One Call Insurance

[Schtum]

Can I offer a note of caution to anyone who has insured or might be thinking of insuring their vehicle with One Call Insurance.

We're currently in dispute with them over a repair to my wife's Karoq after a deer ran out in front of her.

They're refusing to accept the quotation for repair from our local VAG approved bodyshop. They say they're only prepared to pay £30 an hour labour whereas the local bodyshop charge is £60 per hour.

They seem unable to provide an alternative VAG approved bodyshop which is not surprising at £30 an hour.

Their attempt to send us a company to perform a 'smart repair' on our drive also indicates they have no understanding of the potential for further structural damage under the plastic bumper, let alone the damage to the washer system of which we've already advised them.

Removal of the front bumper also necessitates recalibration of the ADAS. Something which seems to be beyond their ability to comprehend.

Our experience suggests they are to be avoided.

[Warrior193]

1 hour ago, Schtum said:

Can I offer a note of caution to anyone who has insured or might be thinking of insuring their vehicle with One Call Insurance.

We're currently in dispute with them over a repair to my wife's Karoq after a deer ran out in front of her.

They're refusing to accept the quotation for repair from our local VAG approved bodyshop. They say they're only prepared to pay £30 an hour labour whereas the local bodyshop charge is £60 per hour.

They seem unable to provide an alternative VAG approved bodyshop which is not surprising at £30 an hour.

Their attempt to send us a company to perform a 'smart repair' on our drive also indicates they have no understanding of the potential for further structural damage under the plastic bumper, let alone the damage to the washer system of which we've already advised them.

Removal of the front bumper also necessitates recalibration of the ADAS. Something which seems to be beyond their ability to comprehend.

Our experience suggests they are to be avoided.

Good God! - perhaps to be commended for attempting to keep repair costs down - but £30 an hour? Completely unrealistic!

Recent quotes my wife has had for a little gardening work have been a minimum of £60 to 75 an hour.

[BTandSid]

Where on earth are they getting those labour rates from? Not sure how they’d deal with a London based customer. £60ph 😂😂

[kodiaqsportline]

As I understand it, One Call Insurance are a broker, not an insurer. 

 

Have a look at your policy again. Not saying this is what you have but it's normal practice with most 'cheaper' insurers to have something in the T&C that say the car is repaired by their approved centre and if you want to specify a centre yourself then the excess is increased and/or the repair isn't guaranteed for as long.

 

These brokers will have already have a vested interest in sending the car to the repair centres they've struck deals with. And this is the part that's very hard to understand...  if they're unable to set systems up ( your radar system for example ), they'll take the ca to the nearest Skoda dealer for them to do the work.

 

There's something you might not be aware of. What's a VAG approved repairer?  When I hit a deer, I first asked my dealer about repair - at first the damage looked less than the excess so I was just going to pay for it myself. They would have actually contracted the work out to a 3rd party - the same one as ohter insurers use !

 

In the end the car went to the insurers approved repairer ( Aviva / Solus ) and in turn they had their local Skoda dealer set the systems up.

 

Have to say they did a pi55 poor job of painting the repair but to their credit, acknowledged the fault and made it good.  When some other fault related to the Skoda setting appeared next month, I bypassed the repairer and contacted their dealer direct. Turns out it was an odd fault nobody could understand, apparently some piece of coding had been lost which had affected other systems.  All sorted after they discussed the issue with Skoda HQ and they billed the insurer themselves.

 

From that very slight damage to my car what I thought would cost less than my  £350 excess to repair, the insurance bill came to...   £4004  😲

 

If I were you, I wouldn't worry one little bit if it's an approved repairer or not.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Edit:  just thinking on that Skoda Assurance thing...  that's when if you have an accident, they say contact them and they'll organise everything with an 'approved repairer'.  I did contact Skoda Assurance after I hit the deer who then said that because it was an 'at fault' accident, they couldn't help. In other words they're nothing but ambulance chasers - they make they're money by claiming off 3rd party insurers.

2nd thing is I found out that they too would have used the same repair centre who are in no way what-so-ever related to VW Group as they repair any brand of car. 

