Aygo Car Accident

[BarryDC]

Help Needed!

This morning my 1 year old aygo blue was involved in a car accident which resulted in damage to the drivers side of my car and to the sill, the other driver has accepted full responsibility for this and fingers crossed he will say the same to my insurance company.

My insurance company have arranged for my car to be taken to one of their 'approved centres', the problem I have is that it is not a toyota approved centre and there is no guarante they will use toyota approved parts. I told my insurance company that this would invalidate my warranty, they told me that I could send it to a toyota centre but I would have to pay and arrange for the car to be taken there and that in addition to this I would also need to get another independent quote for all repairs. This seeems highly unfair to me and I am sure that I have the right tell my insurance company which centre my car goes to without having to foot the bill for it to be taken there.

Any advice, greatly appreciated.

[stu68]

Never mind what the insurance company says take it to Toyota. I've had the same problem twice with my insurance company. You have the right to choose where your car is repaired it is after all your car. Take it to your local dealership and they will sort it out from there for you. They did with mine. Hope this helps.

[motoxxx3]

Help Needed!

This morning my 1 year old aygo blue was involved in a car accident which resulted in damage to the drivers side of my car and to the sill, the other driver has accepted full responsibility for this and fingers crossed he will say the same to my insurance company.

My insurance company have arranged for my car to be taken to one of their 'approved centres', the problem I have is that it is not a toyota approved centre and there is no guarante they will use toyota approved parts. I told my insurance company that this would invalidate my warranty, they told me that I could send it to a toyota centre but I would have to pay and arrange for the car to be taken there and that in addition to this I would also need to get another independent quote for all repairs. This seeems highly unfair to me and I am sure that I have the right tell my insurance company which centre my car goes to without having to foot the bill for it to be taken there.

Any advice, greatly appreciated.

By law you can take your car wherever you want to for insurance repair.

As the car is new the vehicle will have to be repaired by a Toyota body shop to preserve your paintwork & anti corrosion warranty.

The insurance company will try to persuade you to have it repaired by their repairer (some of which are actually owned by the insurance companies themselves) They will try to tell you you will not get a courtesy car - but any Toyota body shop will give you a courtesy car while yours is being repaired.

Please do not let your insurance company's repairer fix your car... it is in their interests to keep the repair cost down. We had a newish MAZDA repaired by the 'appproved insurance repairer' it came back looking good but 18 months down the line the repair area started to rust. They wanted us to take the car 40 miles to them so they could inspect it.

In the end we had a local reputable body shop do the work - they found a gap between two panels that should have had a sealant in - but didn't - this let water in and caused the panel to rust.

Please phone your Toyota bodyshop first thing in the morning!!! They will sort it all out for you and your insurance company pay all the costs not you.

[BarryDC]

Thank you for your comments, I feel a lot better about it now , my gut feeling was that it should go to toyota because it is very new.

I will be on to my local toyota dealer first thing in the morning!

[daveyjp]

Be wary of accident management companies offering you hire cars - check all paperwork carefully and confirm how much the hire actually is.

If you don't successfully claim against the other driver you may be held responsible for the hire car charges which can run to hundreds of pounds a day.

[BarryDC]

Toyota accident assistace are dealing with the claim at the moment and will be providing me with a hire car. I did ask what would happen if the claim went 50/50. They said that another insurance policy is taken out to protect me against the hire car costs if this was to arise. Hope this is true.

They also said if it was to go 50/50 I would need to get hold of my insurance company again to continue with and pursue the claim.

Just feels a bit uncomfortable at the moment as I seem to be too and throwing between my insurance company and toyota accident assistance. Added to this my insurance company are not happy that toyota accident assistance are now involved with the claim.

[ihpj]

For a nonfault road traffic collision, use of a Third Party Claims company can be best as it does not involve the need of involving your Insurer.

You must use a reputable company and more often than not, in a nonfault claim, contact your Dealer and they will have an existing relationship with one such company. With the Claims Company handling everything, you should find the entire process hassle free as they will take over everything and ensure your car is repaired with the manufacturer - and not a third party insurance garage as well getting you into a like-for-like replacement car for the period of repairs.

You really need to ensure you use a reputable company (Swift Hire Car/Prestige Car Hire/DriveAsssit ...) as they will offer you an non-contributory insurance policy indemnifying you against costs should they be unable to recover their full costs from the at fault Third Party.

I have used each of the 3 companies in the last 5 years - each time without issue and once where the the Third Party disputed liability - but lost at Court.

The key principle here is that you must be honest in the description of the RTC and basis of fact - as if you are later found to have exaggerated/withheld/been untruthful they can withdraw their services leaving you with costs to pay. be honest, answer all questions fully and co-operate fully. Even if all goes wrong, you wont end up paying.