Who is the best insurance for choice of repairer?

[Syndrome]

RACV changed their policy and choice of repairer is no longer a standard feature. You need to pay extra for this option.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

RACV changed their policy and choice of repairer is no longer a standard feature. You need to pay extra for this option.

I've found that a few say you can choose your own repairer, but then go on to say that you must also take it to one of theirs to also get a quote from them.

There's probably very small print after that but I didn't get that far into it.

[Top_Ghia]

Racv is painful.
I’m with Shannon’s and their not much better. Yes you can choose your repairer but it also pays to read the fine print. I rang them to ask if they only use genuine parts. They said they use approved parts. When I asked what that means they couldn’t tell me. The conversation just went round and round in circles and they just kept repeating that the only used approved parts. Approved by whom? Who knows.

My advice would be find a good repairer and ask them what insurance company they recommend.

[EBSXR6]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

Racv is painful.
I’m with Shannon’s and their not much better. Yes you can choose your repairer but it also pays to read the fine print. I rang them to ask if they only use genuine parts. They said they use approved parts. When I asked what that means they couldn’t tell me. The conversation just went round and round in circles and they just kept repeating that the only used approved parts. Approved by whom? Who knows.

My advice would be find a good repairer and ask them what insurance company they recommend.

Some of the insurance Company Groupings.
Suncorp: AAMI, Bingle, GIO, Suncorp, Shannons and more.
https://www.suncorpgroup.com.au/about/brands

IAG: Coles, NRMA, CGU, RACV and more.
https://www.iag.com.au/about-us/who-we-are

Hollard Insurance Group : Real Insurance, Woolworths Group
Auto and General Insurance Limited: Australia Post, Budget Direct and Virgin Money.
https://www.hollard.com.au/insurance...-partners.aspx


In 2018, IAG wrote 29% of all insurance in Australia, Suncorp 27%, QBE 10% and Allianz 8%.

[EBSXR6]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

Racv is painful.
I’m with Shannon’s and their not much better. Yes you can choose your repairer but it also pays to read the fine print. I rang them to ask if they only use genuine parts. They said they use approved parts. When I asked what that means they couldn’t tell me. The conversation just went round and round in circles and they just kept repeating that the only used approved parts. Approved by whom? Who knows.

My advice would be find a good repairer and ask them what insurance company they recommend.

I know someone who has a reasonably new Mini. They needed some repairs and went to a BMW approved Body Shop. The BMW approved Body Shop asked who they were insured with and he said Shannons and the Body Shop said they do not deal with Shannons as they did not pay the hourly rate that the Body Shop charges.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

Racv is painful.
I’m with Shannon’s and their not much better. Yes you can choose your repairer but it also pays to read the fine print. I rang them to ask if they only use genuine parts. They said they use approved parts. When I asked what that means they couldn’t tell me. The conversation just went round and round in circles and they just kept repeating that the only used approved parts. Approved by whom? Who knows.

My advice would be find a good repairer and ask them what insurance company they recommend.

If you want a good repairer and quality job then don't go through with insurance, pay yourself.
Insurance companies these days have f***** over the repair industry.

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by Itsme

If you want a good repairer and quality job then don't go through with insurance, pay yourself.
Insurance companies these days have f***** over the repair industry.

Yep, but not just these days has been like it for a long long time.

[Citroënbender]

That being so, why is it darned near impossible to get a booking (at least in Sydney) for major private work?

It seems illogical to prefer a job where you’ll be paid late, have to source parts and argue over extras, and the customer generally does nothing to expedite the workshop’s turnaround time. I’ve got over $20K in work (across several cars) waiting for someone to give me a timeslot and they’ll get a stripped roller on a tilt tray, ready to jump straight into it.

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

That being so, why is it darned near impossible to get a booking (at least in Sydney) for major private work?

It seems illogical to prefer a job where you’ll be paid late, have to source parts and argue over extras, and the customer generally does nothing to expedite the workshop’s turnaround time. I’ve got over $20K in work (across several cars) waiting for someone to give me a timeslot and they’ll get a stripped roller on a tilt tray, ready to jump straight into it.

