Yet Another Insurance/Accident Question

[brodfloyd]

Originally Posted by davway

what you need to do, and what you should have done in the very first place was get in contact with your insurer.
if you had have, you wouldnt find yourself in the position you are now.
you pay them for a reason, to cover your ar$e when you need it most.
i suggest you get on the phone to them and start sorting it out immediately.
dont worry about ratings and excesses and all that, just get it sorted and worry about the other stuff later.

yeah hindsights a beautiful thing mate, but when you put a dint in someones bonnet of their s hitbox fully sick lancer, you expect that maria's dad/bro/cuz will ring you the next day to organise to take it to cousin habibs panel shop for a 200-800 dollar fix, you dont expect this to happen. I didnt think that i could do 3 grands damage to a 1995 lancer and not even scratch the falcon.

My insurance will handle it no problems, but i thought i was within my rights to ask how much it was approx going to cost before i made a claim. it seemed silly to make a claim and pay excess for what could be a $200 repair.

i only found the cost of repairs to the other vehicle on monday after me ringing them 3 times, the accident happened on the 17/8, so its nearly 2 months after the fact. If i hadnt, i would still be waiting and i'd get a bill from a debt collecter some time in the future, to which i'd be "hang on, i havent even got a quote yet"

I only jacked up because the cost much more than what i expected, and that the cost of repairs is more than the cars value. I was treated like I'd deliberately smashed up her car and told her to get stuffed. i was curious because i thought that i would have more rights than i do, after all its called a car accident. ACCIDENT

Hopefully anyone on the forum who has a similar experience will do just as you say, inform their insurance immediately. I hope this serves as a warning, because even though I have done everything I could (logging calls, requesting advice off many sources, phoning ombudsman, chasing the insurane company) I got treated like a criminal.

[Yaw]

Mate, I work in motor claims.

What I have said in my previous post is exactly what seems to have happened. I am in no way trying to say told you so.
It is truly amazing the cost of what appears to be minor damage. I assume you will be lodging a claim with your insurer. So what they will do is have RACV send thier proof of loss, ie (the repair bill & photos if they were taken prior to repair). Your insurer will have thier professional assessor look over it make sure it is a fair and reasonable repair price for the job done. In my experience 99% of repair bills done by other companies are spot on the money and there is no dispute lodged with the exception of any delivery fees which are by normal practice put on at $5.00 and we do not pay that.

When lodging a claim it can be a struggle to get people to believe their repairs will be more than thier excess (most standard excesses are between 350-500) and then they ring up saying they have a letter of demand from the other persons company asking for $xxxx amount. you get things like " have next to no damage, how could I cause that much?" hen when you explain to them, have you had your car looked at yet?, they usually say it is so minor i was not going to worry about it. Finally you coax them into lodging a claim as the excess will not only look after the damage they have done but thier damage too. Then when you follow the claim through you find out thier damage far exceeds the damage they were being asked to pay.

I suppose all i am saying is that most people do not understand the true cost of repairs. A small bumper scratch can be near $1000 to repair alone.
What i suggest you do is to follow through with your insurer and ask them to let you know after the assessor has been through the other persons bill and see if they think it is a fair and reasonable bill. I bet you they say it is.
I am sorry if I sound unsympathetic, i am not trying to be...Just sometimes it is best just hear the facts rather than sugarcoating it.

[brodfloyd]

Originally Posted by Yaw

Mate, I work in motor claims.

What I have said in my previous post is exactly what seems to have happened. I am in no way trying to say told you so.
It is truly amazing the cost of what appears to be minor damage. I assume you will be lodging a claim with your insurer. So what they will do is have RACV send thier proof of loss, ie (the repair bill & photos if they were taken prior to repair). Your insurer will have thier professional assessor look over it make sure it is a fair and reasonable repair price for the job done. In my experience 99% of repair bills done by other companies are spot on the money and there is no dispute lodged with the exception of any delivery fees which are by normal practice put on at $5.00 and we do not pay that.

