Insurance Company Hassles

[campbell]

JM Group Bodyshop Bonnyrigg is not Willowbrae, as I understand it.

That (Willowbrae) was a partnership developed by Señor Moncrieff. Worked well and bettered wherever they sent Lotuses previously. Wallyford somewhere, IIRC.

Bit messy but looks like you have some angles now?

[pete]

Oh and quick addition to my last.

What are you entitled to? I would suggest that you are entitled to having your car returned to you in the condition it was pre-accident. Not by the insurer but by the chap who hit you.
If what you are being offered is, to paraphrase, cash to the value of a poor quality respray then that ain't satisfying your claim. If it was a 250 GTO they would match the paint, so it is possible, they just don't want to do it - or more ot the point they don't want to pay for it.

Good luck but I'm guessing they will cave pretty quickly. But know that when you win Admiral isn't going to be insuring any Lotuses for a while...

[robin]

The other party has accepted full responsibility.

OK, but to be clear, that isn't the same thing as the insurance companies agreeing that's how to handle the claim. I am not saying that it won't end up that way, but your excess will apply until such time as the claim is settled and settled as their fault - hence I was wondering whether the reason they were suggesting your excess would come out of the settlement is because they may not yet have reached this position.

The cash settlement offer is in lieu of the whole claim. Think they want to avoid the issue of paint matching so don't want to offer the usual warranty. The car is currently with JM Accudent Repair in Bonnyrigg, which is where Murray Motirs (lotus) advised me to go. I've made it clear I'm not satisfied with the offer.

Definitely don't take them up on that ... unless you're going to take it to Willowbrae and they've already quoted you 20% less than JM ... because then chances are you'll get a good paint job & a few quid for beers And to be honest that's quite unlikely - because I think the insurance repair rates are screwed down. The problem is you take the cash, go somewhere else, get a better quote ... but then you need to pay VAT!!!

Cheers,
Robin

[IanD]

JM group is the 'recommended' bodyshop for a number of insurance companies and probably what Murray state as the official bodyshop, as Campbell mentioned Willowbrae was more a Craig partnership with Martin in Willowbrae who had a lot of experience of Lotus.
I've had bodywork done at both, I had a claim on a guaranteed repair for an Elise I bought from someone else, took a long time for them to accept liability and quality wasn't great, work had to be redone when I went to collect as I didn't accept it, final job still wasn't perfect. I've also subsequently had work done at Willowbrae for another incident as my choice of repair service and quality was so much better. I'd discuss with Martin at Willowbrae.

[Simon82]

Sounds like they are looking for cheap fix which doesn't make sense considering it was a non fault claim.

I don't understand why paint matching even came into the conversation personally. Any decent body shop will match and "blend" the paint on any repair because that in itself is part of the repair process.
Is it a bespoke paint colour or finish? Some are more difficult to match than others (metallics and pearlescent finishes usually due to flake or tinted lacquer or specific base coat). There are various paint codes for every colour with each one being a slightly different shade and its down to them to match the shade to your car and mix it accordingly. If they are lazy they will not check it and mix up a generic batch of paint rather than taking the time to match it with the car but this is a body shop issue as opposed to an insurance issue. As far as blending goes this usually involves restoring the paint on the panels adjacent (ideally they would do the whole car) so it is back to original colour and therefore matching the fresh paint by removing any bleaching/fading....

I seem to have got carried away there, apologies, my dealings with them in the past is they will push for the easiest option for them and you have to fight for what you want ( and essentially paid for when you took out the policy). Stick to your guns as mentioned and you should get the result you are after.....just don't expect to be able to insure with them next year even though it wasn't your fault...

[H8OAG]

Admiral appear to use this as a tactic now.
When Holly's Mini kissed the rear end of a builders van on the M8, Admiral assessed the car and made me a cash offer initially of £2800 to repair the front end damage. I pushed back on the basis that the repair shop had shared with me that the full repair costs they had submitted to Admiral were over £4000.
I got the parts list and labour estimate and priced it myself ...resulting in eventually getting agreement on the full repair....albeit after I sent an email to the CEO aking if he supported the cost saving initiative his company were deploying in encouraging people to return to the roads in partially repaired cars.

I changed my BMW Insurance last month only to find out it was underwritten by Admiral.......................oops

[Kelvin]

Few bodyshops will guarantee to paint match, especially older cars that have the original paint. I had my bumper repainted on my black S4 and they said they'd try and paint match but in the end did the whole bumper for the same price.

It is worth reminding yourself from time to time that insurers don't care about you as a customer. You're either a liability or asset depending on your claim status.

[campbell]

It is worth reminding yourself from time to time that insurers don't care about you as a customer. You're either a liability or asset depending on your claim status.

Very profound.

A decent broker may help. I've found this only very recently. The "direct" model has its flaws...

[Dominic]

Is there still claim handling companies on the go? I know a few folk who had good results using them, albeit around 8 - 10 years ago.