Car accident insurance claim

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Bally1

Guest
Does anyone have any advice on my predicament below?

I was involved in a minor car accident. There were no injuries. I was at fault as i bumped into the car in front of me. My car has little damage to it. The car in front had a dinted bumper (which has been replaced) and the boot was a little damaged also. I've heard from my insurance company that this has cost €2600 to repair. This seems a little excessive?

What should I do next?
 
Bally1 said:
I've heard from my insurance company that this has cost €2600 to repair. This seems a little excessive?
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If the work hadn't been done yet you could have asked to have the car given a quote by a mechanic of your choosing. Since the work is finished you've no longer got this option.

The rear bumper was damaged. A new bumper with labour to fit it would cost in the region of €300/€400 (total guess off the top of my head, very open to correction on any figures I guesstimate!)
The boot was damaged. A new boot and fitting (depending on the type of car [saloon/hatchback]) would be €600/€800

Were any of the lights damaged? Any dents to additional body work? Did the car have to be towed? Was the person compensated for the loss of the car for a day or two (technically they should be)?

It doesn't take a big accident to cause €2600 damage to a car. Chances are the real damage was closer to €1500, but as the person was claiming through your insurance the cost would climb.
(You'll often get two seperate quotes for work to a car. One if going through insurance and one if paying yourself)
 
Been trying to contact my insurance company all morning to see what repairs have been done, but they've still not called me back :(

No lights were damaged, no dents to anywhere else but the bumper, no tow truck was required as they could drive their car after. They were compensated for the days where the car was being fixed (i think this amounted to €100 - car hire fee).

About €1500- €2000 is what i was expecting to be told not €2600. It just seems like a lot for what actually needed to be done.
 
As is widely known, I work for an insurance company resolving claims; in this capacity I have often encountered 'small tips' costing in excess of €2000. A lot depends on the type/age of vehicle that you hit and the type of vehicle that you own. For instance VW's are very solid vehicles and can easily crumple the boot floor of a lighter weight vehicle.

Your insurance company would have employed an assessor to negotiate with the repairing garage. They would have done everything possible to reduce the cost of the repair - as there's no way that they will end up recouping the total amount from loading your premium.

As to Santanta saying that you could have got another mechanic to look over the vehicle - it may be possible sometimes, but usually the damaged party is entitled to take their vehicle where they like and unfortunately you/yr insurance co. have to wear it!!

Yr insurance company should be able to give you a complete breakdown of how €2600 was reached without any hassles - can't understand why they're being difficult with you. Its possible that the repair was only part of the pay-out - depreciation, inconvenience, car-hire for repair time and loss of earnings for the day of the accident would easily push the price up to €2600.
 
ACA said:
As to Santanta saying that you could have got another mechanic to look over the vehicle - it may be possible sometimes, but usually the damaged party is entitled to take their vehicle where they like and unfortunately you/yr insurance co. have to wear it!
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The damaged party is entitled to go where they want to have the work done, but where a quote is in question it is/should be possible to have a mechanic give a second opinion to see if the costs are out of line.

As you say, the insurance company has/should have done everything possible to reduce the cost so pretty much a mute point.

The OP asked what they could do, I just gave one of the options usually open to people if they act early enough.
 
Hi Bally1,

This does seem a little excessive based on your description of the accident but may well be a true figure. Do you have a broker handling your insurance, they should advise you. Perhaps ask to see the invoice/estimate. The car should have also been inspected by an assessor, it's their job to ensure the figure is accurate.

Michael (for Atlantic Insurance Brokers)
 
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