[Stinaris]

My wifes 1er has just been rear ended by a Polish Farmer in a hire van (not sure why that's relevant). It's not even a year old yet.

Elephant want to send to Bodgit & Scarper body shop rather than a BMW dealership and they provide a massive guarantee of 1 year on the work done. I want it sent to BMW obviously but elephant want us to pay our excess if we do this.

I thought that wasn't actually allowed, are they trying to pull a fast one or have I been listening to old wives tails again.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Slider]

My wifes 1er has just been rear ended by a Polish Farmer in a hire van (not sure why that's relevant). It's not even a year old yet.

Elephant want to send to Bodgit & Scarper body shop rather than a BMW dealership and they provide a massive guarantee of 1 year on the work done. I want it sent to BMW obviously but elephant want us to pay our excess if we do this.

I thought that wasn't actually allowed, are they trying to pull a fast one or have I been listening to old wives tails again.

Many thanks for your help.

You should be able to send it to a repairer of choice but will need to provide estimates.

Don't understand where they are coming from with the excess - if you were rear ended and have details of the 3rd parties insurer then surely they your insurer will recover from theirs.

maybe they mean you will need to pay excess just now and then recover.

however sadly this is an example of how cheap insurers operate - tiring to save money at all costs, personally I would rather pay a more expense premium and have the right service when I need it.

 

[AndyM]

Yep you certanly don't have to use their 'Approved repairer'. When someone pulled out into the side of the 5 series I had before the 1er I dealt with the 3rd parties insurance company (Norwich Union) direct and not my own. They even had a local BMW dealer as an approved repairer but not the one I use. I simply said I'd prefer it to go to the other one and they said no problem it's your choice as to where it goes. You might want to try this direct approach with the other driver's insurance company if you are getting no joy from your own.

On other point if the car is less than one year old and the damage is extensive enough you might find they will simply write the car off and you are due a brand new one to replace it.

 

[Stinaris]

Thanks for the help.

I spoke to BMW who told me the same and basically took over the whole claim procedure so I didn't need to involve my insurance company. Got supplied with a 159 2.4 JTDM from my insurance company and then a 320 D M-Sport from BMW.

The latter is a much nicer car, although less well appointed than our 116i SE strangely enough. The sports seats however are a total winner and we would love to get some.

 

[raheem]

was your wife injured in the accident?
would you like to do a claim for personal injury?

 

[benis130im]

its a little know fact that you can tell you insurance company where to send you car weather th accident was your fault or not and you dont need different estimates if thats where you want it to go thats it end of story. if you go through your own insurance if the claim isnt your fault you still need to pay the excess, this will be recovered once the claim is sorted out and proven not to be your fault even if this is obvious from the outset. the best option is to do what you have done call bmw and they will put you onto a firm that sorts it all out when i used them it was accident exchange but companies like this will only get involved if its 100% not your fault you have no need to pay excess and as your own insurance company has not delt with the claim you will not have to declair any form of accident when you renew either.

 

[karlak]

you will not have to declair any form of accident when you renew either.

Not sure this part is true. The question generally says,

Have you (or named drivers) been involved in any accidents in the past 3 (5)years.

You have to answer yes, because you have.

 

[benis130im]

you will not have to declair any form of accident when you renew either.

Not sure this part is true. The question generally says,

Have you (or named drivers) been involved in any accidents in the past 3 (5)years.

You have to answer yes, because you have.

so if you had an accident and paid for the repairs yourself you would tell them? its the same thing when i had mine repaired accident exchange told me to call elephant and tell them to wipe the claim as i started it with elephant first and accident exchange took over the claim for me.

 

[JayJay]

This is a bit of an old thread?

However, as Karlak has stated you DO HAVE to tell insurance company of accidents, fault or non-fault.

If you have an 'accident' without others involved, perhaps reversing into your garage, and you make no claim, you would not need to advise the insurance company of this.

 

[karlak]

you will not have to declair any form of accident when you renew either.

Not sure this part is true. The question generally says,

Have you (or named drivers) been involved in any accidents in the past 3 (5)years.

You have to answer yes, because you have.

so if you had an accident and paid for the repairs yourself you would tell them? its the same thing when i had mine repaired accident exchange told me to call elephant and tell them to wipe the claim as i started it with elephant first and accident exchange took over the claim for me.

No, dont be silly - I had a scuffed bumper resprayed and paid privately. But you would be going through an insurance claim with the 3rd parties insurance so you must declare it. The big difference here is the involvement of a 3rd Party

 

[benis130im]

im only going on what i was told by accident exchange and then elephant took it off and that was that im still insured with elephant and when i got my renewal nothing was said. call them and ask for yourself its cosher

 

[karlak]

im only going on what i was told by accident exchange and then elephant took it off and that was that im still insured with elephant and when i got my renewal nothing was said. call them and ask for yourself its cosher

Not going to keep this going.....

But, all we said is you need to let them know, whether their is an increase in Premium is not the issue. The reason they know, and indeed find out (as they talk to each other), is that they work out an idividuals "risk". If you are a driver with 5 accidents, all rear end shunts and not your fault in the past 3 years, then they will more than likely lump up your premium- like it or not.
As you will be deemed to be a higher risk to insurer's.

 

[benis130im]

ok if you feel that you need to tell them things that will put up your premium that you dont legally need to tell them then thats ok but i was just letting people what i have been told by people who know what they are talking about.

 

[mrash]

Honesty is always the best policy where insurers are concerned. If you fail to tell them about previous accidents, and you need to make a valid claim, they could refuse to pay out. Also, if you do not tell them of any previous accidents, non fault or otherwise, your current insurance could be invalid....
I had several rear end shunts in the space of 2 years (4 in total) all of which were not my fault, i happened to be stationary every time, and my premium didnt go up. They see it as non fault, and wont load your premium, as if you have just been unlucky, then the insurers claim costs of the 3rd party anyway so doesnt matter. Always tell the truth to insurers, you never know when you actually might need them!

 

[Baxter]

A couple of months back I got a BMW accident recovery pack from the local dealers. Theres a number to call on a credit card type thing, if it's not your fault they'll recover the car to a bmw bodyshop and give you a courtesy car and if it is your fault, you still get the car and recovery but they take the car back after a couple of days. I cant remember the exact details but it looked like quite a good deal. Even if if you didn't go ahead with the repair you're still getting recovery for nothing.

 

[weasley]

You have to answer the questions asked by the insurer when you take out a policy. The typical question is "Have you or any insured party had any accidents, whether subject to a claim/loss or not, in the last x years". If you have, then "yes" is the only answer you can legally give. They will then ask about the details (how much was the damage, was it your fault, did you recover your excess, did you lose no claims bonus as a result etc).