When lodging a claim it can be a struggle to get people to believe their repairs will be more than thier excess (most standard excesses are between 350-500) and then they ring up saying they have a letter of demand from the other persons company asking for $xxxx amount. you get things like " have next to no damage, how could I cause that much?" hen when you explain to them, have you had your car looked at yet?, they usually say it is so minor i was not going to worry about it. Finally you coax them into lodging a claim as the excess will not only look after the damage they have done but thier damage too. Then when you follow the claim through you find out thier damage far exceeds the damage they were being asked to pay.

I suppose all i am saying is that most people do not understand the true cost of repairs. A small bumper scratch can be near $1000 to repair alone.
What i suggest you do is to follow through with your insurer and ask them to let you know after the assessor has been through the other persons bill and see if they think it is a fair and reasonable bill. I bet you they say it is.
I am sorry if I sound unsympathetic, i am not trying to be...Just sometimes it is best just hear the facts rather than sugarcoating it.

nah mate, you are completely right.

Its not really the cost that i am upset about though now, it just took me a while to get over the shock of it, i still think that something funny is going on, but that isnt what im upset about. its that they told me they would send out quotes and didnt, then accused me of lying about it and not having insurance. then after getting it repaired they sent it to a debt collector without letting me know anything for 2 months and i still wouldnt know what was going on unless i chased it up. I didnt think they could do that. I was left completely out of the loop then told they could do whatever they want and send me a bill for it and i couldnt do squat, i find this wrong.


its a side issue that they repaired her car for more than it is worth and my insurance will chase that up. I could have bought her 1.5-2 of her cars for what it has cost to repair it.

I just found them unlike you to be confrontational and aggressive whenever i asked something. When i have asked things on this forum, even though i havent heard exactly what i wanted to hear it was always delivered pleasantly and the racv and ombudsman were the direct opposite.

i'd like to thank everyone for their advice on the matter. I wasnt trying to get out of paying, i just felt like i was being taken for a ride being not told anything and getting billed by a 3rd party for doulbe the car i hits value.

[XR06T]

i think that i would have done things the same way as you mate, not knowing any better, but this has really opened my eyes!

not real good form when you ask them to send out quotes, next thing you know they have a debt collector onto you!

i guess it is better to get your insurance company onto it and just deal with them. they will be able to tell you when where and how much repairs are going to be.

best of luck with your insurance company!

[brodfloyd]

so i finally got a bill from a dept collection agency today.

If i hadnt have chased this up, i would have not heard anything from them for 2 months then recieved a bill for over 2500 in the mail from a 3rd party demanding payment in 5 days or i face legal action.

Still received no quotes or any other documentation from the RACV like i had asked.

Oh and the total of the bill is now 200 dollars more expensive than what i was quoted over the phone when i last spoke to them.

Our insurance is handling it now, it just makes me angry that i have been treated with such little regard when i only acted in good faith through the whole process.

To recap;

- they Fix a car for substancially more than its worth, told me that they would send me quotes (which was wrong) then did not contact me at all for over 2 months about anything, did not provide me with any documentation at all even when requested and all the while be as unhelpful as possible. Then because they have assumed (wrongly) that i have no insurance, they fob it off to a 3rd party.

- oh and the price has increased again?!?!?

-

[LTDHO]

brodfloyd thanks for the update and bumping the thread.
I started reading this until FairBA's 3rd post, as it seemed everyone of those posts were so fair from the truth it was amazing.

An insurer will only repair a car for more than it's worth if the policy holder has a sum insured/agreed value policy. However, if this is the case, you will only need to pay the market value less the estimated wreck value or the cost of repairs, which ever is lesser.
Also it will take a few months to receive the final figure.
You will only be given estimates until then. Realistically until the job is done, the actual amount is not known. You need to allow for the repairs to be done, repairer to take a few weeks to invoice, confiormation then received from the client the car is repaired to satisfaction, then the recovery comenced.
What contact would you want during this time?
The insurer has given you an estimate. This allowing you to either save or lodge your own claim. Nothing has changed during that 2 month period.

