Autoglass repaired my car without permission and now want £250

[NotARegularPenguin]

I got rear ended when stationary a while ago and other party admitted liability. Their insurance company rang me and said they wanted to do repairs. I asked if I'd have to pay excess and they said no. They said they'd put their repair people in touch. My insurance rang and offered to do repair and I said no.

Got a phonecall from autoglass saying they were ringing about the repair. I specifically said are you acting on behalf of the other party insurance company and they said yes and confirmed I wouldn't have to pay.

Day before the repair (booked to be done on my drive) autoglass rang wanting £250. I said no. Said I'm not paying and my last words to them were if I have to pay I'm not having the work done. They said they'd query it with my insurance company and get back to me. They never did.

The next day I went to work by train as I always do. Came home to find my car repaired. Now, 2 weeks later they're chasing me for money. They say its owed. If I don't pay it I'm in trouble. I reckon they've done an unauthorised repair on my car. Where do I stand? Turns out they were acting on behalf of my insurance company not the other. My insurance company say I need to pay it.

I think your insurance company need to deal with this. Escalate it - don’t take no for an answer. They should have records of your calls.

I’m on hold to axa again now. Like talking to a brick wall. They just keep saying I need to pay! I keep telling them I told them not to arrange a repair. The other insurance company were doing it. I don’t understand why Autoglass told me they’d been instructed by Liverpool Victoria when it was axa.

Try calling the third party insurer, explain what has happened and as they have admitted liability see if you send them a copy of the invoice if they'll pay autoglass directly

Axa reckon I ticked a box saying I wanted them to repair the car. I’ve never filled out any paperwork.

They reckon they have no record of me telling them I didn’t want the repair doing

Axa use Autoglass too so surely it should be simple to sort out by them.

Try asking for the recording of the phone call, I think it's up to them to provide the evidence really. Although I'm in no way a legal expert!

I’ve asked them for the phone recording and they’ve asked me what date did I have this conversation and the name of the person I spoke to. Of course I don’t bloody know so they say they can’t find it!

Oh and axa have lost all details of the person who hit me and asked me now what the reg, etc was. I told them all this months ago.......thankfully have managed to find the photos I took are still on my phone otherwise I’d have been stuffed.

So tell them they've got no proof you authorised this.

Axa are waiving the excess. Finally. I had to put on a really stern voice which I hate doing with call centre people but I was getting nowhere being nice. I wasn’t rude though, just very firm. Told her I was furious and asked if someone just turned up and spray painted her car without permission would she pay £250. Finally managed to get her to agree that she wouldn’t! 🙂

Written complaint to your insurance company followed by financial ombudsm an complaint. Google it. Works wonders.

Written complaint to your insurance company followed by financial ombudsman complaint.

Since the OP is not out of pocket now, the Ombudsman won't do anything. Something I learned after I spent hours documenting a complaint to them.

I’m happy that they’ve waived it and the woman from Axa did apologise to me on the phone by the end “we messed up” I think were her actual words.

But at the start they seemed to be accusing me of lying to get out of paying the £250. Saying that I’d told them to repair it and that I’d signed some form when I know for a fact I hadn’t. But I’ve learnt a lesson....that when I spoke to someone from axa and said I didn’t want them to repair it I should have taken the persons name I spoke to and made a note of the date/time of the phone call.

After the state AXA have made of this I'd be inclined to go back to the other insurers and see whether they are still happy to handle everything for you.

They are lying about not being able to find your call. Call logging systems record the number you are calling from and they can search on that.
If you have withheld your number, that will show on their screen during the call and they will ask you for a contact number. This will then be added as a search tag to the call.

Glad to hear its now sorted.

that I’d signed some form when I know for a fact I hadn’t

Sounds like an opportunity to ask for a copy of the document, including the signature. It should be easy enough for them to scan it and email you a copy.

Glad you held firm!!
I too have learnt the hard way to record when I phoned and who I spoke to.

Then I spoke to tax credits again and said: no, I spoke to Jane in dept xxxx on Friday 23rd at 9.27....
Oh they say!!

They are lying about not being able to find your call. Call logging systems record the number you are calling from and they can search on that.

Moreover, if they can't refute your version of events, then you win....

I too have learnt the hard way to record when I phoned and who I spoke to.

I make all my calls from my mobile, and they're automatically recorded (and copied to my Google Drive) with an app(play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nll.acr&hl=en_GB)

It logs time, date and called/calling number (if available).