The Insurance Company are NOT Happy

It's Back ..

Thanks to S&L Automotive the MH is back and ready for London on Thursday .. Bit of Christmas shopping ..
 
Hope you are happy with repair, did you have to pay your exes?

No nothing. The other guy hit us while we were parked and his insurance company admitted liability. We used S&L Automotive as they were recommended by Saga and the other insurer were happy to deal direct so we did not have to pay anything. Got a couple of minor dings sorted as well :) . SWMBO said it looks really good. I had a quick look tonight but it was a bit dark.
 
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That's what I'm talking about. The real scammers are not the insurers but the body repair shops and the claims lawyers laying on heavy costs because "insurers will be paying".

I know there are loss adjusters but even these guys can get overridden. And their fees are yet more costs which need to be met out of the premiums.

Not the Body Repair Shops fault in any way, I did a lot of Insurance work and you cannot use pattern parts or even repair panels unless it involved just a rub down and respray, it has to be repaired to as new (there are exceptions if original panels are not available), that is why when you go for a quote the first question they ask is "is it an Insurance claim?"
 
Everyone is in for a piece of the action. You should have seen the original quote using new parts. The side skirts were £1200 without the rest of the bits. We finished up having the side skirts refinished. A new wheel arch trim and the rear corner one was repared and painted to match. The guys at S&L Automotive have been really good. They came and collected it and did have It ready for the Friday but could not deliver Iit back as they were short staffed but we could have collected it. Anyway everything is sorted now. Biggest problem Is getting parts which is why they have Ivested in kit to repair the old ones because the parts just arn't available for some of the older beasts ....
 
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glad to hear everything is ok ,as accident repairs can be a nightmare nowadays . its about time repair instead of replace was adopted ,it would work out cheaper in many cases ,less vehicles would be written off due to cost ,and if you could pick where you wanted to have the vehicle repaired instead of insurance companies farming the work out to repair centers that charge the earth .i worked in the motor trade and we used to take accident work we repaired instead of use new parts a lot of the time ,just as good a job but cheaper .i only have had one car written off thank goodness a lada riva a few years ago , for a dent on the front wing and a broken headlight .the assessor came out spent 10 mins looking at the car went and about a week later i had a letter from the insurance company saying uneconomical repair offered me a payment cannot remember how much i accepted . a while later i got in touch with the company asking what they intended to do with the car ,there answer was nothing it would have cost too much to have it picked up so i could do what i wanted with it . i repaired it second hand head light, and filler and paint for the wing and ran it until the mot ran out must have cost all of a tenner to mend it . ps i know it was a lada but it was a great car
 
i wouldent buy new even if i could afford to (well i could if i got chukkied up to my arm pits) for a start off depreciation massive loss as soon as you register in your name ,then to park it out in the gutter for some idiot to bash dent scratch or attempt to nick .have to pay a monstrous insurance premium only to be told if you need a claim that its not worth half of what you payed for it ,not for me. my last van saw me a nice profit when i sold it after 6 years of great enjoyment as for my cars last one a seat Alhambra cost nothing it was swopped for an merc that was basically scrap due to immobilizer probs, 2 years running little spent on it as i never ever service a car apart from safety issues brakes/steering , sold at a nice profit of 400 quid .now a rover 25 175quid its payed for itself already so owes me nowt if i scrapped it tomorrow i would be in profit, thats cheap motoring in my opinion .they only get fully comp insurance as its cheaper than third party. as soon as a car costs me it gets squashed
 
I am a long-standing member of The Last Owner's Club. I buy a cheap motor ,then kill it.this may take only a couple of days,once it was an hour, but I consider I'm well ahead ! I have a corsa I paid 300 for 3 years ago,no real expenses,my van I paid a lot for,also about 3 yrs ago,2900,and because of it's modern features has cost me a few hundred more,but still cheap apparently.my old merc 307 cost 800 and I sold it for 400 after abusing it for eight years,with one oil change,which my son in law insisted on doing for me.
my corsa has been quite seriously keyed a few times,hard to avoid in supermarket car parks- I just hope they didn't bend their key,i've been sat in it while careless drivers have reversed into me,i don't even look at them,just wave them away usually.it's very stress free overall,and no ripoff annual services either !
 
Their is a lot of talk about rip of bodyshops. The problems they have is firstly insurance company's pay a heavily discounted Labour rate ,then they get a discount. On all parts and materials used .they dictate wether parts are repaired or replaced, oh and then the government sticks their 20% on Body shop health and safety costs disposal of hazardous waste high energy costs
Ie paint booths expensive tools welders ramps.non productive staff The list goes on.
 
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old cars are quite a good buy and especially rovers at the minute, old mans car with a so called notoriously unreliable k series engine ,so they say. early ones were bad and got a bad name in the trade and it sticks ,cars and dealers.i have done quite a few miles now in the old blue dog and use motorways a lot ,the number of newish cars broken down on the hard shoulder is amusing, thousands of pounds worth of broken down heaps making thousand of pounds for garages in repairs ,what a rip off and all to look posh on the drive .give me my couple of hundred pound s*i*ters any time .
 
