[URGENT] Amended quote for insurance

[DuckKnuckle]

Hey guys,

So last year on December 1st, a guy in a company car drove into my BMW. Took the insurance 5 months to eventually pay me out (claimed from the person who hit me instead of from my own insurance) and I've now booked in my car. Car went in to the Auto Atlantic BMW Repair Center on Friday May 8th.

I just received a call from Auto Atlantic telling me my front bumper, which was supposed to be repaired and resprayed, is actually cracked underneath, beyond repair and needs replacing. This is an extra R5 420.

Now - do I fight the insurance to pay out this extra sum (provided their client hit me) or do I fight Auto Atlantic for not spotting that damage when they assessed my vehicle?

 

[Nastaliq]

These guys use a system that includes all parts when assessing for replacement in the event of an accident.

They select the parts of the car where damage have occurred and the system then picks all the parts implied and spits it out onto a sheet, which then gets labour, paint, stripping and assembly added onto it, totalling the quote.

This is then submitted to the assessor/ adjuster for your insurance company, who will then also view the car and either agree with the quote (thereby recommending it go ahead) or adjust it, removing parts that the dealership wants to replace, that can in fact be repaired.

They may have done this with your bumper, where the repair shop said, we need to replace the bumper and your assessor said fack off, you will fix it (make good). and thus your insurance company pays money less the cost of the new bumper.

Now when the guys open things up, they say fack, we cant repair this damn thing, it needs replacing and you are now where you are.

basically, ask for the original assessment report from BMW repair centre and see if a bumper is on there, if so, your assessor has probably removed it.
If its not on there, then both the assessor and BMW repair are to blame, the repair centre for not picking it up in the first place, and your assessor for not including it, in his subsequent inspection to authorise.

there are a lot more guys on here, that have much more exposure to this seedy industry and so could advise you better.

 

[Tris]

Hey Bud

Sorry to hear,

I work for an insurance company,

Did You sign a disclaimer eg full and final settlement?

I will chat to one of the guys in our Legal (3rd party) dept and get back to you tomorrow

 

[DuckKnuckle]

I viewed the original quote, and it states the bumper was to be repaired.

The third party's insurance then sent out an assessor who agreed the quote was fair and that was final.

I have called the insurance and advised them of the damage and that it needs to be replaced. They will be calling me back tomorrow.

I think, as Nastaliq said, the blame is on both BMW and the third party assessor for not picking up the damage.

 

[dvst8]

Just as an example.

A few years ago my mate drove my car into his neighbours wall. They got a quote to repair the wall and it was way off. My insurance agreed to pay them as per the quote they supplied.

After a few days they called me to say that its going to cost much more than the original quote. My Insurance said, sorry, u supplied a quote and thats the amount claimed so thats what they will pay.

There was nothing that could be done, they had to settle with their original quote amount.

 

[DuckKnuckle]

Do you feel BMW should be liable for the extra costs as they were at fault for not picking up the issue before sending off their quote?

This is a best practice with a lot of companies.

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[ShirazA]

Why did u not just claim from your insurance..... car would have been repaired a long time ago without all the agro. ... either way you still need to let your insurance know that you had an accident or it could affect subsequent claims due to non disclosure

 

[DuckKnuckle]

Hey guys sorry for the late update! These past 2 weeks have been madness at work.

I know I should've claimed off of my own insurance, but this was the first accident I've been in in my 4 years of driving so I wasn't 100% sure on the procedure.

Anyway, after BMW told me the bumper should be replaced and I was liable, I got into quite a fight with them.

Eventually, after 39 emails back and forth, and showing them all the quotes they and their other repair center had given me, they agreed to repair the bumper at no extra cost to myself.

I've just gotten home after not having the vehicle for 3 weeks, and it does feel good being back in a BMW. They just forgot to respray my left sill so it does need to go back, however it'll be a day tops.

I'm glad BMW took this route instead of downright refusing to do anything further, but I feel this resolution should've been reached a lot earlier.

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