A big YAY for Steelroe and a continuing take of anguish

[pergau]

I had a little skid in the car a while ago - hit a patch of black ice and skidded into a high kerb. This wrecked the wheel and bent the wishbone back so that the wheel was rubbing against the bodywork.

I didn't post about it here before because I had too much going on in my life at the time (mainly work stuff) and I didn't realise how much damage I had done. I got the car towed to a garage run by a friend of mine and he had a look and we called in the insurance assessor and they agreed that the car was an uneconomic repair.

It needed:

Driveshaft
Shock absorber
Stub Axle
Anti-roll Bar
Subframe
Wishbone
Droplinks
New Wheel

When I agreed a price with the insurance company - luckily I had decided to take out no claims bonus insurance this year so it only cost me the insurance excess - I decided to get the car repaired as there was no damage to anything else on the car. I had provided a cost list showing the prices. I used a combination of prices from Camskills for the few bits that they had and the rest from Steelroe, noting that some were second hand.

This is where Steelroe came in - he got me all the parts that I needed - at a decent price.

When I gave the parts to the garage and they started to do the repair, the mechanic thought that the steering rack needed to be repalced as he believed that the Tie bars were permanently fixed to the rack. Steelroe spoke to the mechanic for me and explained how to remove them - doing himself out of a sale in the process!

But no good deed ever goes unpunished and when the assessor came in to check the repairs and give me a certificate of roadworthiness, things started to go funny. The assessor seemed to want the steering rack replaced despite it not even being on the original list of parts. We argued about this for a while and eventually I caved and agreed to have the rack replaced. Steelroe had one sent up to me immediately and the mechanic replaced it and called the assessor in again.
This time the assessor drove the car for 15 mins and agreed that it was fine and that he would sign the certificate. The battery in the car was dead so the mechanic said he would charge it overnight and deliver it to me the next day. the next morning,the assessor called back into the garage and told them that his boss wouldn't let them sign the cert as original parts hadn't been fitted.

Can you see where this is going?

I spoke to the assessor and he told me that they wouldn't sign the roadworthiness cert. When I questioned him he relented slightly and said that Shocks and steering rack would have to be new but they might accept the rest as second-hand. I nearly lost it at this stage and reminded him that the steering rack wasn't even on the original list and that it was impossible to get OEM parts like that for the FTO. He asked if they were ever sold new in Ireland so I had to give him the history of the FTO. He was fairly firm that they wouldn't sign the cert without new parts but wouldn't accept that they should have told me this before the repairs started.

Has anyone had this trouble before? and how was it resolved?

It looks at the moment that I have spent a lot of money on repairing my car and won't get it back on the road.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Wildhound]

Fair play to Steelroe. That's an awful tale though, kind of puts my troubles in perspective.

I feel for you, hope it gets sorted for you soon!

[Muad_dib77]

Did you consider talking to the ombudsman?

[pergau]

Thanks for the replies.

I haven't got to the stage of the ombudsman yet as I'm hoping that they will just agree to sign the cert. But I will head for the small claims court if this doesn't work out.

I'm wondering if anyone has faced the problem of insurance companies insisting on original parts, and how it was resolved.

[Wildhound]

The garage, rather than the insurance company, is insiting on OEM parts in my case. Into the eigth week and they've ordered the wrong part 4 times but they won't let me pick one up at a breakers.

It's frustrating as hell but I don't know what you can do about it. At least they told me before I bought parts...

[Dave]

Ring the ombudsman straight off, at least he'll let you know your rights rather than employing a solicitor at your own expense first.

[steelroe]

Original parts have been fitted, just that some are secondhand.
As I said to you before Justin I very much doubt the rack was damaged in the first place given it was a straight on collision.

Explain to him (nicely) that the rack was not noted as damaged in the initial assesment and it was replaced as a precautionary measure afterwards. The rack I sent you was off a car with no collision damage.

And if they still insist on replacing it, then I reckon you should explain to hime it will cost in the region of 2K to replace new including labour. Remember all this is effecting a claim on your policy and the more they pay out the more they will expect to get back off of you in future premiums.

The problem here I think may be that hte garage is charging for installing a new rack, talk to your mechanic and seee what he has to say.

[steelroe]

Justin

How did you fare out with this one in the end! Hope all worked out fine.

[pergau]

It is still up in the air. My solicitor has all the details and we are deciding whether to sue them or go through the small claims court. But either way I am suing them.

I miss my FTO

[steelroe]

What exactly is their beef.
You mena you still dont have the car back! WHat does the garage think about all this?