[Rajput]

Hello. On Saturday was at a junction, started to pull out, but decided not carry on and stopped. A couple of moments later, bang! The car behind drove into the back of me. I got out, he said 'sorry mate, I thought you'd gone'. Anyway, as a result I now have a damaged bumper caused by the other driver's car number plate screw which holds the number plate in place. It has punched a hole clean through about 7mm wide. The bumper no longer has the 'clean line' that it used to.

Have been to see my local BMW dealer, and who says it can't be repaired/filled in, and therefore a new bumper is required. Cost estimate £1,200!! Also contacted another dealership and who estimated at least £1,000.

BMW dealer said that my insurer doesn't have them on their approved list of repairers, but that if I used a company the dealership recommends, then this company will sort everything out for me and I get to have the repair done by BMW dealer. I also don't have to worry about paying any excess, and that they can arrange a hire car too. I don't need a hire car, but do want a main dealer repair.

Q1. Anyone else used this method (not sure if this is some kind of credit hire company) to get their repair done?
Q2. What is the ad/disadvantage of going via this route instead of via my own insurer?
Q3. Can my insurer (Direct Line) prevent me from getting the repair done by a main dealer? (Hence the dealer's recommendation to use their 'approved' company to sort it all for me).

I have yet to contact my own insurer; I'm also still waiting for the other driver's insurance details (early 20s on his mother's car insurance); he previously said that if it was less than £500 he might prefer to not involve the insurance company, and settle privately. Have contacted him earlier today with the price estimate, requested his insurance details again, and he said he'll reply tomorrow.

The other thing is that I am making a claim against the other driver's insurer and I don't know what their policy on using main dealer or not is. Presumably the Dealer's 3rd party company ignores this aspect and no doubt has some kind of business relationship with BMW main dealers for referrals (and £££s)!

I would value your opinions or experiences. Thanks.

[ab156]

You pay insurance for a reason, you should have advised them as soon a possible after the incident. You may be in breach of your policy already... As you are not at fault there will be no impact on your policy and they will do all the leg work. You will need to pay the deductible but will get the refunded.

Given the other party is currently withholding his insurance details I would be concerned. Not sure of the process in the UK but I would be making a police report including the involved parties details. Costs nothing, could save you the cost of repair down the track. At the moment all you have is a verbal admission of responsibility which is useless.

I never understand why people want to make the simple complex. It is a minor repair job that will need to be competed to your satisfaction. Unless there is more to the story I don't understand your desire to use the "main dealer". If this really is a major issue for you for reasons not stated then you need to review your insurance policy and move to one that allows you to select repairer of choice.

[Benf]

I have been using one of BMW's recommended companies too.

The other insurer has been an absolute nightmare and long story short, have had a hire car for 10 weeks now at a cost of £21000.00 To put it in perspective the cost of the damage was £2500. 520d is £300 per day!

I have to say they have been very good with dealing with it, but it has been very slow due to the third party arguing about absolutely everything and disputing liability for 2 months when their driver ran into the back of me. Third party insurers have eventually accepted liability. We are now seemingly bickering about every single panel to be repaired or replaced.

On the upside I have. It had to pay my excess and there is no liability to myself for any of the costs.

If you are not at fault you can dictate where you car is repaired and normally even if you go through your own insurers you also have this right but may not get a courtesy car. I hope this helps!

[F30AM]

On August 4th my car was reversed into by a neighbour's motor home and sustained damage to the front bumper and nearside Adaptive Xenon. Cost £1919.63p to fix by BMW (perfect job).

I had a witness who saw the whole thing. I am still waiting for the 3rd Party Insurer to settle as my Insurance Company sent the witness statement to the wrong inbox of the 3rd Party Insurer! Both my Insurer and the 3rd Party Insurer are part of the same company! The 3rd Party has denied all responsibility as he thinks there was no witness. Previous to that, my Insurance Company accused my witness of causing the accident and requested the 3rd Party to send a witness statement! Now how crazy is that?!

[matx1982]

Do not contact your insurer, it has nothing to do with them unless you choose to make it.

Go through BMW... have experience of this myself, and the figures are identical!

