bank holiday drivers

[Guest]

was rear ended yesterday while behind a car waiting to turn right[] Heard the skid, looked in my mirror saw a big volvo getting ever closer and then...........bang. Fortunately I had my handbrake on so didn't hit the car in front, thank goodness with my excess. The bloke admitted he was going far too fast - i had been stopped for a while hence handbrake on and his skid seemed to last several seconds.

damage appears to be superficial. a cracked bumper which is also distorted and further rearward relative to spoiler. Also evidence of impact to exhaust which is no longer central to bumper "cut out".

Has anyone suffered this before and is there anything I should ensure the repairer checks out? I'm woried the exhaust has taken a hit and may crack after the claim is settled.

Also, how do you get the third party's insurance to pay for porsche approved repair? My experience is you take the car to one of their approved repairers which is no use when it comes to porsceh bodywork warranty, not that there is much of that left in my case.


Keith

 

[garyw]

I was rear ended in my previous 911, almost exactly the same, I sat and watched them come towards me, except she didn't see me, so no skidding!!!!
I did have a problem at first where my insurance company wanted to send my car to the local Ford dealership[:'(], I told them no way, my car was still in the bodywork warranty.
I rang the local OPC's and found out the approved Porsche repair centres and rang them direct.
Its your right to send the car to whichever repairer you wish, the insurance can make it a little awkward, slower response in authorising and no loan car direct from the bodywork centre.
I was lucky in the fact the repair centre I chose was also authorised by my insurance company so I told the insurance company thats where I insisted it went.

garyw

 

[Melv]

That's bad luck -but I'm convinced that the standards of Bank Holiday drivers and weekend drivers are considerably lower anyway!! []

 

[Ivor]

That's awful. I'm sure its something we all worry about. Insist on a Porsche Approved repair.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

You can take the car to YOUR choice of repairer (Insurance Ombudsman ruling). So don't let your company tell you otherwise.
If you get it done at a Porsche approved repairer then you will get a lifetime warranty on the repair.
Porsche approved repairers should also be able to spot all that needs done - although there are bound to be cases where they have not[&o]
It should all be coming from his policy, so there should be no problems...[&:]

 

[jac in a box]

As Mark has pointed out, it's your choice for repairing garage.

If you're left without a car contact Bristol and London ..... www.bristolandlondon.com/contact.html and advise them of the circumstances of your accident.
If they agree you were not at fault (they'll do a few checks first) you'll be given a hire car, at no cost to your self, that will be on a "like for like" basis - or better....you drive a Porsche they'll put you back in a Porsche for the duration of the repairs. They will also recover all of your out of pocket expenses.

Husband used them last year after someone ran into the side of his BMW, within 12 hours of contacting B&L, brand new fully optioned 7 series was delivered to the door...also successfully recovered all his associated expenses; very good and very efficient.

Jackie x

 

[JCB..]

If you get it done at a Porsche approved repairer then you will get a lifetime warranty on the repair.

This does mean that you have to haul your Butt back to the repair centre every year.

And be advised that just because it's an "Official" repair centre doesn't guarantee a first class job! (First hand experience!)

Sorry for your troubles - I know it's just a car but it sucks!

JCB..

 

[Guest]

thanks for all the advice.

My insurance company are going to get the work done and claim back off 3rd party's insurance. Suggested I take it to their approved repairer, but had no issue when I said I wanted to take to Porsche approved repair centre.

Down side is, I need to book to get a quote, wait for quote, get quote approved, book in. As the repairer is independent to insurance company, I don't get a car while mine is in, so will be looking into Jackie's suggestion.

The thing that hacks me off is while this is through no fault of mine and I will retain my no claims, when I asked about my next premium I was told "it may go up a little inevitably"[>:]

I've had experience of this in the past too and while it may only be £30 or £40, it is really frustrating.

 

[garyw]

Well on the conversation of Bank Holiday drivers [] what a Monday, twice nearly written off and once up the kerb (with hand on the horn) to miss being rammed by miss daisy and family out in the MPV.
Or maybe its me thinking the lanes on traffic Island were for guidance and not lane discipline.
Did finally make it out alive into the peaks and had a great time, some lovely roads, and a total of 4 Talivans out collecting funds [] (none from me though).

Garyw

 

[Guest]

And be advised that just because it's an "Official" repair centre doesn't guarantee a first class job! (First hand experience!)

John,

what was your experience?

 

[JCB..]

John, what was your experience?

December 2000 car was 8 months old. Virtually at a standstill in rush hour traffic when before me cars are pulling of the carriageway both ways. Into view comes a old Vauxhall Cavalier with an old boy sat behind the wheel. That was in fact all he was doing he had no idea where he was. I just got unlucky and had nowhere to go and he ran down the offside of my car from just in front of the door to the rear quarter.

The plus side was:

I was then insured by Norwich Union. No fuss the car was in the repair centre the next day with a quote of £6K.

