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Hey guys I have a small questions when dealing with these insurance people, my car was hit while it was parked at home (get was busted had to park it on the street) when I got home I found that my neighbor had backed into my car when she was pulling out of her drive way, very nice lady left her number and reported it to her insurance the very day. My question is that AAMI is asking me to either 1. Take it to their guys to fix or 2. Take it to one of their guys and get a quote AND take it to my panel beater and get a quote, I think its fairly obvious to say that they want the cheaper quote but this isn't right why should I have to get a panel beater to do a shit shop just because they quote less her client HIT ME!! Does this mean if I ever get in an accident with someone else I can say ok well you take it to YOUR panel beater and take it to this guy and I'll choose which one I want to pay for, it doesn't work that way so why do I have to do it for them?

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Not having much luck with your car James :P

No, you have choice of repairer no matter what. These companies try to "persuade" people into thinking they don't have a choice (you should see the wording in their policies), but I've been told by panel beaters that it's illegal for them to force you to use their repairer.

Last time I had a smash, Just Cars made me get a quote from their repairer and mine. Assessor tried to sway me towards mine because mine was actually cheaper lol. I told them I wanted to go with theirs cause they sounded like they were going to do a better job (replace panels instead of bog)...he didn't argue with me after I made that clear.

I'm not Victorian, but I saw this come up and chased it up for you.

My girlfriend works in motor insurance for an insurance company, and according to her this is correct, if you go through AAMI you have to use their repairer.

However you can put in a claim with your insurer. Because you have all the details, it won't effect your premiums, because they can just collect their costs from AAMI.

AAMI are notoriously awful and will try and bully you, but don't worry about it, just deal with your guys and it'll be all good.

Thanks for the replies guys, I called them today and basically said it was slightly unfair and basically told them how shit their assessors treated me and how they wouldn't tell me anything how they were fixing the car pretty much came out made an assessment and said I could go I was like wtf??? So told her if it was reversed (their client hit me) would they let me say well take it to 2 different panel beaters and I'll choose who i want and she said "well no" and I said exactly, she basically said ok, just get the quote that I want and she said she'll put a note to basically authorize my panel beater (as long as its reasonable of course)

I'm not Victorian, but I saw this come up and chased it up for you.

My girlfriend works in motor insurance for an insurance company, and according to her this is correct, if you go through AAMI you have to use their repairer.

However you can put in a claim with your insurer. Because you have all the details, it won't effect your premiums, because they can just collect their costs from AAMI.

AAMI are notoriously awful and will try and bully you, but don't worry about it, just deal with your guys and it'll be all good.

I don't think that's quite correct. The process isn't much different from someone hitting you without insurance. You would be asked to obtain a few quotes from panelbeaters and assuming the costs were reasonable, you would be able to choose who your repairs are done through. The only difference in this instance, is that an insurance company is acting as an agent for someone, paying the damages on behalf of the individual. Therefore, the same deal applies and they CANNOT force you to use their repairer. They might challenge your quote in court if they believe it to be unreasonable, in which case they'd need to find other quotes from independant parties to prove whether it was actually unreasonable or not.

I don't think that's quite correct. The process isn't much different from someone hitting you without insurance. You would be asked to obtain a few quotes from panelbeaters and assuming the costs were reasonable, you would be able to choose who your repairs are done through. The only difference in this instance, is that an insurance company is acting as an agent for someone, paying the damages on behalf of the individual. Therefore, the same deal applies and they CANNOT force you to use their repairer. They might challenge your quote in court if they believe it to be unreasonable, in which case they'd need to find other quotes from independant parties to prove whether it was actually unreasonable or not.

Maybe its in their terms and conditions? Apparently they're dicks to deal with, from a customer and other insurance company point of view.

I've never used them for anything, so I don't know what they're like from that point of view.

I believe some insurers have in their policies that you have to get your car repaired by one of their authorised repairers.

Easiest way is to just deal with your insurer. I've done that and its been a lot easier.

I've read their PDS, well I have a Just Cars (i.e. AAMI subsidiary) PDS at home, and they are very tricky with the wording. They make it sound like you don't have a choice, but it's all just bullying tactics and I'm surprised they're allowed to write it out the PDS the way they do. And yes, I've heard of them being dicks. To be honest though, aside from the trickery in the PDS, Just Cars were fantastic with my last claim...very easy to deal with.

Again, this is just going off what panel beaters have told me...but surely my case, and now what James' has discovered shows that there is a bit of leeway with regard to the authorised repairer stipulation.

That said, insurance company PDS or terms and conditions don't apply to a third party who has no product purchased through them - the only thing that does is the law. If an insurance company won't pay out on a job, or will only pay a certain amount, then that is between the insurance company and their client. You as the third party, are seeking damages from the client. How they get those damages to you is their problem.

Hi mate.

I dealt with this last year. My mum actually backed into me.. :thumbsup:

Parents were insured with AAMI. I have third party with justcar.

I went and got a quote at one of their repairers. I then went and got a quote at a repairer I wanted (Paintwerks) I also tried Micolour, but he wasn't interested in giving me a quote simply on the grounds that he believed AAMI wouldn't bother to look at it.

However the paintwerks quote was approved and an assesor had a look at my car there.

AAMI will try to make you think you dont have a choice, but it's not as difficult as it all seems.

That said, insurance company PDS or terms and conditions don't apply to a third party who has no product purchased through them - the only thing that does is the law. If an insurance company won't pay out on a job, or will only pay a certain amount, then that is between the insurance company and their client. You as the third party, are seeking damages from the client. How they get those damages to you is their problem.

Yeah I guess, but that all sounds too hard, you have to go to court, wait ages, etc.

Much easier to just claim with your insurer. If you have the details for the person who hit you, they'll sort it out with no hassles to you, and they'll deal with getting the money out of AAMI.

If you have the details, it doesn't count as a claim against you when it comes round to renewal time. If you don't, i.e. someone hits you in a car park and bolts, then unfortunately it does :(

Yeah I guess, but that all sounds too hard, you have to go to court, wait ages, etc.

Much easier to just claim with your insurer. If you have the details for the person who hit you, they'll sort it out with no hassles to you, and they'll deal with getting the money out of AAMI.

If you have the details, it doesn't count as a claim against you when it comes round to renewal time. If you don't, i.e. someone hits you in a car park and bolts, then unfortunately it does :(

+1. Thats what we tell alot of people at work,if you have the person who hit you details go through your insurance it will be much easier and won't affect your no claim bonus/ premiums. When you are getting an insurance policy tell them you want the option to choose your preferred repairer. Then when you do need work done they will tell you to get a certain amount of quotes (usually 2) one from their preferred repairer, then get one from yours. And if they are similar in price you should be able to take it to your repairer. But in saying that prices can vary from shop to shop depending on whats your insurance company and whether the panel shop want to do the job or not cause if the shop quotes high and gets the job its a win for the shop as they will be getting more money. My brother's car was reversed into at a shopping centre and got a quote from the panel shop I work at quote came to about $1100. The person that hit him thought we were trying to rip them off so they told my brother to take it to another repairer in town where they had work done before and their quote came to $2100

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