[brodfloyd]

thanks ltdho, i didnt know anything about insurance, hence why I started this thread hoping that some of the users here with their thousands of years of experience combined would be able to help, and they have.

I take your point, but the repairs were done and completed in the weeks after the accident. I didnt ever get a quote even though i have asked for one on more than one occasion, i just got a total figure over the phone. I still havent recieved any correspondance from the racv. but they fixed the car in august, and im now getting a bill from a debt collector which i have to pay, no buts.

The bill is now 200 dollars higher than what i was told too.

I dont know what work was done, as i wasnt ever notified or sent anything except for the bill yesterday, which wasnt even from the RACV and just said damages = to 2512.32. But the car has been repaired long long ago. I wouldnt even have known i was going to get this bill unless i had kept ringing them.

I would have had the accident, got the "we'll mail you a quote" call, then waited over 2 months for the 'pay 2500 in 5 days or else letter'.

as i said insurance is gonna handle it, but its a good warning for anyone else who is as nieve and inexperienced as me in the future

[LTDHO]

They only need to give an estimate from the start, they do not need to provide you with quotes. As it is un-neccessary.

As I said two weeks after the accident the repairs were complete. Insurer waits for invoice which will be paid assuming it matches the assessors report. (This may take weeks if there were extras, ie $200.) Then once all paid and client phoned the money is recovered.

So the timeline you experienced isn't outside the normal.

Just because the panelbeater wants another $200, the insurance comp will not pay it just because they are getting it back. If not justified they would not have paid it and neither would you.

[brodfloyd]

I think you are confused mate, i probably wasnt clear

"They only need to give an estimate from the start"

They didnt. i never recieved any communication from them as to any estimate, thats what i'm griping about.

i only got just the total cost of repairs 6 weeks later on the phone after i rang the RACV for the 3rd time.

then i got the bill 3 weeks even later and its gone up another 200 dollars from what i was told over the phone by the racv. And its from a debt collector.

I dont know who the panelbeater was, and it doesnt matter.

I havent recieved before or after the fact any details on the repairs, just the total cost on the phone, then a 200dollars more expensive cost in a debt collectors letter.

I would have heard nothing if i hadnt kept ringing them.

i hope that clears it up.

[LTDHO]

OK, they should have given an estimate.

Request a breakdown from the debt collector.

Send it as a fax (they prefer that) and state. " Whilst there is no dispute in liability, I request a breakdown of the amout you have requested"

[brodfloyd]

thanks mate, your advice is much appreciated.

Unfortunately, they apparantly do not have to give me an estimate as i was told this by both the racv and the insurance ombudsmans office.

And its looking more likely that the car was repaired for more than its worth and i didnt think that this was the usual procedure, however i'm sure i'll end up being wrong about this too.

I clearly have very little idea about all this, but it just all seems a bit wrong from where i am and i'd like to be clear on everything before i hand over my hard earnedm or make a claim.

thanks again though

[Sorted]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

Send it as a fax (they prefer that) and state. " Whilst there is no dispute in liability, I request a breakdown of the amout you have requested"

WRONG - NEVER admit liability, especially in writing to the other party's insurance company as you may jeopardise your claim with your own insurer.

And for you LTDHO you should read the RACV PDS:-
 you must not attempt to settle the claim without our permission, or make any admissions to anyone about the incident, otherwise we may not pay the claim

Usually an RACV recovery company sends out one letter of demand with no information what so ever SO all you have to do is write back to the recovery company and tell them that for you to even consider their claim any further you require a copy of the assessors report, and all applicable repair documents and invoices.

BUT as you said your insurer is handling it so you don't have to worry about anything other than passing on any correspondence you receive from the other party or other party's insurer.

Originally Posted by LTDHO

.....I started reading this until FairBA's 3rd post, as it seemed everyone of those posts were so fair from the truth it was amazing........

Big call from some one who has advised how to go about this the wrong way