Mat

[Rajput]

Hi. Thanks for all of your responses.

There is nothing 'unusual' about my situation that I haven't declared! It's just that when I went to the main dealer he said that they would most likely not be on my insurer's approved list and therefore I'd have to get the repair done 'elsewhere' and by inference non-BMW. I suppose I have a concern that the work might not come up to BMW standard - although some might argue that I might get an even better job done elsewhere!

I was actually calling my insurance yesterday but decided to post on here to learn of others' experiences first.

I've not come across this idea of using a dealer approved company to sort out my claim before, and because the estimate was so big, I wondered if it was a bit of a scam, even if I am claiming against the other party. I find not having to pay an excess upfront appealing by using this method.

I don't really need a hire car but obviously want a good job done and to my mind, main dealer will use all of the correct parts and paint shade, etc.. A sort of piece of mind but nothing more than that.

The other driver still hasn't furnished me with his details; although in his defence he was waiting to see if it would be a cheap repair. But regardless of this, I've now asked him twice and nothing.

I'm waiting for main dealer to call me back as others have tried this with success with the approved company approach.

[Hprice1099]

Personally I don't see why the dealer is saying this, when I picked my car up the dealer told me if I'm ever in an accident call the number on the tax holder to have the car picked up and taken straight to the dealer for repair. It's YOUR choice where you have the car repaired not the insurance company, that's what I learnt last November after a driver pulled out in front of me
If you are going to have it repaired via your insurance you need to tell them ASAP. Good luck

[F30AM]

Originally Posted by Hprice1099

Personally I don't see why the dealer is saying this, when I picked my car up the dealer told me if I'm ever in an accident call the number on the tax holder to have the car picked up and taken straight to the dealer for repair. It's YOUR choice where you have the car repaired not the insurance company, that's what I learnt last November after a driver pulled out in front of me
If you are going to have it repaired via your insurance you need to tell them ASAP. Good luck

^ This ++.
And your Insurance company has no choice but to agree. They might not provide you with a courtesy car but the dealer will.

[matx1982]

Earlier this year someone went into the back of my F31, caused very slight damage.

I got a quote and it was £1200 from BMW. It wasn't going anywhere else to be repaired.

He went mad about that, not my problem... I am a reasonable guy but at the end of the day my car was damaged by him and I wanted it back to how it was. I wasn't asking for anything unreasonable. I wasn't prepared to take a risk with someone else so insisted BMW do it.

Sytner are very good at handling this for you - not sure who your dealer is. They have something called SytnerDrive. Basically they act like your insurance company would, but without causing you any bad record or penalty. Think of them as a stand alone company who work like so:

1) Assess damage and get a quote from Sytner
2) Sytner then contact the insurers of the person who hit you and begin recovering costs
3) Meanwhile work is done, you get a courtesy car of similar spec if you want one
4) They provide a free insurance policy to you, to fund you for the work done should the 3rd party not pay up.
5) Job done.

I'm sure plenty of other companies offer this sort of service, but the key thing here is it legally cannot affect your policy because you have not had a claim. You have no excess to pay because you are not claiming on your policy.

My advice is - DO NOT settle privately.

Hope this helps,

Mat

[teaston]

Go with accident exchange and get it repaired by BMW and get a like for like (but virtually new) courtesy car!

I have done this a couple of times and has been brilliant.

Oh and i'm pretty sure your insurance company couldn't stop you from using the repairer of your choice even if you make the claim through them!!

[zorroone]

Originally Posted by mlepyro

Do not contact your insurer, it has nothing to do with them unless you choose to make it.

Go through BMW... have experience of this myself, and the figures are identical!

Mat

Wrong. Your policy will most likely say you have to inform them within 48hrs of ANY incident that may lead to a claim. You should advise them immediately. You will not be penalised. There is no harm in informing them to keep yourself right. It does not mean you have to make a claim but gives them an opportunity to gather facts asap.

You do not have to go with a recommended repairer but if you don't you may have to pay a greater excess amount. However in your case if liability is not in dispute it will not matter as your insurance company will seek all costs from the third party insurer.