Because if they are being fed by a insurance company that is ongoing work that keeps the doors open, they don't pay much but its enough to survive and make a small profit, you tell a insurance company that you cant do a job for them you will never see another job from them again, is it worth 1 private job that might make you a small profit but never see again?

I know we don't do any private work unless you get it done with your insurance job, we are doing 70 - 100 insurance jobs a week mostly RAC, there are at least 10 other shops in Perth doing the same thing, we all work on volume to make a profit.

[prktkljokr]

The reason they don't want you to go to your repairer, is that the contract repairers have struck a deal with the insurer to do rapid repairs at a fixed price no matter the damage.

For example, you scrape your letterbox and put a scratch and small dent in your door, your insurer says because your car is drivable, our registered repairer is Joe blogs body works down the road from you, so you trundle down there and they look at your car, see its a small repair and do a self assess which means they just have to take pictures of the damage and book you in, no need for a assessor to get involved.

Now the repair might only be a $500 repair, but with the deal they have, the insurance pay a flat rate of $2000 for cars that drive in from the insurers recommendation (being fed), so this is a win for the repairer and he will do the job and make money from it no problem.

But if you scrape the whole side and destroy every panel, the bumpers and lights on the side of your car, because your car is still drivable you will get the same blurb from your insurer and the job is still $2000, the repairer has to suck it up and will do it as cheap as possible, still to a standard but if they can get away with repairing a part rather than replace, that's what's going to happen.

Because the repairer does between 70 to 100 cars a week the percentage of cars that are minor damage would be 60 - 80% so all these jobs are in the profit side, 10 - 20 % would be tow ins, and 10 - 15% no profit jobs, most are only bumper scrapes, door dings etc, so the repairer gets to make a decent profit each week off those, and the 10 - 15% no profit ones get absorbed.

Now if the car is undrivable or is towed in its a whole different ball game, the repairer can quote like any other non insurance shop and everything that is damaged gets quoted for replacement, they try not to repair but replace, so if your car gets towed in, it will more than likely be repaired with new parts, still to the discretion of the assessor but not much will be repaired if it can be avoided as the repairer will make more profit from the parts mark up.

Some unknown things are, that any mechanical damage to a car or suspension damage they only use new genuine parts to repair, no second hand parts are allowed to be used at all, if you have bald tyres when you have an accident it makes no difference they will not deny the claim, they will even replace any damaged tyres with brand new same brand or equivalent tyres if unavailable no matter what the tread depth is, damaged rims will be professionally repaired if possible or replaced with new, no second hand rims.

So if you have a accident and they insist that you use their repairer, if they ask if the car is drivable say you are not happy driving the damaged car as it might not be safe, they will send a tow truck and its classed as a tow in at the panel shop.

Hope this helps if you find yourself in this situation.

[Vesper Martini]

Insurance companies will also want to make sure they are not paying for extra work done.

lets face it if you have your own repairer they will likely be Friend or family. they know this

What are the issues with using their repair centres?

[Top_Ghia]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Insurance companies will also want to make sure they are not paying for extra work done.

lets face it if you have your own repairer they will likely be Friend or family. they know this

What are the issues with using their repair centres?

The issue for me is the appalling standard of work done. The car disappears into the vortex of their system and comes out the end in a poor state. You have no control over the repair and can’t actually speak to the guy repairing the car. It gets fixed by some 19 year old who doesn’t give a toss and is just filling in his days until his next billy stop.

“Lifetime warranty on repairs” I hear you say. Yep and I’ve been back 3 times and nothing has been corrected. My car now has a constant whistle on the highway it didn’t have before the repair. There’s heavy sanding marks in the paint under the clear. The park sensors keep falling out. They put the wrong coolant in the car which I corrected myself, at my expense. They put the wrong A/C charge volume in the car causing high pressures.
When I take it back to be corrected they just keep it for a few days and give it back to me in the same state. They just don’t give a toss.