I am a long-standing member of The Last Owner's Club. I buy a cheap motor ,then kill it.this may take only a couple of days,once it was an hour, but I consider I'm well ahead ! I have a corsa I paid 300 for 3 years ago,no real expenses,my van I paid a lot for,also about 3 yrs ago,2900,and because of it's modern features has cost me a few hundred more,but still cheap apparently.my old merc 307 cost 800 and I sold it for 400 after abusing it for eight years,with one oil change,which my son in law insisted on doing for me.
my corsa has been quite seriously keyed a few times,hard to avoid in supermarket car parks- I just hope they didn't bend their key,i've been sat in it while careless drivers have reversed into me,i don't even look at them,just wave them away usually.it's very stress free overall,and no ripoff annual services either !

i once had a woman back into a old vauxhall carlton i had ,scuffed my bumper a little you could hardly see it amongst the other scuffs.she got out of her car a new fiesta if my memory is correct her rear bumper was cracked badly. she was a trembling wreck i had to sit her down and ring a relative to come and get her .they were so apologetic and asked if there was anyway they could recompense me ,they dident want to go through there insurance, i said look at my car its old and battered, i am not bothered about it at all it overdue for the scrappy, but yours has come off the worst just told her to calm down after all a car is just a car they can be replaced
 
I am a long-standing member of The Last Owner's Club. I buy a cheap motor ,then kill it.this may take only a couple of days,once it was an hour, but I consider I'm well ahead ! I have a corsa I paid 300 for 3 years ago,no real expenses,my van I paid a lot for,also about 3 yrs ago,2900,and because of it's modern features has cost me a few hundred more,but still cheap apparently.my old merc 307 cost 800 and I sold it for 400 after abusing it for eight years,with one oil change,which my son in law insisted on doing for me.
my corsa has been quite seriously keyed a few times,hard to avoid in supermarket car parks- I just hope they didn't bend their key,i've been sat in it while careless drivers have reversed into me,i don't even look at them,just wave them away usually.it's very stress free overall,and no ripoff annual services either ![/QUOTE


NEW v Old

You are spot their is an endless supply of real good cheap motors out their. I recently looking at buying new car the thing that stoped me was the low trade in afew hundred quid for my good as new 10 year old Toyota yaris diesel ,15 k for a new one sorry for going off topic
 
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I was taught when a small boy "Look after your things, don't throw your toys around" later in life my cars have been my "Toys". I have had many over the years and have treated them as I do all my belongings, with care and respect.
I really do look down upon today's use and abuse young people. I think the old respect for property was the right way, it may not be anyone else's way but it was the British way, and I for one still think that way.
Bye the way.... I must be a self centered, egotistical sort, because I have a personalized number plate and I love it, it's mine, it is personal to ME.
 
I was taught when a small boy "Look after your things, don't throw your toys around" later in life my cars have been my "Toys". I have had many over the years and have treated them as I do all my belongings, with care and respect.
I really do look down upon today's use and abuse young people. I think the old respect for property was the right way, it may not be anyone else's way but it was the British way, and I for one still think that way.
Bye the way.... I must be a self centered, egotistical sort, because I have a personalized number plate and I love it, it's mine, it is personal to ME.
I can understand that if the object in question is a good quality item,made by people who care about detail and finish,and built to last. this certainly doesn't apply to any car I ever had ! a tin box built to last 3 years,or whatever the guarantee was,full of design flaws that only show up after a few thousand miles,and built to rust. I do however care about the decent quality tools I own,and look after them, but the one advantage about living in a consumer society is it's good for the less advantaged who are happy to recycle
 
i suppose its down to personal choice .many people take pride in a new car ,thats fine i suppose if i had one i would .but as i say i cannot see the point in spending a lot of cash to park something in a gutter at the mercy of any idiot. i admire anybody that wants a new car and really looks after it .i have old cars and like to see them clean and tidy but i care little for them ie if they get bumped scratched .i used to lavish love and tenderness on them, i used to do all my own servicing and any body work necessary to keep them looking nice, but now i seem to run them until they wont run anymore maybe its because i am getting old and careless now .if a car lasts me a year then i am well happy . usually at mot time if they want up to 200quid spent on them i will do it otherwise its scrap time and i never buy a car with less than 6months mot
 
Insurance isn't legalised robbery, it's a very competitive market faced with fraud, false whiplash claims, or £3000 bills for minor scrapes.

Put yourself in the position of the underwriter. Would you insure someone for £250 for 365 days, when on any one of those your client could cause a £3000 minor scrape, or hit someone at 3mph be faced with £5000 faked up whiplash litigation. You're taking a big risk so where would you set your premium? £250.. £300... £500... more ?

If anyone thinks they can provide cheaper cover, then invest your savings and set yourself up as an underwriter. It's not that easy - you may even have to be be prepared to lose money in bad years.

we all or most of us complain about car insurance .i think it quite a bargain when you look at it .if you was allowed to drive (but had to pay out of your pocket) without cover can you realy say you could pay for any damage caused . in the event of a relatively minor bump not to mention a serious one .it can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds up to a million or more if any fatalities occur ,and we have all that cover for a few hundred quid a year. but then again i will be the first to moan at renewal time i suppose
 
I still stick with old motors there simple and easy to fix , 1 Sherpa with the old Perkins engine , 2 LDV Pilots , 1 LDV convoy ( Ford engine ) , Merc 308D , Merc 508d , no end of VW type 2 campers and in my younger days Mini's , loads of them , and many other cheopo vans and cars , The Citroen C15 Romahome has the old 1.9 XUD engine still cheap and chearfull and runs great , never paid more than £1500 for any motor , normally a lot less .
 

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