My son had a low speed rear end collision recently, his fault with no injury to the third party (at the time)

He drives a polo and went into an SUV, not sure but maybe a nissan xtrail or similar.

 

His car is still driveable, the visible damage being a broken osf headlamp, and creased bumper just to the right of the osf headlamp and creased bonnet lip above.

All of the bumper inserts, grilles and badge were undamaged.

To my untrained eye the car needs a new bumper, bonnet and headlight. I did look under the bonnet and could not see any obvious signs of impact. The 2 radiators were intact, i fact I really did check this as I had not long fitted wire mesh in front of my VRS's condensor!

My son took a few pictures of the polo before it was collected by the agent  Nationwide, acting on behalf of Hastings Direct.

 

The car is valued at around £3.5k, not yet agreed by the insurance company.

After a few days,Nationwide's estimate for repair tops out at £3.5k, with roughly £1500 parts, £600 labour, £600 paint, £140 aircon refill + VAT.

 

The car was deemed a CAT C write off.

 

I could not believe when I saw the report, the items being replaced - aircon condensor, radiator, front os wing, plus other parts that don't seem relevant to the impact.

We have disputed their findings and requested the car back so we can get second opinions.

 

When the car returned, both radiators have been damaged, and it is difficult to see how this was caused by the impact as the area directly in front of it is unmarked and not broken or pushed in.

My thoughts are, Nationwide were expecting to have the car written off by pricing the repair too high to be approved, and hence the damage was done to justify the extra items and cost. They were not expecting the car to be returned, in fact salvage was already arranged before it was discussed with us.

 

When the car returned, I drove it to a few local places to get quotes, and both bodyshops agreed that the estimate includes items that do not need replacing and that the damage to the condensor and radiator is unlikely to have been caused by the impact.

I do have a before and after photo of the front of the car where the radiator can clearly be seen behind the grille. The aircon still works and there is no coolant loss.

 

I have voiced my concerns to Hastings and on both occasions and they have yet to return calls as promised, although they did say they will get Nationwide Customer service to call me, but not as of today.

Meanwhile, Nationwide in chatham  have been in contact with my son accusing him of lying and harassing him.

 

We just want the car repaired so my son can get back to work properly.

 

Is this practice of overpricing jobs common, and what can insurance companies do to prevent unscrupulous garages from exaggerating damage and inflating costs?

 

Is there anything to protect the consumer in this instance?

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's good that you have some photos of the vehicle before it went to nationwide. If they are harassing your son I would be inclined to write a letter to nationwide (recorded delivery) stating that you are seeking legal advise regarding the damage to the radiators while the car was at Nationwide and you would require a signed statement from nationwide that the radiators were in this damaged condition when they received the car because you photographed the car prior to it going to nationwide. 

Whether you are considering legal action or not, they will be unwilling to sign if they think you have the photo's, but it might start putting the pressure on them.

You could always get an independent engineers report saying that in his opinion the damage was not caused by the accident etc.

Next step, small claims court. You have an engineers report and photos, chances are they will pay something rather than go to court. 

Hard one to judge really.

I take it he is claiming on his own insurance and he is full comp?

It is up to you where the car is repaired so I would tell the insurance company who you want to repair it.

If you have a local garage you trust then use them.

If they are cheaper then the insurance company should not argue about it.

If you need to get some advice from CAB and there is always the Insurance ombudsman.

It's good that you have some photos of the vehicle before it went to nationwide. If they are harassing your son I would be inclined to write a letter to nationwide (recorded delivery) stating that you are seeking legal advise regarding the damage to the radiators while the car was at Nationwide and you would require a signed statement from nationwide that the radiators were in this damaged condition when they received the car because you photographed the car prior to it going to nationwide. 

Whether you are considering legal action or not, they will be unwilling to sign if they think you have the photo's, but it might start putting the pressure on them.

You could always get an independent engineers report saying that in his opinion the damage was not caused by the accident etc.

Next step, small claims court. You have an engineers report and photos, chances are they will pay something rather than go to court.

Thanks for the reply.

