WWYD? Recovery company dropped my car

[BobbyBanana]

My car was recovered for a mechanical repair. Unfortunately the recovery truck (which was frim a different company) dropped it off their ramps and it has suffered a bit of damage on the front bumper area. It can't be driven like it is.

The mechanical problem is now fixed.
The recovery company were going to send me a courtesy car while they repaired the damage in their bodyshop. They said to let them know as soon as the car was running again.

But now they are saying they won't do anything for a week and a half and that I should go through my insurance if I want anything to happen more quickly.

Is that right? I am working somewhere where I can't make phone calls today. It seems to me that the recovery company should be sorting this out, not me.

I would put the onus on the recovery company and ask for their insurance details. Even if you contact your insurer they will need to know the insurance details of the company and maybe the reg of the truck depending on if they are going to use their vehicle or business insurance

Yes ask for their insurance details and get your insurer to pursue them

Could this affect my NCB?

No because they are at fault. I would insist having it in writing/text/email that they dropped and damaged your car!

I'm not sure why I should get my insurance involved if I don't want to.
I may be being silly but I feel that if they are a recovery company with their own body shop then they are perfectly well equipped to deal with this, their own mistake.

I'm not sure why I should get my insurance involved if I don't want to.
Dont then... totally up to you,
wait for them to fix it and hope they fix it right i guess... and if they dont then i guess you can fuck about for months trying to get it fixed right and hope there is no other damage that you cant see.....

Surely this is why you pay for insurance?

It should be claimed on their insurance, not yours. I would phone yours for advice though.

(Presumably it’s their business not vehicle insurance? Although if it was dropped off their vehicle I guess either would work.)

If I phone my insurance then they will surely log it as an accident.

You won’t get it sorted much quicker by your insurance company I am afraid, they will send out an accessor etc etc.
But you will get a hire car they’ll claim off the recovery companies insurance. The likelihood is their excess is massive and they won’t want it to go through the insurance either.
I wouldn’t want it to go through insurance either as it’s a ball ache when your ringing round for quotes even as a no fault accident.
See if the body shop they want it to go to has a hire car if there’s any hint of them dicking around go through your insurance.

As no fault why would you be ringing round for quotes your insurer will send you to their preferred contractor.

Yes, it gets logged as an accident but it’s no fault - you werent in the car at the time presumably! As no fault you get a courtesy car, that’s the benefit of logging it.

I’ve never had an assessor sent out. When mine got written off that was decided by the garage.

When you ring round for new insurance you have to tell them about this claim even if it’s not your fault. I’ve always had my claims assessed maybe I’ve always been the 1 in x that gets assessed.

There’s this marvellous invention called the internet nowadays 😂

Where you would still have to report the no fault accident every time you wanted a quote

Yes, but whether you go through insurance or not you’re meant to include it.

OP, it’s your choice, I’d be going through insurance so a) you get a courtesy car and b) as pp said, the car is looked at independently and all issues are fixed.

Similar happened to us. DH was in minor accident. Claimed on insurance and then when car was returned it was being loaded off the truck and the bumper damaged. We then had to go back through our insurance to get it all sorted out - we weren't liable though and although our premiums went up slightly at renewal (the original accident was DHs liability), it really wasn't by that much.

This is still unresolved.
My insurance (I rang them anonymously) has told me that it would impact on my NCB.
The recovery company can't give me a courtesy car for another 8 days as that's when their bodyshop have room to take my car in.

My hands are tied. The recovery company guy actually had the gall to get arsey on the phone with me on Friday.

I'll have to wing it with work (I'm freelance and working on some very time dependent projects) by using public transport. But I'm really pissed off and think they should be paying for a hire car or something at least.

Have you pushed for the body shop to claim on their insurance?

How do you mean @Letsgetreadytorumba?

The recovery company did the damage, they will be paying for it. They admit liability. But they are acting at a snails' pace.

Sorry, I mean the recovery company - they must have business liability insurance?

There is generally something in t’s &c’s about always informing your insurance company when an incident or accident has occurred.
Why deal with the hassle of it yourself, when you pay insurance, just tell them and get them to sort it all out.

You need it independently examined. If it has been Dropped there could be much more substantial hidden damage.

Can you get the body shop to agree to reimburse your taxi fares in the meantime?