Any One Heard Of These?

[IS200SEJASON]

Just smashed the frontend of my Lex into a landrover the recover firm is south norwood coachworks and they will also be doing the repair I was just wondering if anybody had heard of them? are they all right?

[Bazza]

if they are in SE25

i had one of my vans repaired there

had to go back to redo the bad work and still wasnt 100%

the next time i needed bodywork i travelled another 15 miles just to avoid the above company

[IS200SEJASON]

yes se25....... great............... anyone else? this is on my insurance so do i have a choice?

[Birty]

Yes you have a choice.

Your insurer will have at least 3 different firms in your area & normally sends you to the one nearest to your address (but it is becomming more common to send you to the one that has the least work load at the moment) so you can ask for another company to do the work.

Many Insurance companys have golden handshake deals with garages (i.e. the garage gets a set amount from the insurer, which in laymans terms means if you have a scratch on your bumper the garage gets paid £500 or if you have multiple pannel damage the garage still only gets £500 + parts of course

AND THE LATEST TREND (''GOD HELP US'') is the insurance company owns the bodyshop - different names but still owned by the insurance company.

For instance - Nationwide Body repair centers are owned by a huge major insurance company

Last but not least - you can insist on having the work carried out at a garage of your own choice - but you will have to get the quote yourself which must be no more expensive than the recomended repairer quoted + send this quote off yourself, wait for your insurance company to contact your own garage in writing with confirmation that the invoice will be paid & last but not least, you might loose the free loan car option & the repair work will only be guarenteed for 12 months instead of the normal 3 years.

[IS200SEJASON]

ok thanks for thae information very helpfull and i think i will try to excercise my rights! Damage wise the front end is well....... the bonnet is scrap the front bumper is scrap and the grill is snapped also the bonnet dont shut! and because of the bonnet not shutting they recovered the vehicle to the before mentioned garage which is where it is now! i live in eltham so south norwood is not that close!! i feel like events have taken over and i have had no choice in anything im gutted and im worried they wont check the car properly do they have to do certain checks on the structural integrity of the car? or will they just replace what appears to be broken?

Jason

[Birty]

First of all - if you have any personal items, get down to the garage in question with proof of ownership & ask to get them out of the car - the following will explain why :-

The garage will need to see how much the repair cost will add up to, which normally takes 48hrs to sort out - for instance if your car is worth 5K & the repairs come to 2K then they should repair it. But if the repairs come to over 2.5K then there is every chance they are going to write it off.

If this happens your insurance company will write the car off & make you a market value offer. But before you even aggree to this offer ''DEMAND'' to see the engineers report of your car - because if there is no chassis damage it might be worth you buying the car back from you insurance company & accepting a smaller cash payment.

This is where it turns into a bit of a mine field & if you need further details please IM me or if i get the time one day i will write it all down & prehaps someone might get the post pinned so others can see it.

But in breif - if the car is written off, then it will no longer belong to you & the insurance company will take over the ownership (& THATS WHY ITS SO IMPORTANT TO GET ANY PERSONAL ITEMS OUT OF THE CAR STRAIGHT AWAY)

If the car is written off, your insurance company will make you a cash offer for the car. NEVER ACCEPT THE FIRST OFFER because they will then make a better offer AND IF YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO WAIT EVEN LONGER turn the 2nd offer down as well. Your insurance company will then make a 3rd & final offer WHICH SOMETIMES CAN BE UP TO £500 MORE THAN THEIR 1ST OFFER

However there is another option if the car is written off - & you really want to keep the car & have seen the engeineers report - you might want to consider getting it repaired yourself. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW MUCH ITS GOING TO COST YOU FIRST. Because if you can get all the parts off eBay etc for say £500 & a local bodyshop tells you they can fit & paint them all for £500 you could be onto a winner. If this is the case, ask your insurace company how much it will cost to buy the car off them - if they say £1000 & they will also give you £3000 cash back towards the repairs etc, you could end up with your car back & a grand in your back pocket even after it has been repaired - but be aware that if you do this your car will have a cat C insurance repair written on the cars logbook

Cat C = light damage / no chassis damage - so if you keep all the reecipts & ask the garage to take photos when they repair the car, you would have no problems selling the car ata later date.

From the damage you have mentioned i am sure its a simple repair, but i just thought i would add the above in case the worst happens (BIRTY)

[prince83]

Cat C = Heavy/Chassis damge

Cat D = Light/ No Chassis damage

[Birty]

Yes. Sorry prince you are 100% correct.

CAT D = light damage

[IS200SEJASON]

JEZUS.... thanks for the info and it's much appreciated but i am now sh**ing myself, I have had no contact from the garage or my insurance company since wednesday and yes i have personnel belongings in the car..... golf clubs etc etc... i am going to drive there tomorrow with my log book and collect all of my things and PREY TO GOD that the car can be repaired as i am lost without it and the ford fiesta "style" that i am driving is horrible when compared to my Lex.

Birty,

If i need help i will certainly call you as this is by no means my strong point and im at a bit of a loss as to what is happening to my car right now and am sick worring about it hopefully when i get there tomorrow and i see the car i will feel a little better...

Thanks for your help

Jason

[edeath]

If it turns out that the car is going to be repaired or if you buy it back you may want to change bodyshops from the comment seen above. When mine got hit it got repaired by Springbok Garage in Tooting. It had over £1k worth of damage to the drivers side wing and door and they did a good job of the repair.

Ed