick up commissions relating to the work.

The repairer will already be paying them to be on their panel.

By law you can have your car fixed where you like as long as the repair cost is reasonable and pretty much any accident manager will give you as good or a better level of service than that offered above.

Yours is a non-fault claim and you have been treated shoddily. If this has not been sorted out by now if you contact me via Ask Honest John I will deal with it on your behalf.

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Wed 28 Jul 2010 13:53

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - back seat driver

thanks everyone for the replies.

Our garagf offered £3,000 trade in which was much better than the insurance's £2,00 so we traded in for a new car. Contacted the insurance co again to ask for a refund on the car hire costs. They said we weren't entitled to anything as the car wasnt in one of their garages (it was at the local dealership) - we argued that it was there because they told us to take it there. After much going back and forth they have now offered £1,000 to us for the damage to the car (they know its been traded in) but have higlighted this is not compensation.

I get the impression now they are trying to throw money at us to make us go away. It is quite tempting since that more than covers the car hire costs but they never did answer our questions with regards to why a mechanic didn't look at hte car after the accident and why it all took so long.

Does anyone have any advice? should I take this further? or am I lucky to get anything back from them?

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Thu 29 Jul 2010 07:12

Citroen C3 8 year old - Car insurance putting us in harms way to save cash - LucyBC

If it covers your losses I would take it. If not, or if there was any any personal injury please come back with more details and I will advise further.

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