Anyone ever had a good experience with a car Insurance claim

[mpm235]

 

Hello Friends, has anyone on here ever had a good  experience with a car insurance claim? With any Insurance company doing a good job? Only ever seem to hear of bad experiences, poor customer service.

 I'm currently getting my Auris's bumper repaired, with Tesco Insurance. Its taking for ever, very poor communication, conflicting and confusing information from Tesco, the repairers and courtesy car suppliers. I've come to the conclusion Tesco Insurance are rubbish old pants. 

Can anyone recommend an Insurance Company for good customer service at all? Maybe NFU? (Which Magazine rate them as the best), or Toyota Insurance Services? (they gave me an expensive quote, but might be worth it if you know they will look after you if you claim). Cheers, Mark

[AndyN01]

Interesting post - thank you.

Sadly I can give you one to avoid - Direct Line - but not one to recommend.

Good luck with getting the bumper properly repaired and getting the car back very soon.

Andy.

[Cyker]

It also depends what repairer you get.

Of the claims I had, eSure was fairly painless with the process but the repairer (Rye Street Group) did a very half-arsed job of the repair.

With Adrian Flux, the initial process was a bit of a pain and communication was pretty bad (They rely too much on automated systems and they're evidently quite janky) but they hand off repairs to a third party repair network (Who also rely on a totally separate automated system, equally janky), who by chance assigned it to a local repair place (Manor Body Repair) that I knew of to have a good rep, and they did a very good job of the repair including remedying some minor problems I had later with no fuss.

I have to say the whole business generally just feels super dirty and shady - If it's your fault they try to get out of as much as they can, if it isn't your fault they'll try and get you to claim for stuff you don't need  and you'll get law firms chasing you to claim for whiplash or some such.

[MC1216]

Most insurance companies now have an additional access on the premium of around £200 if you don't use their recommended repairer.

This sets alarm bells ringing for me and if/when i need to make a claim i will use a body repair shop that i trust and if that means paying another £200 i am sure it will be worth it.

[Bper]

Hi Mark,Personally, I think dealing with insurance companies is a matter of luck. I've read many stories of people receiving excellent service, while others have had terrible experiences. I used to believe that paying a higher premium would ensure better service, but sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case. Customer service in many businesses today leaves a lot to be desired."

[ColinB]

My wife's car was written off when parked, the third party left their details and admitted responsibility. My wife's insurer, M&S , were excellent and sorted the claim within a month giving full retail value, rather than trade in, so no complaints with them. 

[AndyN01]

Hi Colin,

That's a great and very useful post - thank you.

[mpm235]

2 hours ago, ColinB said:

My wife's car was written off when parked, the third party left their details and admitted responsibility. My wife's insurer, M&S , were excellent and sorted the claim within a month giving full retail value, rather than trade in, so no complaints with them. 

Thanks. Good (and rare) to get a positive story about car insureance

[Jayel]

I remember some years ago my wife's Corsa was left with a damaged osr door which happened while parked. We never found the culprit so had to rely on her protected NCB and get it repaired. At the time she was with Shielas Wheels who of course wanted to send it to their approved repairer. I had seen some of their recent handywork on a friend's Land Rover so refused to use them. Instead I went to a local bodyshop who are highly respected but not on the insurers list. Shielas put all sorts of obstructions in the way but I stood my ground and they got the job. A complete new door (genuine Vauxhall) and all surrounding paint blended in and it was as though the incident never happened. Even when we sold the car four years later the match was perfect.

The non approved excess didn't apply back then but I think I'd do the same again if the need arose.

 

[Waggle]

Churchill did an excellent job arranging the repair of our RAV4.  Its front was demolished by a hit and run driver.  We recovered most of his front number plate embedded in our car’s bodywork so the police soon caught up with him.

Our courtesy car was an Audi A2 and the RAV4 repairs remain imperceptible to this day.

[Mjolinor]

4 minutes ago, Waggle said:

Churchill did an excellent job arranging the repair of our RAV4.  Its front was demolished by a hit and run driver.  We recovered most of his front number plate embedded in our car’s bodywork so the police soon caught up with him.

Our courtesy car was an Audi A2 and the RAV4 repairs remain imperceptible to this day.

I am surprised they bothered. My wife's car was hit. The Dashcam recorded it, she was there and saw it happen and remonstrated with the driver who just drove off. Other people were there, bystanders, one of whom took a picture of the car.

Plod came to the house and the only thing they did was tell her that things like that were the reason she had insurance on the car.

Not enough money in it obviously so off they went to prosecute where revenue could be higher.

[AndyN01]

3 hours ago, Mjolinor said:

I am surprised they bothered. My wife's car was hit. The dashcam recorded it, she was there and saw it happen and remonstrated with the driver who just drove off. Other people were there, bystanders, one of whom took a picture of the car.

Plod came to the house and the only thing they did was tell her that things like that were the reason she had insurance on the car.

Not enough money in it obviously so off they went to prosecute where revenue could be higher.

I'm afraid that's the result of a vastly bigger issue around a completely broken justice system where there is apparently little or no consequence to any actions.

I'm do not understand your comment about "not enough money in it" and linking prosecution to revenue? Please explain - thanks

If you had a job where you knew that all your time/effort/dedication/experience etc. would likely come to diddly squat how would you cope?

[Mjolinor]

The police only bother with taking things forward if they or their mates can make money out of it. Things like speeding courses run by ex plod and so on. There is absolutely no "protecting the public" which is their original reason for being formed.

 

 

[AndyN01]

Thank you for your reply.

[Cyker]

It could be worse; Look what's happening in the USA with Trump!!  

The republicans are so desperate to get him off they've essentially ruled that presidents and ex-presidents are above the law and can't be prosecuted for anything they do!  

 

[dannyboy413]

8 hours ago, Mjolinor said:

The police only bother with taking things forward if they or their mates can make money out of it. Things like speeding courses run by ex plod and so on.

Sorry John, I have to disagree with you there. I realise that I might be seen as being biased as an ex-police officer, (a long time ago!), but the main reason the Police 'take things forward', is to skew the figures. The Government and/or Police can then say that the detection rates for motorists speeding, (for example), has increased by 'x'% in the last twelve months. They can say that the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices has increased by 'y'%. The old saying on the lines of 'lies, damned lies and statistics' comes to mind. Accoring to the RAC website - "Revenue from speed camera enforcement or fixed penalty notices go to the Consolidated Fund – in effect the government’s general bank account".