As you appear to be non-fault I would have the damage repaired by whoever will do the best job and leave it for the insurance companies to sort.

I certainly would not be trying to arrange for the third party to pay for the damage. In my experience this never works.

You may have to pay the excess amount after the repair until liability is agreed. This will be contained in the Insurance Policy which should be available on line.

Good luck.

[matx1982]

Had this discussion at the time it happened to me and the advice I was being given was that if you are not making a claim it is nothing to do with them. That is the key thing... you are not claiming anything.

It is no different to someone driving into you stationary so should be of no concern to your insurers.

SytnerDrive take the same stance.

Mat

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by zorroone

Wrong. Your policy will most likely say you have to inform them within 48hrs of ANY incident that may lead to a claim. You should advise them immediately. You will not be penalised. There is no harm in informing them to keep yourself right. It does not mean you have to make a claim but gives them an opportunity to gather facts asap.

You do not have to go with a recommended repairer but if you don't you may have to pay a greater excess amount. However in your case if liability is not in dispute it will not matter as your insurance company will seek all costs from the third party insurer.

As you appear to be non-fault I would have the damage repaired by whoever will do the best job and leave it for the insurance companies to sort.

I certainly would not be trying to arrange for the third party to pay for the damage. In my experience this never works.

You may have to pay the excess amount after the repair until liability is agreed. This will be contained in the Insurance Policy which should be available on line.

Good luck.

^^^This

Oh and you guys that want to make sure it is BMW that fixes your car?....insure with BMW then it is gaurenteed, even if it is your fault

[zorroone]

Originally Posted by mlepyro

Had this discussion at the time it happened to me and the advice I was being given was that if you are not making a claim it is nothing to do with them. That is the key thing... you are not claiming anything.

It is no different to someone driving into you stationary so should be of no concern to your insurers.

SytnerDrive take the same stance.

Mat

It not about making a claim. What does their policy document say. This is the contract between the insured and the insurer. If it states you have to inform them after ANY EVENT which COULD lead to a claim under the policy then you have an obligation to do so. You need to know what the policy says!

What if the third party insurer disputes liability. What would you do? Pay for a solicitor?

You can bet they will contact you insurance and make a claim against you.

[Rajput]

Update: got the details off my local dealer this am - Dick Lovett. They use accident exchange, who called me a bit later on. Explained all of the details. I was asked if I wanted a hire car, and I said I wasn't too bothered if I had one or not. The guy then said that if I didn't have a hire car then they couldn't proceed with the claim. They arrange for temp car insurance and also pay an insurance premium in case the 3rd party disputes the claim. They refer to all of this as a credit repair - AE sorts out all of the costs and then bills the 3rd party's insurer. I guess they make their money on the insurance premiums. With regard to the hire car, the AE guy was right because without a hire car I obviously have no transport and it could be a few days before I get mine back.

Anyway, whilst on the phone he asked me to hold whilst he checked if Dick Lovett could sort my car next Monday, they said yes, so it's being fixed next week! I have to say I'm impressed with the speed of all of this.

Oddly enough, Direct Line (the 3rd party's insurer and mine too) called me later in the day to find details about what had happened. They also stated that they will be agreeing the claim.

All in all so far, going well.

[matx1982]

Nice one

I think they make most of their make the money from the car hire. £300 - £500 a day isn't unheard of for a replacement BMW type of car.

All will go fine, and you'll know your car is back to original.

Mat

[Quakered]

I am with zorrone and think most of the advise on this thread is deeply flawed and, frankly, irresponsible. I am pretty certain that your insurance policy will require you to inform them of anything that could cause a claim. It you do not follow this requirement then you are in breach of contract and this would be very serious. There is every possibility that the company could use this breach to cancel your policy and therefore leave you uncovered.

If such a situation did arise, getting cover from another company could prove at best expensive and at worst, very difficult. I have worked for motor insurance companies and know that some will not touch a driver refused cover by another company....

You were rear ended by some kid in his mother's car. It is therefore possible that he might not be covered and you would therefore need your company to fund the repair. It would also appear that there are only two witnesses to this accident, you and the kid. What if he claims you reversed into him or denies it was him?

