An insurance question with a difference

[Bird]

So the Patrol has been at mechanics getting some work done for last 3 weeks.

Call from mechanic today goes along the line of
Mechanic: Hi Bruce, how are you this fine sunny day? Your car is ready and we were going to deliver it to your place for you to save you the hassles of getting here..
.. but..
Me: buts are never good
Mechanic: Truck has hit your car in the carpark.
Me: Yay me.

Anyway 15 mins later I get a call mechanics insurance broker saying I should put it through my insurance as
"we need to establish who is legally liable for the repairs, and once lawyers get involved who knows how long this will all take.. "
and how it wont cost me anything and it wont affect my insurance etc..

WTF?
Apparently the drivers father has been making noise about large excesses (lets say his name isn't anything like SMITH or JONES).. DILLIGAF?

Lets get it straight - the mechanic has been good about all this and everything that's been going on, I cant fault his attitude or gig at all.

At the moment my brain has had a total BSOD and cannot comprehend anything he said or why I would do this.


Surely this is a simple ...
1 - driver ****ed up
2 - he hit the Patrol
3 - his insurance pays for it.

What am I missing here.

[DrewXT]

Surely it's only alleged that he hit it?  Or is that only when someone gets killed?

And yes, it should be on the driver of the truck is they can be identified.

Tell the mechanics broker to go fark himself, and get a claim going.  It's their responsibility, given the vehicle was under the care of the workshop.  The excess of the truck driver is irrelevant if he's being difficult, as the mechanics insurance company will deal with that.

The large excess excuse usually translates to no insurance

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[Bird]

[rockrat]

Tell the mechanics broker to go fark himself, and get a claim going.

Who would you get a “claim going” through? I suggest you speak to your insurer and also tell the mechanic that you won’t pay for the repairs until it is all sorted as the car was in their custody at the time of the accident.

[KingBilly]

If you put a claim through your own insurance company, you will be up for the excess on your policy unless you can supply details of the other driver.  Get those details NOW from your mechanic regardless of what you choose to do as this may turn belly up.

Some insurers get you to pay the excess and only refund it when they have recovered their costs from the other party.  Check your policy.

Depending on your insurance claim history, whilst you may not pay the excess, you may suffer a premium increase for the next year, or even more.  Again, check your policy it may help determine your actions.

Not sure about Vic law, but in Qld if you don’t exchange personal details with the other driver, it becomes a reportable accident to police.  Your insurer gets a copy of the police report.

Good luck
KB

[doc evil]

wot he said^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Get the other driver's details...................pronto.......

[Bird]

wot he said^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Get the other driver's details...................pronto.......

The mechanic gave me all the details and info on the first call, so that isn't an issue.

I just cant get my head around why this insurance dude would suggest I go this way and why it would take forever to get the claim through working out who is liable for repairs - the mechanic or driver..it doesn't even get .00000000000000000000001mm inside my head, it just sounds far too stupid.

I'll call Shannons and ask their advice, but going off some Google reviews of them recently I'll be changing insurers after this.

[chester ver2.0]

Go through your own insurer and let them sort it out. They will pay to have your car fixed and then seek compensation through the mechanics insurance company.

The reason the mechanic probably wants you to use his company is that he will probably put himself then down as the repairer or he is under insured and will kick in some money himself

[tryagain]

Reading between the lines I think the mechanic has handballed it to his insurance broker as this is what he pays him for. If there is no dispute about who is at fault and the other driver has insurance then you should just be able to claim through his insurance company to get it fixed, they will chase him for the excess, nothing to do with you. As others have said, have a chat to your insurance and see what any repercussions of you claiming through your insurance are before actually going down that road.
To me there seems to be a missing piece or two of the puzzle, the likely pieces are he is disputing fault and or that the other owner is thinking that the damage might be less than his excess and therefore might not want to go through his insurance and make a claim so that is muddying up the process, hence their broker saying it would be quicker just to claim through your insurance.
The broker could also just be wanting to handball the chasing to your insurance company as they would likely go straight after the driver removing him from having to do anything.

[Bird]

So spoke with Shannons, and they said they cop this sort of guff all the time from cars hit by Gov buses and being told it will take forever to process etc etc... Baffling.

His suggestion is go through Shannons, and they can chase it. I have to fork out the excess which I'm not impressed about and I should get it back when they sort it all out.
Or
Go through the drivers insurance and as far as I can fathom - it should be the most straight forward claim the bloke at insurance company has ever processed.

Although reading some google reviews on Shannons in recent times, I think I'll let the mechanics insurance sort it all out. Personally I've never had an issue with Shannons - going back to 1994 with bikes - but never made a claim either.

So I'm no clearer on what to do.

Just called ARB Dande - ARB Deluxe bar in Black = $1869 - Supply coming November.

[scblack]

So spoke with Shannons, and they said they cop this sort of guff all the time from cars hit by Gov buses and being told it will take forever to process etc etc... Baffling.

His suggestion is go through Shannons, and they can chase it. I have to fork out the excess which I'm not impressed about and I should get it back when they sort it all out.
Or
Go through the drivers insurance and as far as I can fathom - it should be the most straight forward claim the bloke at insurance company has ever processed.

Although reading some google reviews on Shannons in recent times, I think I'll let the mechanics insurance sort it all out. Personally I've never had an issue with Shannons - going back to 1994 with bikes - but never made a claim either.

So I'm no clearer on what to do.

