Insurance - Claims made easy - independent assessor ?

Azn310 on 22/07/2014 - 17:39

Hi guys,

I hope someone with experience can help me out here. And this should be good info for others too.

My car was rear ended. Other party (we'll call her party B) was clearly at fault. We exchanged info. Party B is with AAMI insurance. I have Third party with Coles.

I took the car to the repairer, he said damages costs $2000 to repair, but says AAMI won't let me bring my car to him. He say AAMI will ask me to bring car to their assessment centre and get it repaired by their repairer, which according to online peeps would be a nightmare because they ask their repairers to do the jobs cheaply.

So my repairer tell me to fill in the form for an independent assessor and solicitor, in this case Claims made easy Pty, they will do everything to allow my repairer to proceed. He assured me that there is no costs on my part and I will also get a hired car to use while car is being repaired.

I am a bit confused at the moment because if the independent assessor do it for free, how do they make their money? from AAMI ? or from the party B? or maybe they will chase me after ? It just sounds too good to be true at the moment.

Anyone with similar experience here? Would love to hear from you. Thank you!

P.S. I have tried another smash repair, and he said the same, only gave me a different independent assessing company.

Automotive

Comments

  • Davo1111 on 22/07/2014 - 17:56
    +3

    Might be a whirlpool/motoring question, but IMO you're under no obligation to deal with AAMI at all. Get two quotes, send a letter of demand, and if required, take them to court.

  • NancyCat on 22/07/2014 - 19:40
    +2

    Can you call the independent assessor and ask them about the process and fees?

    Yes, AAMI is a bloody nightmarewe. We were with AAMI years ago, a Coles truck sideswiped our car, the repair job of our car was so dodgy we had to sell our car shortly afterwards. And it took them almost 3 weeks to 'fix' the car!

    Don't let AAMI bully you.

    • Azn310 on 22/07/2014 - 19:47

      Will call him first thing tomorrow morning, but just wanted to get some opinions so I know what Im dealing with.

      Thank you for your advice, and glad to hear you made it through all that.

    • donga100 on 22/07/2014 - 20:24

      Two months without a car while mine was fixed by AAMI repairer. Would have loved a rental car.

  • Natt on 22/07/2014 - 19:59
    +1

    With AAMI you can choose a repairer for them to obtain a quote from. No guarantee they would choose them, but I would be asking.

    From http://www.aami.com.au/customer-service/help-topics/car-insu…

    We ordinarily obtain two independent, competitive quotes, from repairers recommended by AAMI. If you want, you can choose a repairer to provide one of the quotes. Our assessor will review the quotes, including any quote from a repairer you choose, and what is necessary to properly repair your car. We will select the repairer who has submitted the more competitive and complete quote and that will be the repairer who repairs your car. We’ll have your car repaired, keeping you informed all the way along.

    • Azn310 on 22/07/2014 - 23:44

      Yeah you recommend one of the repairer out of the two. So while yours is $2000, theirs would be like $800. Guess which one they will select. Then after the repair, you will be left unhappy and returns for more repair. This is the story I hear from all over the internet.

      Their repairers are good, however they are strongly underpaid by AAMI, hence the bad job. Many repairers chose to opt out to save their reputation.

      Thank you for your opinion, I should probably give AAMI a ring first to see what they say.

  • mattie on 22/07/2014 - 22:58
    +1

    Get a written quote.

    Ring party B and ask her for the claim number.

    Ring AAMI tell them you are not going to repair your car and would like payment for the damages, they will send an assessor to compare your cars damage with the quote and then give you the money.

    Then you can shop around for the best cash price to fix your car.

    edit: you will have to pay panel beater for the quote.

    • Azn310 on 22/07/2014 - 23:47

      Thanks Mattie, we have a written quote and claim number. However, I highly doubt that AAMI will give you cash to repair it. Not sure which insurance you are with, but I'm sure AAMI wont send an assessor out, you have to bring the car to them, and it would probably take a few trips before you come in an agreement with them about the damages, I reckon

      • AnDyStYLe on 23/07/2014 - 16:25
        +2

        From my understanding and experience of things, you hold higher ground especially with the other party's AAMI claim number in your hands.

        Like someone stated before, you don't need to deal with AAMI as that's not your insurer. Your repairer should be able to assist you with lodging the claim number to AAMI and get your car repaired by them no questions asked.

        When I got hit (in VIC - not my fault), my repairer said not to lodge a claim using my insurer as I would have t&c's to abide by, and rather get the other party's insurance details and a claim number would be gold. So I managed to get the claim number, passed this onto the repairer to which they did the chasing up and got my car repaired straight away, no questions asked. The repair also prefers this as they can maximise the claim (i.e. equals more money for them to work with, with less conditions etc., equals potential profit for them).

        You don't need to worry about AAMI's t&c's (their PDS) as you are not their customer.

        If your repair won't assist, I'd say find another reputable repairer that can.