Now compare that to dealing with joe motors down the street who is a small business. I can talk to the owner and the guy actually doing the repair. I can discuss what they will and won’t be doing. The work is generally far better and they care about their reputation.

[GasoLane]

It may be a country town thing but when I bumped into a 'Roo a few years ago I had a choice of two local repairers (I was with Coles then) One of which I'd heard good things about so I picked them.

They had the car for a couple of weeks whilst I had one of their loaners. A couple of weeks later a small part of the paint started to bubble on the front guard so I took it back.

No problem, leave it here and here's your fantastic Camry loaner again. I went back in a couple of days to pick it up and it was (and still is) perfect.

[bangm001]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Insurance companies will also want to make sure they are not paying for extra work done.

lets face it if you have your own repairer they will likely be Friend or family. they know this

What are the issues with using their repair centres?

We had no choice of repairer with AAMI when my wife's car was side swiped. Did an absolutely appalling job on what was about a 2 year old mazda 6 (with around 30,000 on it at the time) which we had from brand new. I took it back and had numerous issues still. Work marks, paint issues, colour match issues, clear coat fish eyes etc etc. It got to the point where they blamed my tyre black for the fish eye marks in the clear but when they were brand new door skins that they supposedly used (i assume they were just repaired 2nd hand ones) i argued back.
Upon the 2nd time the car was returned, there was all clear coat on the front windscreen, super deep swirl marks on the unpainted parts of the car on the original paint on the boot and bonnet etc etc. It hasnt gone back there and iv since changed insurance companies with choice of repairers. Even if its not my desired repairer at least i can have a choice and like mentioned above, have a chat with the guys who will be actually be working on the car.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

The issue for me is the appalling standard of work done. The car disappears into the vortex of their system and comes out the end in a poor state. You have no control over the repair and can’t actually speak to the guy repairing the car. It gets fixed by some 19 year old who doesn’t give a toss and is just filling in his days until his next billy stop.

“Lifetime warranty on repairs” I hear you say. Yep and I’ve been back 3 times and nothing has been corrected. My car now has a constant whistle on the highway it didn’t have before the repair. There’s heavy sanding marks in the paint under the clear. The park sensors keep falling out. They put the wrong coolant in the car which I corrected myself, at my expense. They put the wrong A/C charge volume in the car causing high pressures.
When I take it back to be corrected they just keep it for a few days and give it back to me in the same state. They just don’t give a toss.

Now compare that to dealing with joe motors down the street who is a small business. I can talk to the owner and the guy actually doing the repair. I can discuss what they will and won’t be doing. The work is generally far better and they care about their reputation.

Certainly sounds substandard, Did you report the repairer to the insurance company? PS what Insurance company was it?

[Top_Ghia]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Certainly sounds substandard, Did you report the repairer to the insurance company? PS what Insurance company was it?

Yes I reported it. They just told me I had to take it back there. RACV.

[hackney]

I have been with GIO for years & have always had choice of repairer.

[fordomatic]

My old BA XR8 got keyed in Townsville when it was 3 years old. Was insured with NRMA back then. Whole drivers side was stuffed, it was so deep it scarred the metal. The repair looked ok but after 6 months I noticed how bad the colour match was and that in the sun you could still see the marks. I took it back and the repair shop said it was fine. I complained to NRMA and then sold the car.
About 2 months later I get a call from the owner of the body shop saying I had ruined his business and livelihood as NRMA had cancelled the contract over it. I told him how happy that made me feel as he was a shonk.

If only the system was still like this.

[Top_Ghia]

Originally Posted by fordomatic

My old BA XR8 got keyed in Townsville when it was 3 years old. Was insured with NRMA back then. Whole drivers side was stuffed, it was so deep it scarred the metal. The repair looked ok but after 6 months I noticed how bad the colour match was and that in the sun you could still see the marks. I took it back and the repair shop said it was fine. I complained to NRMA and then sold the car.
About 2 months later I get a call from the owner of the body shop saying I had ruined his business and livelihood as NRMA had cancelled the contract over it. I told him how happy that made me feel as he was a shonk.

