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Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - paulakirby

Im at my wits end someone please help me. I purchased my car in sept 2011 and 6 weeks ago was involved in a head on accident (fortunately no one hurt). My insureres sent my car with cosmetic damage and broken power steering to the designated repairer. I rang the repairer several times explaining about the power steering and this was blatantly ignored. 12 days later the repairers stated the car was ready for delivery when i paid my excess of £200 but had not repaired the steering as they could find no fault. I refused to take delivery of it until they had checked properly. This was done the following day and lo and behold, the fault was found. The story should end there but alas, the repairers then said that the car had been involved in a previous accident prior to me purchasing it and the repair was not correctly done so the power steering could have broken at any point! My insurers the contacted me to say that the repirers had stated that they did not believe that the accident could cause power steering failure. Citroen garage then contacted my insurer for me to say that any damage to the front of the vehicle could actually cause the damage. My insurers then instructed an independent engineer to check the car and he has stated that he thought the previous bad repairs were the fault and therefore the insurance company will not pay out. My point is that the steering was brill prior to accident and didnt work after it. The repairers should have assessed this prior to completing minor cosmetic damage and they now want £200 excess before they will release my car to me still without power steering. What can I do? I dont want to pay to release my car that still remains broken and the insurers will want the courtesy car back leaving me with nothing :(

Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - Armitage Shanks {p}

Contact, in no particular order that I can suggest

1. Trading Standards

2..The professional body that monitors repairers. Motor Vehicle Repairers Association

3. Financial Services Agency re conduct of your insurer.

Was the accident your fault or 50/50? Why are the other driver's insurers not paying?

Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - Duncan112

May be a daft idea but if the car is old enough to have been MOT'd then if the power steering was not working at the time of the MOT then it could have been listed as an advisory - if not then may be worth getting hold of the test garage and asking if they would list defective power steering as an advisory or even if they remember the car.

Incidentally, now the MOT system has changed slightly it would appear some unscrupulous traders are cutting the right hand part of the certificate off to hide the identity of the MOT centre and any advisories - this info can be obtained from the direct gov website http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10020539

It was when I took my car for its last MOT the tester pointed out this practice to me and told me to look on the website (also to check previous MOTs and failures just incase the previous owner had had a failure and gone to a "more friendly" tester.

Best of luck

Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - paulakirby

A massive thank u for all your help, after reading about HD insurance and their bad press, Im going to make an official complaint to them to try and air the grievances before I take it to the ombudsman and then its the small claims court if all else fails. Once again thank you x

Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - tony g
( My insurers then instructed an independent engineer to check the car and he has stated that he thought the previous bad repairs were the fault and therefore the insurance company will not pay out. )

Hi Paula I'm sorry to say that an inspection by an independent engineer means you cannot win .Although the power steering was working ok prior to the accident ,the engineer is saying that the previous accident had damaged or weakened the steering .im sorry to say that you have to pay for the repair .

If you delay , the garage who repaired the car will start to charge for storage , usually £15 a day .in addition the hire company who are supplying a loan car will want you to pay extra rental fees . You need to get your car back and have it repaired before you incur additional charges .

The only alternative is to have another independent engineer provide a report
,that will cost £100 minimum . In addition he could agree with the original report . After that you have to consider whether you are willing to risk money in a court action ,that you could loose .

Sorry it's just not worth the hassle.


Regards


Tony g
Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - nortones2

Has the OP seen the report, and ascertained 1) whether it was a competent person 2) what they actually said. Does the story ring true to the Citroen garage for instance? Sounds a bit fishy to blame a previous accident for a failure only now revealed by this one!

Citroen C2 - insurers refusing to pay for repairs :( - focussed
( My insurers then instructed an independent engineer to check the car and he has stated that he thought the previous bad repairs were the fault and therefore the insurance company will not pay out. )



Strange that "independant" engineers employed by insurance companies nearly always seem to come up with answers that favour the company that is paying them.