Insurance Collision repair recommendations

[WightRover]

Greetings all,

Regrettably my rag top Series pottering about has come to an abrupt end, not due to our change in weather - but thanks to another driver who decided to pull out in front of me at a give way junction...and stop half way.... If he had carried on, or even reversed a bit, Id have had half a chance avoiding him.  His new Peugeot didnt stand a chance, but unfortunately my Landy isn't sitting quite as straight as she used to..

Fair enough he admitted liability, and very quickly his insurers (The AA) were quick to get in touch and offer to manage all my repairs, collect the car, and supply another Land Rover 88 (lol) courtesy car while my repairs are carried out.  So far they havent lived up to the billing - their "Approved" repairer said "We dont cover your part of the world" (I live on the Isle of Wight), and also wouldnt touch the chassis - front left dumb iron has taken a visible knock. Tyre, bumper and wing all affected, Steering wandering a little more than usual - probably due to effect on suspension hanger positioning on dumb iron.   Latest from AA is they have appointed a so called independent assessor to visit and conduct an inspection, and go from there.  No contact from them yet, but my fear is that he'll think no-one will want to touch it, and what I thought was a fairly innocuous bump will turn into a write off - which I really dont want.

I'm pretty sure I have the option to nominate a repairer.  So my question is does anyone have any recommendations for a reputable Land Rover repairer preferably on the South Coast.

Thanks in advance

[Gareth]

Oh dear. What's your car worth and did it already have a galvanised chassis? Might be worth thinking about suggesting a new galvanised chassis would be cheapest way to fix?
There are companies who do straight chassis swaps, without rebuilding the whole vehicle.

[JonA]

Sorry can't help on repairers down your way.
but i would be very wary of having the other parties insurer taking charge. 
At the end of the day their only interest is in minimising their liability, not making your life easier.

Earlier this summer my wife had a similar incident  (not in my 2a fortunately) and within 20mins the at faults party insurer had messaged to acknowledge their liability and offer to manage the claim.  We went to our insurer, who because they knew they would be billing another company went all in with taxis, hire car the next day, collection of damaged vehicle the same day for assessment etc.  i am pretty certain that if left to the other side we'd still be waiting.

& if you are on a classic or specialist policy i would suggest it might be better to get them involved, in the hope that they have a better understanding of your 88".

all the best

[Wittsend]

I 100% agree ^^^ - get your insurers involved, it's what you've paid them for.


 

[Beowulf]

....Fair enough he admitted liability, and very quickly his insurers (The AA) were quick to get in touch and offer to manage all my repairs.....

I've never heard of that before, sounds totally bonkers  didn't your insurers have anything to say about it?

[diffwhine]

Definitely get your insurance company to handle this. Do you have an agreed valuation on it, because with chassis damage, there is a risk it could get written off. Would be worth your while ringing round a few Land Rover specialists and asking how much for a chassis replacement and keeping those figures in reserve for when both insurance companies start playing silly whatnots. They will do once the real cost comes out. Meanwhile make the most of the loan hire vehicle from their insurers. The other insurerers will want you out of that as fast as possible as it will be costing them a fortune. If you are not to fussed about getting this resolved quickly, play the game - you might end up with a new chassis and a rebuild.

Forget conventional body shops for this repair. This needs a LR specialist - its far more mechanical work than body work. There are plenty around the southern area who could handle this.

[Wittsend]

....Fair enough he admitted liability, and very quickly his insurers (The AA) were quick to get in touch and offer to manage all my repairs.....

I've never heard of that before, sounds totally bonkers  didn't your insurers have anything to say about it?

Happened to me a couple of years back now. Car park shunt smashed the front end of my Fiesta. By the time I got home (10 minutes) I had a call from the agents of the other driver's insurers admitting liability and they would handle my claim and expenses.
They couldn't do otherwise - this is where dash cam technology comes in handy 

I should coco - got straight onto my own insurers, got a courtesy car next day. The repairs took 6 weeks Covid and Brexit some of the parts were still in Germany. No blame on my record and my excess was paid for.
My car came back as new and the next day a disgruntled customer torched the accident repair centre, all cars destroyed, a lucky escape.

[AlexB]

Jon Holmes of Cross Channel Classics (Brighton) wuold be able to help, or even try Dormobile UK ltd

[WightRover]

Oh dear. What's your car worth and did it already have a galvanised chassis? Might be worth thinking about suggesting a new galvanised chassis would be cheapest way to fix?
There are companies who do straight chassis swaps, without rebuilding the whole vehicle.

Its probably in the mid teens for £££ - ultimately a new galv chassis would be an ok outcome - I'll be trying to get hold of quotes and put them in the hand of the insurance engineer when he visits.

Cheers

[Jimbo]

So you haven't involved your own insurance company in all of this?
You're just dealing independently with the other parties insurance company?
They will be looking to pay you the minimum amount they can, that's why they have offered to deal with it.
They are not bound by any agreed valuation you may have with your own insurance company.
I would imagine that the current market value for a write off would be cheaper than any quote to repair.
You will also require evidence to show the current market value, start finding adverts for equivalent vehicles for sale.
You may well have it in the small print of your insurance that you can specify the repairer, the other company will not honour any such agreement.
I would get my own insurance company to deal with it, giving you the protection that you pay for. If the other party have admitted liability then all costs will be recovered from them.
Beware, the other company will be looking to fulfil their liability for a cheaper price, not to do the right thing.

[109+1]

What ever you do don't let them remove the vehicle, keep it in your physical location, if they remove vehicle you are already on the back foot. Make the work hard to resolve your situation.

[Worf]

I totally agree with the above advice. DO NOT under any circumstances deal with the other parties insurance company. Allow your own insurance company to deal with it - that is what you pay them for after all.

 DO NOT allow the vehicle to be removed from your premises. A good friend of mine did just this and they immediately wrote the vehicle off, although it was an easy (and affordable) repair (front dumb irons bent sideways but not a lot else) . Once their engineer had written off the vehicle as unrepairable (cat ) it was impossible to get this decision reversed. They did not pay out the "agreed value" either.

[Theshed]

It is your car so you can have the repairs done wherever you choose. Regardless of what yours or the third party insurer try's to tell you.
Of course the cost of the repair has to be agreed beforehand but that is where a decent independent engineer would be called in.
Of course having agreed value insurance will help, but they may still not agree to repairs.