[F30AM]

It's interesting about Acident Exchange. I informed my Insurance Company about my damage, booked my car into BMW and within an hour I had a call from Accident Exchange. As I did not want a hired car due to the hassle of obtaining Residents' Parking Permits from the Council, they were not interested/able to deal with my claim.

My claim is still ongoing and thankfully this has not affected my Premium which has now deceased by £100! My Insurance Company are pursuing the Third Party with great gusto.

[Rajput]

Update 2: AE called me last Friday to arrange for me to collect a loan car from my local dealer's premises for Monday of this week. I thought it was the dealer itself that provided the loaner but not so. AE sent a driver + 320d m sport auto down from Brum, and said that once I'd had the call back from the dealer to say my repair was completed, to then just leave my car at the dealer's and to collect my own one. So far so good.

In AE's documentation there's a clause that says that I have to pay an 'admin fee' if they have to notify me of any driving offence e.g. speeding, etc. I contested this that I couldn't see why I should have to pay AE £25 on top of any other driving fine, but as the delivery driver I was dealing with couldn't change this, and I wouldn't get the loaner without agreeing, I had no choice. Anyway, this is not a problem as I'm not intending on getting any fines.

The dealer rang me yesterday to say AE had approved the repair and that my car will be ready for next Thursday, which struck me as a long time when previously they'd indicated a couple of days. Today though when I called the dealer, they said that as the parts had been delivered early, then my car might actually be ready for tomorrow, or at the latest, on Monday!

I also spoke with someone at AE HQ about whether to let my insurer know, and the response was that as I wasn't claiming on my own insurance, there was no need to, but that I might choose to do so to let my insurer know for 'information only' purposes. Sure enough I call DL, (and who already have a claim logged by the 3rd party), to ask if I needed to register any kind of claim/notice, and DL said I didn't need to, UNLESS I was going to make a claim on my own policy. So as I'm going via AE and which will claim against the 3rd party's insurer, there's no need for me to do anything. So I didn't bother any further.

With regard to the 3rd party denying it ever happened etc, there's always that risk, but I recall AE saying there was an additional premium payable for insurance which they take out to cover for this type of thing. They usually claim this premium back from the 3rd party. I don't know what the stats are for when they fail to get their money back.

I didn't think that I needed a loan car to start with, and as already stated above, without a loan car AE are not interested any further. However, as AE pointed out, I could be have been without another car for the duration of the repair, and which in my case could have been 10 or more days. I rely on my car too much in normal life, and for those situations when not having a car would be just too inconvenient/difficult. With hindsight, getting a loaner was the right thing to do; however, I also recognise that ultimately all of our premiums are just that little bit higher as a consequence - which I don't like.

My conclusion so far is positive. I've had another Beemer as a loaner as good or better than mine(?!), haven't had to pay any excess, am getting my car repaired by main dealer, been kept up to date and well informed by AE, and all generally hassle free. The delivery driver said that AE were the first ones to offer this 'service' around 10 years ago, but others had now followed suit. They've been around long enough to make their business model work, so it can't be (or hasn't been) all bad.

My overall impression is that were I or anyone else i know, to find themselves in a similar situation, I would recommend taking the route that I've followed.

[F30AM]

My claim was settled yesterday and the 3rd Party Insurer paid up and I got my excess back. Most delighted.

[zorroone]

Good news for you. I am delighted it seems to have worked out. On a word of caution though - There are No Free Lunches. AE are not doing it because they are nice people - they, like other accident management companies are in it for the money.

The insurance companies would rather deal with you directly as it would be cheaper for them. AE realise you, and they are in a win position and the first class service will be provided at a premuin price to the third party insurer. Nonetheless, ultimately WE all pay for this as these accident management companies are in it for profit, a middle man so to speak so NO Free Lunches, Insurance premiums rise - Good luck.

[F30AM]

[QUOTE=zorroone;15114145]Good news for you. I am delighted it seems to have worked out. On a word of caution though - There are No Free Lunches. AE are not doing it because they are nice people - they, like other accident management companies are in it for the money.QUOTE]

I did not use Accident Exchange or have a courtesy car from BMW even though they offered me one.