If only the system was still like this.

Finally a good news story.

[prktkljokr]

If you are not happy with a repair from a insurance recommended repairer just keep complaining until you are happy, insist on a hire car each time they want the car and just be a general pain in their ***. you will be amazed what they will do to keep you happy.

[Citroënbender]

I remember a fellow trying that in Melbourne, the shop used some 1% contacts to persuade him the repairs were adequate.

[prktkljokr]

We get people that complain about stuff that is legit, we just sort it out.

But we get them complain because they think they should have had non related stuff included, we get them complain about stuff that you can see has been busted for years, they complain about new parts being shinier than old parts, they complain that the car is dirty when it comes in looking like a tip, they complain that we damaged whatever, we have people even complain when a small dent in a guard is repaired and the rest of the car is not as shiny because the guard is, we get complaints about the weirdest stuff, but if they keep winging the insurance company just gives in and pays for it so they go away.

I find it funny though, as their premiums will go up and they will eventually pay for it anyway, but they go away happy and that's all that matters

We have 1% behind our shop, I doubt if they would help us do anything

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

If you are not happy with a repair from a insurance recommended repairer just keep complaining until you are happy, insist on a hire car each time they want the car and just be a general pain in their ***. you will be amazed what they will do to keep you happy.

Agree, always ask your insurer to talk to the assessor who evaluated your vehicle if you are unhappy, they will get it sorted for you.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

Yes I reported it. They just told me I had to take it back there. RACV.

Good, If they are Shonky RACV will dump them.

trouble is a lot of people don't make the complaints.

if you pick out your own repairer RACV could advise you're on your own

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Top_Ghia

Racv is painful.
I’m with Shannon’s and their not much better. Yes you can choose your repairer but it also pays to read the fine print. I rang them to ask if they only use genuine parts. They said they use approved parts. When I asked what that means they couldn’t tell me. The conversation just went round and round in circles and they just kept repeating that the only used approved parts. Approved by whom? Who knows.

My advice would be find a good repairer and ask them what insurance company they recommend.

They probably used approved parts(approved by who knows) because in a lot of cases genuine parts are N.L.A .Presume there are a fair few Falcon and Commodore parts which are now N.L.A.so the choice comes down to good secondhand genuine or aftermarket.If you don’t like those options I guess you can take the quote money and work it out for yourself.

[Top_Ghia]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

They probably used approved parts(approved by who knows) because in a lot of cases genuine parts are N.L.A .Presume there are a fair few Falcon and Commodore parts which are now N.L.A.so the choice comes down to good secondhand genuine or aftermarket.If you don’t like those options I guess you can take the quote money and work it out for yourself.

All new genuine parts in this case. I know because my place of employment supplied them.

[Vesper Martini]

Think about it.
Time is money, the insurance company the customer & I can assure you the panel beater all want the cars in/out as soon as possible.

They will order new parts, who has time to shop around at wreckers when you can get clean panels ready for paint.

The panel beaters getting parts from wreckers will be the ones not associated with an insurance company.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Think about it.
Time is money, the insurance company the customer & I can assure you the panel beater all want the cars in/out as soon as possible.

They will order new parts, who has time to shop around at wreckers when you can get clean panels ready for paint.

The panel beaters getting parts from wreckers will be the ones not associated with an insurance company.

So where will I go to get some front panels and trims for my EF XR6 Falcon.You obviously don’t really know how the repair industry works

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

Think about it.
Time is money, the insurance company the customer & I can assure you the panel beater all want the cars in/out as soon as possible.

They will order new parts, who has time to shop around at wreckers when you can get clean panels ready for paint.

The panel beaters getting parts from wreckers will be the ones not associated with an insurance company.

Not quite correct, you will be surprised as most repair workshops have a network of wrecker yards for parts. Just a phone call for parts delivery.
Comes down to availability and costs.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

So where will I go to get some front panels and trims for my EF XR6 Falcon.You obviously don’t really know how the repair industry works

Yeah I do... your EF XR6 Falcon will get written off.