The down side was:

7 weeks before I first picked up the car.
Wheel arch liners not secured.
Extra marks had appeared on the hard top and rear (undamaged) wing - looked like an egg had dropped on it.
Overspray on the roof mechanism.
New paint chipping of the rocker panel at the slightest scuff
Undercoat visible at the edges of panels and the door.
Now have severe scuff marks on softop which was removed during the work.

Guarantee certificate arrived (twice) with the wrong details on it.

I had my rear bumper repaired last summer by a local chap who is located a mile down the road. He has done work for me previously and he did a great job. I need another front end respray and that's where I'll be going from now on.

JCB..

 

[JCB..]

The thing that hacks me off is while this is through no fault of mine and I will retain my no claims, when I asked about my next premium I was told "it may go up a little inevitably"

Surely a "no cost claim" is a no cost claim. All costs incurred by yourself and your underwriter are bourne by the third parties.

JCB..

 

[nottage]

I had the same problem a few years ago. My wife was driving my car and got rammed from the side by someone pulling out of a junction without looking. My premium went up although not our fault and no loss of NCB. When I questioned why the premium had increased I was told that statisticaly the next accident I have will be my fault and so they are adjusting their premiums accordingly. That was 4 years ago (tempting trouble now) and we have had no accidents since.

Another insurance rip-off

Best of luck,

Kevin

 

[Guest]

Really sorry that you've been through this....

And be advised that just because it's an "Official" repair centre doesn't guarantee a first class job! (First hand experience!)

I've also had some experience of this. My previous Porsche went back to the Porsche approved body shop 4 times to correct a minor job that was done prior to my purchase. They were always very apologetic and always seemed to care - but the actual standard of work was appalling.

 

[Michael Downing]

ORIGINAL: JCB..
Surely a "no cost claim" is a no cost claim. All costs incurred by yourself and your underwriter are bourne by the third parties.

JCB..

I wish [:'(]

Two people have driven into the back of me in the last few years. Add that to me doing the same 3 1/2 years ago and I have 3 "claims" to report when asking for quotes. Many online quote engines won't even let you type in more than two claims.

What is even more galling is that I didn't even have to claim for the two incidents - I handled the claims myself by writing to the other driver's insurer or employer and asking for the money. Both settled without argument so my insurers are charging me extra for accidents that weren't my fault and cost them a big fat absolute zero in payouts and effort. [][]

Wish I could charge clients on that basis. Except that they'd turn up with baseball bats if I did. And quite rightly.

 

[Dapster]

All experiences are different off course, but I had a front end shunt repaired by OPC Cambridge faultlessly last year. The car was off the road for bloody ages and the loan car was a bottom of the range Pug 106 with no air con, but the finish on the car was superb.

 

[Ivor]

I can back this up. I had a parking dent repaired by the Cambridge OPC last year and they did a superb job. Friendly and informative service too.

 

[JCB..]

I handled the claims myself by writing to the other driver's insurer or employer and asking for the money.

Why on earth did you do that?

JCB..

 

[Need4Speed]

[FONT=Verdana"]Like you I was rear ended by someone skidding into me. I was stationary in queuing traffic waiting to enter a police checkpoint, when all of a sudden I heard skidding and glimpsed an out-of-control car in my rear view mirror before the inevitable bang. I had been anticipating the queuing traffic ahead of me moving, so I was able to move off slightly & safely prior to the point of impact, so this obviously limited the impact and reduced the damage.

As my Boxster was only 6 months old and I was hit by an overseas student, who was driving a wreck and extremely keen to leave the scene, I requested the Police to attend. Fortunately the 3rd party was insured but I endured 48 hours wait before this was actually confirmed.

My damage looked identical to that in your photo. Fortunately my damage turned out to be superficial so no repair work required, just replacement of the bumper, rear exhaust and other consumables [bumper cover, bumper irons, impact absorbers, rear exhaust box, large oval sports tailpipe & rear reg plate etc]. The invoice for this was circa £3K and the 3rd party insurer approved this without any problems, but I'm sure they would have negotiated a reasonable discount on this.

As Jackie has suggested, if you're left without a car, I too would recommend the use of a prestige accident management company. I used Law Shield and they had a like-for-like Mercedes SLK on my forecourt the minute my freebie Porsche Assistance loaner was collected, plus they indemnified me against any unrecovered losses for this. This car had a daily rate of £265 and I ended up keeping it for almost 2 weeks.

With regards to being penalised for non-fault accidents [100% recovery made], I tested this with several insurance companies while searching for renewal estimates earlier this year and it made no financial difference whatsoever. I asked my new insurance company about this bollox and although they said it would result in an underwriting loading, the amount is really insignificant.

Best of luck with the repair!

Andy

 

[garyw]

Your OPC should have access to an accident management company, leave it all in their hands then (so maybe not such a good idea), both Birmingham OPC's offered this service with a loan Porsche during the repair [8D]

garyw