Not sure what result we are looking for, going to small claims for new condenser and radiator? They are both working but likely to fail in the future.

I will speak with nationwide on Monday and see if they are willing to supply a radiator and condenser for the repair. I'm not fussed if it's not new just undamaged?

If not then I will put pressure on Hastings to do something - if I did that to someone else's car I would get done for criminal damage!

Thanks

Hard one to judge really.

I take it he is claiming on his own insurance and he is full comp?

It is up to you where the car is repaired so I would tell the insurance company who you want to repair it.

If you have a local garage you trust then use them.

If they are cheaper then the insurance company should not argue about it.

If you need to get some advice from CAB and there is always the Insurance ombudsman.

Yes he is fully comp, lesson learned to repair without claiming.

Hastings are willing to look at other quotes.

Will keep you all posted on progress

Thanks for your input

All the best

Paul

Yes he is fully comp, lesson learned to repair without claiming.

Hastings are willing to look at other quotes.

Will keep you all posted on progress

Thanks for your input

All the best

Paul

Don't let them take you for a ride.

It is up to you who repairs the car not Hastings.

They can drag it out a bit but they can not insist it goes to their approved repair centre.

If they've damaged the car to then try to claim for the repair work would that not be fraud?

 

Mention of a chat with local police and or the insurance ombudsmen might lubricate the wheels of communication for a start.

 

I think trading standards should be informed too, this sounds like it could get serious for someone.

still awaiting reply from nationwide, sent off pictures today....

Hastings direct have instructed an independent company to do a report on the polo, and will then discuss where we go from there.

This is booked for Monday.

If they've damaged the car to then try to claim for the repair work would that not be fraud?

 

Mention of a chat with local police and or the insurance ombudsmen might lubricate the wheels of communication for a start.

 

I think trading standards should be informed too, this sounds like it could get serious for someone.

  Welcome to the big wide world where insurance companies get ripped off, I had a low speed crash as I was truning into a side road involving a Jag and myself, no damage to my Octavia as I hit the rear offisde bumper quadrant of the Jaguar with the front offside wheel of the Octavia and pulled it off the hook and eye fixings used by Jaguar

 

Spoke to my insurance agent about the claim last friday and to date the repairs have cost £2800 plus the cost of a hire care

 

Repairers in some cases inflate the cost of repairs to cover for the fact that insurers sometimes don't pay on time and to just make the job worth doing, in the past for us it has been easier to settle for a local guy to do the job in exchange for the fact that both parties agree not to bother their insurers and settle it on a fault basis and a cash payment to cover the bill

thanks

 

Just an update: the engineer agreed that the rad damage was probably not caused by the accident, but he did not include that on his report!

Hastings direct have agreed to repair the car at a garage locally that quoted £1850

 

Their attitude on the phone stinks! It's like they are doing US a favour and we should be grateful!!

Can you be 100% sure that the damage wasn't there before the accident?

The condenser is up front, so if that shows no damage, then it's unlikely that the radiator took a hit. Until the bumper if off, you can't be certain.

Can you be 100% sure that the damage wasn't there before the accident?

If you read the first post properly the OP said the damage was not even there after the accident as he checked it himself.

I had read the first post thanks.

 

I was asking if the OP is 100% sure there was no damage before the accident. Looking for damage when you know it there is one thing, checking and missing long standing damage is another.

thanks for the comments all

 

just an update, the car is now repaired at a cost of £1800, by another garage.

 

The independent assessor agreed that the rad damage was not caused by the accident, but the insurance company do not seem concerned that their approved repairer is ripping them and customers off!

 

I do have the inclination to take this further, but not the time!

 

My priority was getting the car repaired so my son can continue working.

 

The whole experience has made me very wary of insurance companies and approved repairers, so I have actually learned something, bearing in mind I had been a company car driver for the last 24yrs and only this year have I had my own car!

 

What an eye opener!!

 

Thanks

 

PAUL

Might be worth dropping it to trading standards as it makes everyone have increased insurance costs.

 

Sometimes there are relationships going on there too, which you never know.