Just called ARB Dande - ARB Deluxe bar in Black = $1869 - Supply coming November.

I just had a repair to my Amarok done through NRMA. Wife was driving, idiot ran up the arse. Details were taken of the driver at fault. I made the claim to NRMA via my policy. As we had identified the party at fault, no excess was payable and claims bonuses not affected.

[geopaj]

I’ve been hit a couple of times (other parties at fault).

Each time I’ve submitted a claim through my insurance. My insurance company has approved the repairs and then sought reimbursement from the at fault party or their insurance company. Generally it is far easier to deal with your own company (especially when they know they will be getting reimbursed!) than some 3rd party’s insurance company who is trying to weezle out of the claim.

[fc_holden]

If you intend to lodge a claim remember that when you go to get quotes from other companies in future if you change insurance companies one of the things they ask is have you lodge any claims in the last 3 to 5 years and this will effect your future premiums, let the mechanic and his insurance sort it out and let him wear the costs and dramas of running around.
No wonder he wanted to deliver your car as he was / shifted the problem into your court

[Moggy]

Wonder if your mechanic is thinking it may get complicated as it happened in his car park as opposed to a gazetted road.

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[KingBilly]

Wonder if your mechanic is thinking it may get complicated as it happened in his car park as opposed to a gazetted road.

Didn’t think it mattered?

KB

[gronk]

Am I missing something......even though it was in the mechanics carpark, what has it got to do with him ? Surely the truck drivers insurance company is the one to deal with, not the mechanics ?

[NewieCamper]

If the truckie is going to muck you around, go straight for your insurance.

My mum had her car reversed into by a truck years ago. The driver said get me some quotes and I'll sort it. He didn't want to use his insurance due to excess/higher premiums. He mucked around and complained about the quotes etc, so mum went to her insurance got the car fixed and didn't think another thing about it.

[Rowlie]

Bird,
I have spent most of my life in this field. Your mechanic's broker is correct and the advice you have from Shannons is your best bet. It is quite likely that your mechanic has no legal liability but there are a number of aspects to be worked through before that is determined. The driver allegedly at fault may or may not have insurance which is not your concern except for your excess. Pay it - you will probably get it back - let the insurers sort out all the BS and believe me there will be a bit of it. Your insurer has obligations in relation to quality of repairs and lifetime guarantees etc. Neither your mechanic's insurer nor the driver's insurer have any such obligations. The impacts on future insurability, loss of claims ratings etc shouldn't be an issue given the circumstances.
Good luck mate - bit of a kick in the guts I know but I am confident Shannons will see you right. I have no affiliation with any insurers but I am familiar with the reputations of most and Shannons are not a bad one.
Rowlie

[DrewXT]

Who would you get a “claim going” through? I suggest you speak to your insurer and also tell the mechanic that you won’t pay for the repairs until it is all sorted as the car was in their custody at the time of the accident.

The mechanics insurer

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[nab]

Even if you give the person-at-fault's details to your insurance co you may not get your excess back.

Happened to me, another car crossed to my side of the road and caused a head on. I got the other driver's details from the police as all involved went to hospital. The insurance company chased the other driver but could not get the money from him for some reason so to this day I am still out of pocket the $400 excess...

[GGV8Cruza]

Come on Bird, 

What a pain in the butt 

GG

[kylarama]

Years ago I had to go through someone else's insurance for a not at fault accident.  Never again! 4 months of getting stuffed around.

Ever since, I've had full comp.  You pay your insurance every year, so use them to act on your behalf, regardless of who's to blame.
Get your car fixed with the repairs guaranteed and move on with life.  Let your insurance duke it out with the other parties.

A few months back the wifes Prado copped a boot root at the lights.  Other party offered to pay outside of insurance.

Out of courtesy we got one quote.  He scoffed at it and asked for 2 more quotes.
Rang our insurance straight away, had the car repaired the following week.  Never heard from the other guy again and never had to pay excess.

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[Garfish]

Had the same thing happen to our Navara at it's 1,000 km service at a week old, put it through our insurer NRMA they chased everything and even gave us replacement vehicle was a bit embarrassing driving a car covered in advertising saying jot my fault but was better than catching the bus, as the other party had to pay for it,  no excess.  This is why I have full insurance get it fixed and it is up to the insurance co to chase reimbursement from the other party,

[Bird]

So Update.
The damage is fark all thankfully...  Damage is solely to the bulbar... I was expecting panels, inner guards, doors etc... but thank 


Apparently the dudes tray was hooked up to the bulbar as you can see the patrol tyre slide marks where the whole front of the patrol was dragged 3ft to the left...

From what I understand the chick at the lunch shop was out having a fag next to the carpark...
She heard the commotion, and ran into mechanics shop to tell em what's going on...
They came out as it appeared he was tryin to do a runner but was hooked up..

So at moment I've told mechanic if dude buys new bar pays to fit etc... I'm happy with that (except no arb deluxe bars until November ).
So I'm waiting on a phone call.

Apparently the drivers dad has already asked mechanic to lie about who was driving as it will cost him +2000 excess for his son to have been driving. but mechanic told him to fark off he wont be involved in insurance fraud.. which I'm with.

[edz]

Soooo round it off at $2500 cash in your pocket from the truckies dad ....
Spend  5 minutes with a bit of superfine wet n dry  and a can of matt black paint and enjoy the two weeks family camping holiday at a destination of your choosing  courtesy of the incident .....