Not to use Toyota garage but to use Toyota approved garage

[sleepwouldbenice]

Details changed but in essence...

My DH bumped neighbours' visitors car. Totally his fault. Idiot.. ideally not to go through insurance but will if we need to

They've gone to Toyota garage for a quote. £5k including panel removal etc. We've gone to Toyota approved local garage, with guarantees etc its linked from Toyota website, quote is £1k, they say panels are fine not to be replaced

Car owners are insisting on Toyota garage, always used them, etc

What's reasonable here? What are our rights?

Insurance every time. If they use their own insurer for the repair then likely they won’t get much choice on repairer. If they deal direct with your insurer chances are they’ll be able to use the repairer of their choice. I’ve insisted on a main dealer repair when dealing direct with a third party’s insurer direct, there was no argument from them.

"And are the garage you're suggesting fully authorised and set-up to carry out assessments and repairs e.g., a jig to check chassis / bumper alignment or that the crumble zones haven't warped even a fraction?

If they're not going to check that and just assume it's safe are they going to accept liability should something happen in future?

Will they carry out all work for your quote or if they remove the panel and find there is some damage they couldn't see from the initial inspection will they charge more?

If they can't blend they paint to match exactly and end up having to replace the panel will they expect you to cough up the difference?

If the neighbours friend decides to put in a spurious personal injury claim will you personally be able to defend it?

Insurance is expensive because it protects you from all those risks and you should always go through your insurance for any and all accidents"

The garages are recommended and authorised directly by Toyota using their website. Says approved for warranties and everything.

No one was in the other car at time of incident

Anyway. No choice but to go on insurance. Waste of money

@sleepwouldbenice it's not a waste of money that is what you pay your insurance for, so people don't try and rip you off. If you haven't got no claims protection then your premium will go up (May anyway as insurance has gone up recently).

Of course I have no problem with full repair, we were trying to think of gifts etc to say sorry for the hassle etc. I was in a no fault accident myself, I know its a pain
But 2 approved garages have said the extended type of repair isn't necessary, that's what the waste of money is

Anyway. No choice but to go on insurance. Waste of money

Not really, I’d bet the premium increases will be less than the £1k it’d cost you to go outside of insurance.

Anyway. No choice but to go on insurance. Waste of money

How is using the insurance company a waste of money? You literally pay for this every year.

You seem to be having trouble understanding that the insurer will decide where the car is repaired, not the innocent party and certainly not you.

But 2 approved garages have said the extended type of repair isn't necessary, that's what the waste of money is

But the insurer haven't assessed or approved any work?

They will not juts go with what the other party says.

This. And if your insurance hikes up with a whack next renewal then shop around and you can guarantee there'll be a cheaper quote somewhere.

The premium will rise of course but that's what happens when you damage someone else's car.

But you still haven't gone through the insurer! Their assessor may agree with you.

I do understand this

But I also had a no fault accident this year where I know the other party's insurance paid out for costs I didn't incur ( long story). Also my husbands insurance won't just go up for one year it will be 3
Yes it's husbands fault, yes absolutely. But he will be paying for unnecessary costs as the insurance company will likely just accept it

Yes it's husbands fault, yes absolutely. But he will be paying for unnecessary costs as the insurance company will likely just accept it

Why will he be paying unnecessary costs? His premium increase will be the same whether it costs £1k or £4k.

If you hit my car it would be going through your insurance company and it would be repaired by a main dealer.

he will be paying for unnecessary costs as the insurance company will likely just accept it

No they will not just accept it.

In fact quite the opposite, they are likely to use a workshop from their approved 'list' - they don't juts send it to the main dealer for accident repair on the day so of the customer.

In fact quite the opposite, they are likely to use a workshop from their approved 'list' - they don't juts send it to the main dealer for accident repair on the day so of the customer.

Not if he claims directly through the OP’s insurer, he’s likely to be able to specify his repairer.

No he isn't. They won't just pay up for a £5k repair if a £1k repair is adequate. They also don't send cars to dealers for accident repair.

No he isn't. They won't just pay up for a £5k repair if a £1k repair is adequate. They also don't send cars to dealers for accident repair.

Of course he is. The OP’s insurer will bend over backwards to help him, it will minimise their costs in the long run. I’ve done this, so speak from experience. There was zero pushback, I made it clear from the start that we’d be using a main dealer. Had they tried it I’d have said forget it, I’ll use an accident management company, they’d have changed their tune in a flash.

It's so simple isn't it? Everyone contacts their insurance company. The bloke with the damaged car gets a visit from an assessor and then a call saying what they're going to do. Their car is either collected or they drop it off and depending on their policy they might even get a hire car while it's away being repaired. I've had people smash into my car several times and never known what the repair cost was.

It's so simple isn't it? Everyone contacts their insurance company. The bloke with the damaged car gets a visit from an assessor and then a call saying what they're going to do. Their car is either collected or they drop it off and depending on their policy they might even get a hire car while it's away being repaired. I've had people smash into my car several times and never known what the repair cost was.

It’s even easier if he contacts the OP’s insurer directly, they’ll sort him out properly. He needs to let his insurer know for info purposes only.

We're in a two year (so far) battle with a different manufacturer about a repair that was done under warranty.

One of the many things I have learned in the process is to never ever let anyone other than the manufacturer themselves touch a car that's under warranty.

If the other car owner has a good chance of getting the better repair when going through insurance, why would you expect them to agree with the worse one?

Why is it worse? The other garages are well reviewed, reputable and recommended by Toyota, the Toyota garage itself stands out as the overcharging outlier!

If they always use the official one, anything else is worse by definition.
Having a new part is better than keeping the one which went through the crash.

It really is a no brainer.

Not if the part doesn't need replacing

And again Toyota approved garages should be of the right standard

Find it amazing that people would blindly not question what the most expensive option says "needs doing"
No brainer indeed!

It's more amazing that you cannot understand you pay your insurer to make these decisions.

Crumble zones😮