Edited 6 October, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[Schtum]

1 hour ago, kodiaqsportline said:

 

If I were you, I wouldn't worry one little bit if it's an approved repairer or not.

 

 

I do worry about it.  In order to maintain the corrosion warranty, vehicles need to be repaired by VAG Approved bodyshops.  

 

Equally because VW Financial Services currently have an interest in the vehicle, it needs the same. 

 

Our local VAG bodyshop is well aware of the issue.  

[J.R.]

6 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

but £30 an hour? Completely unrealistic!

 

They may not have been quoting the actual figure but they pay far less than the going rate for repairs at their approved centres.

 

One time when I was negotiating with the assessor a salvage retention price for me to effectively buy back my car from my insurer to repair myself I was pushing for the maximum I thought I could negotiate and the guy said the vehicle did not have to be written off and they could repair it, he showed me the actual cost to them of the much higher insurance estimate, they were getting a very very good deal from their partners.

 

They and not the insured are always the winners when it comes to a claim, you just see how much your premium jumps next year even if the third party insurers accept liability, if you have protected bonus then its a given that you are going to be shafted come renewal time.

[kodiaqsportline]

3 hours ago, Schtum said:

 

I do worry about it.  In order to maintain the corrosion warranty, vehicles need to be repaired by VAG Approved bodyshops.  

 

Equally because VW Financial Services currently have an interest in the vehicle, it needs the same. 

 

Our local VAG bodyshop is well aware of the issue.  

 

I have to stress again that this is not a One Call Insurance issue - it's an issue with who ever you're insured by and it'll be the same with which ever broker you go thru buying the same insurance.

 

Don't want to turn this in to War and Peace so if you want to go with an approved repairer then so be it, but you're not gaining anything having the car seen by a VW approved repairer - all it means is they're guaranteeing work for themselves. I have first hand experience with an approved repairer and I see that Volvos approved repairer is also a VWFS approved repairer in our part of the world - namely Arnold Clark. That in itself should tell anyone the value of an approved repairer !   I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to have their car repaired by Arnie.

 

I urge you to read the T&C of your insurance policy rather than listen to what some call centre says. As I said above, you may find the guarantee is less or the excess is increased, but not unless it's the cheapest of cheap insurance, it sounds unusual to me that the insurer is allowed to dictate who repairs the car.

 

Speaking of guarantee. VW approved parts are only guaranteed for 2yr  -  it's likely you find your insurer guarantees their approved centre parts for 3yr, so it's pretty much a better deal all round using an insurer approved centre. The corrosion warranty you speak of? They're not worth the paper they're written on. What's the warranty on the insurance approved repairer? Many on the will give 'lifetime' guarantees with their work ( that's not to say they're not worth the paper they're written on either ). Corrosion is notoriously difficult to prove after some years. Remember, it's from the inside out and has to be deemed a manufacturing fault.

 

Regardless of what Skoda may say, I'd question that the repair has to be carried out by an approved repairer.  Protectionism has been illegal in the EU for many years ( the UK still subscribe to that law ). What ever Skoda say, I think what they probably mean is that the warranty is maintained as long as approved parts and materials are used. I can't see how they can dictate who carries out that work - as long as it's carried out by a bona-fide repair professional then what's the problem? 

 

 ( Can I see Arnold Clark ever using approved parts and materials?   ) 

 

 

 

   

 

 

[Schtum]

13 minutes ago, kodiaqsportline said:

 

I have to stress again that this is not a One Call Insurance issue - it's an issue with who ever you're insured by and it'll be the same with which ever broker you go thru buying the same insurance.

 

 

 

As far as I've been able to establish, One Call are the underwriters as well.    The fact that they'll only pay £30 an hour for the repair; refuse the £2k quote from our local VAG approved bodyshop which is the one used by local VAG dealerships; have set an arbitrary limit of £1k on the repair, have tried to initiate a 'smart repair' with no understanding of the true extent of the damage, indicates that their claims management procedure is not fit for purpose.    

 

There is more but as you suggest...