        • Azn310 on 23/07/2014 - 16:40

          Did you have to do any assessment of the damages? Maybe your repairer took care of everything from A to Z, which is great.

        • AnDyStYLe on 23/07/2014 - 17:13
          +2

          @Azn310:

          Yeah my repairer organised it all from A to Z. I just dropped off the car to them as they are my choice of repairer and very reputable and didn't need to liaise with anyone else.

          Oh I forgot to mention as you already did below about the hire car, that's another plus with going through the other party's insurer. You can sort out a hire car without questions again, as this will be billed to their insurer.

          Moral of the story is, if you are not at fault and you can get an insurance claim number from the other party, this will put the ball in your court. If in the unfortunate chance that the other party doesn't have insurance, then you will need to make a claim with your insurer (providing you have full comp), and depending on who you're with, they will make you jump hoops if you don't want to go to one of their preferred repairers (i.e. AAMI. But I eventually managed to get my preferred repairer by jumping hoops and lots and lots of researching, after which I bolted from AAMI to another provider). If you don't have full comp insurance, and the other party doesn't have insurance, good luck to you and your wallet!

        • mattie on 23/07/2014 - 18:45

          you are dead right never use your own insurance if you are not at fault, it is however very hard to get this through to some peoples thick skulls

        • FutureTech on 24/07/2014 - 10:35

          @AnDyStYLe: how come? If the other party is at fault and uninsured, isn't it that they are held personally liable for the damage caused?

        • AnDyStYLe on 24/07/2014 - 10:43

          @maolin95: Yes in theory, but how are you going to chase them up to seek compensation? You'll either need to pursue them with letters of demand (which they can simply ignore), utilise lawyers, or take them to tribunal/civil court etc.

          Either ways, you'll be out of time and money trying to chase them up yourself. And if you do end up getting them into court, the outcome could possibly be that they pay you $5 a week for the next hundred years.

          Else, you can try be baller and kick down their door and demand payment. Although I don't think that'll go down too well.

          I'd never drive around in a car and not have full comp insurance. Unless my car was a sht box and I didn't care if I no longer had it. Full comp insurance isn't just to cover your ass when you hit someone, it's to cover you when someone that doesn't have insurance hits into you!

        • Azn310 on 24/07/2014 - 16:59
          +2

          @AnDyStYLe: Technically, Third party insurance will cover you up to $5000 (some of them $3000) if someone uninsured hits you, and you have their details. So if your vehicle is of the $5000 range, full comp might be too expensive.

          However, full comp will cover you in case you hit kangaroos, windshield crack, natural disasters like hail. Peace of mind at a cost.

        • pumpkinspice on 28/07/2014 - 13:48

          @Azn310:
          I understood that reference.gif

  • Azn310 on 23/07/2014 - 16:39
    +2

    So I rang AAMI this morning, their responses were going round and round trying to get me to bring the car into their assessment centre (almost half an hour away), get 2 quotes etc..

    And I rang the independent assessor, he explained to me that he will be getting his cut through the repairer's invoice, which AAMI will pay or face lawsuit. He will organized for my car to be assessed at repairer's premises too. Can organize a hire car, at AAMI's loss of course, but I won't be needing it, don't wanna over complicate the whole thing. Anyways, so far so good, and stress-free.

    Will keep updated on how things go, and hopefully get advises from you guys. Thank you very much to all!

    • UncommonName on 02/08/2014 - 07:52
      +2

      Update?

      • Azn310 on 12/08/2014 - 23:44
        +1

        Yep, so I filled in the form with the independent assessment company CME detailing the accident and claim number from party B. Got booked in for an assessment at repairer's premises. Took the car there on the day, the assessor guy came and took photos of the damages and discussed with my repairers. I think they know each other. Repairer told me he will ring me to let me know when to take the car in for repair. Both of them ask if I want a hire car (at no cost of course), but i rather not..

        I've learned to not wait for repairer to call, but give him a call once every 2 days, otherwise he will forget about you. Reason is because with these repairs, it takes long for him to receive payments.

        Anyhow so far so good i think. Didnt have to deal with AAMI, so stress-free.

        • UncommonName on 13/08/2014 - 00:04

          So moral of the story is -

          If you are not at fault, then do not go through your own insurance provider, get the claim number from the at fault party (provided they have 3rd party property damage insurance) and proceed through an independent assessment company?

        • Azn310 on 13/08/2014 - 20:43

          @bargainaus: yep thats correct. Usually your repairer can walk you through it, they are normally associated with one independent assessment company.

          I think good repairers all do this because that way they get more jobs without having to attach themselves to crappy insurance companies and repair for as cheap as possible.

  • Azn310 on 09/09/2014 - 23:55

    Update: i'm still waiting for the repair to happen. It is getting a little stressful. Repairer says he's waiting for parts to come. Last week, I rang him he said dealer gave him wrong parts. I have a feeling he might be waiting for parts from wreck yards to increase his margins….

    • donga100 on 07/11/2014 - 20:43

      Any further update?

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