VAT on insurance payment

As the result of a car hitting the bumper of my jeep [ which was parked about 10 ft. in from the street ] I received a quotation from the local garage for €1730.00 inc. vat to repair the damage.Quinn-Direct [ the offending driver`s insurance co. ] will be picking up the tab.
The accessor called to look at the jeep and said that Quinn-Direct had agreed the figure with the garage to carry out the repair.He then told me that they would send the cheque to me less the vat,as I am a businessman and I could claim back the vat.However,my jeep is not commercial so this would not be possible.He continued to insist that I could claim it back so I told him to ring my accountant who confirmed what I had said during a somewhat heated discussion.
It took a few phonecalls before the accessor agreed to send the full amount including vat! to me.
If I had not stood up to him I would be out of pocket €190.00+.Is this a regular practice with insurance companies? I can assure you that I will never be dealing with Quinn -Direct again¬

Well you were only dealing with QD because you had to. Well done on spotting that they were obliged to pay out the VAT-inclusive amount. Perhaps they underestimate the intelligence of the general public. I'm surprised you had to bring in the accountant on this an hope he doesn't charge you too much for his involvement as it really wasn' t necesary (I hope!)

Typical of Quinn Direct, from what I've read.

If owner of vehicle were in aposition to reclaim the VAT, then payment would be ex VAT as that would be the repair cost.

Assessor was wrong to ASSUME you were VAT registered.

That could probably happen anyone, and is not necessarily a poor reflection on QD (with whom I have no connection)

The accessor asked me if I was registered for vat and I told him that I was.But I also told him that my jeep was not a commercial vehicle and was registered as a private vehicle.Even after I repeated this point to him he still insisted that I could reclaim the vat.I knew this could not be right and
decided to call my friend the accountant who confirmed my suspicions.
I assume that a bonus payment was at stake for the accessor if he could pull it off.Not this time mate!

All assessors viewing vehicles for QDI are independent and it is not worth their reputation and ultimately their livelihood to under value a vehicle or try and deny any one (policy holder or third party) money that is due to them for repairs. An assessor's job is to ensure that the repair price quoted is reasonable for the work being carried out, so that no-one is being ripped off. He makes savings where and when he can - usually on the hourly labour rate, amount of man hours and paint/sundries.

Donde, I'm sorry that you had so much trouble getting your claim settled to you satisfaction. VAT is a complicated issue and causes all kinds of paperwork problems, both with claims managers and the payments dept in head office but that is no excuse for it not being handled better by the people concerned. (Forgot to say that I work for QDI)

you can go through life thinking that evryone is trying to 'do' you with the odd exception or you can assume that everyone is good, with the odd exception - the choice is yours!

I do not think that assessor was trying to 'do' you. I think that it was an honest and quite nderstandable mistake.

Got cheque from QD today ......less vat.The garage quotation for repairs was €1730.00.QD and the garage had agreed on this price.I got a cheque for €1453.38.The difference amounts to €276.62 and,as I cannot claim it back,what am I supposed to do?Any suggestions ?

donde, my limited understanding of the vat issue is this:-
a) if any vehicle (passenger or commercial) has the log book in a company name then vat is deducted from the repair chq but made payable to the company - not the garage, company receiving the chq then pay for repairs including vat, get a vat invoice and claim the vat back.
b)If the log book is in an individuals name and the vehicle is a passenger vehicle then repair chq is paid including vat.
c)If the vehicle is solely commercial, (hiace, pajero etc. coming with no rear seats) and the individual is registered for vat then vat is deducted from the repair chq.

If you fall into category b as outlined above then you should contact the person who dealt with your claim to get the difference issued to you.