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Hastings Direct - Avoid Like The Plague!


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#1 ChrisCityE

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Posted 10 April 2014 - 05:40 PM

A month ago my Audi A4 was hit by a Hastings Direct insured driver.

 

I am currently unable to get my car repaired because their engineer refuses to sanction the repairs. 

 

Having a rare colour that suffers from translucency and was sprayed in 2008 is apparently perfectly easy to match by a human, and there is no need to blend the paint on the rear wings.

 

Actually, with 3 home built show winning Mini's in my family I know all too well how bad paint is to get right, and a plastic bumper probably will need to be blended no matter how good the paint shop are.

 

Have I asked for a courtesy car? No...

 

Is there any injury compensation awaiting? No...

 

I just want my car fixed, and these muppets are refusing to let me go to my chosen repair garage.. yet Hastings themselves told me I can choose who I go to!



#2 cal844

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Posted 10 April 2014 - 05:43 PM

Court!!

#3 Tamworthbay

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Posted 10 April 2014 - 05:46 PM

A quick call to the insurance ombudsman may get things moving.

#4 ibrooks

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Posted 11 April 2014 - 08:14 AM

So what are YOUR insurers doing to earn their money?

 

Usually the other party's insurer will want to do the repairs if it's their drivers fault because that way they only pay what the repairs cost and wages for their admin people.

 

That doesn't mean you can't have your insurance company do the work. Normally that means you'll pay your excess whilst they sort it but you'll get it back from the other company (often if it's clear cut and the other party has admitted liability then your insurer won't ask you for the excess - they'll just add it to the bill to the other company). Your insurer will do the repair work and then bill the other insurer for the costs - including their admin fees which are a whole lot more than the wages of the people involved.

 

As far as your claims history and no-claims bonus are concerned it's no different.

 

Your insurer is far more likely to let the car go wherever you want because they know that ultimately they aren't paying the bill. They actually want it to cost as much as possible because they are likely to be passing the cost on with a percentage uplift so 5% of £2000 is better for them than 5% of £1500.

 

It might be enough just to threaten Hastings with passing it all on to your insurance company to deal with (have a word with your insurer first to be sure you can do it if they still don't play ball). If Hastings see the likely cost sky-rocketing and all the money (time is money) they have put into it so-far down the tubes then they might well suddenly decide that it's cheaper to do it to your satisfaction.

 

Iain



#5 ChrisCityE

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Posted 12 April 2014 - 09:07 AM

I initially left it to my Insurance company to deal with it, and they left it in the hands of "Kindertons Accident Management" - AVOID THEM AS WELL!

 

They were only interested in providing me with a courtesy car - when I explained I was going away and didn't need one they said "well you can't use us to deal with the claim" 

Kindertons didn't contact Hastings despite saying that they had and were only waiting for Hastings to admit liability.

Kindertons kept promising that they would set up a credit agreement with the garage - didn't contact them at all!

 

Markerstudy refused to get involved with Kindertons failure to do anything and wouldn't even accept responsibility for hiring them... so I went to my broker Adrian Flux who said they would put me through to the claims department to discuss it... and put me through to Markerstudy again!

 

After 4 weeks of Kindertons promising the world and actually doing nothing (genuinely had not got anywhere) I contacted Hastings. Within 2 days they had admitted liability and said as soon as I the garage rings I can book it in. Then Hastings backtracked and said they refuse to sanction the repairs.

 

Now, my feelings are either the repairs outweigh the cost of the car and it is a write off, or I get the repairs done where I want - any legal experts?

 

I've made it clear that either Hastings accept the quote provided or I go all out, involve the Ombudsman, involve the legal team my Insurance provides me with and I want a courtesy car of similar prestige (2 litre Audi, BMW, Merc estate) and I will not remove my car from a garage until I am satisfied with the repairs. All I got in response was parrot fashion that their engineer doesn't agree with the quote so go back to my own insurer.



#6 Badboytunes

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Posted 12 April 2014 - 10:15 AM

You wont get a like for like from either your or tp insurer. If your fully comp your insurer ( as standard ) will provide a small vehicle if you choose to go own the " comprehensive route " via your insurer. If TPI supply a car, then again you will be offered a small car. I gather from your original post that your car is at least older than 2008. As such if you went through an accident management company as opped to your insurer then you will be entitled to a standard group vehicle ( engine size ) that conforms to ABI rates for credit hire. Ylu would only be eligable for " like for like" if  your vehicle is either A, under 5 years old for standard vehcles or B, 6 years for prestige vehicles. Not all Audi vehicles fall into prestige groups.

 

You are entitled to have your vehicle repaired at any garage you like.



#7 Carlos W

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Posted 12 April 2014 - 10:39 AM

I had a nightmare with one of these credit agreements for a hire car after a collision.

 

I had a BMW compact at the time, they gave me a VW EOS 2.0 TDi and I did quite a few miles in it.

 

The other parties insurance company said the bill was excessive £75 a day and I had it a month.

 

It took AGES to sort itself out.

 

Get everything you can in writing. Good luck



#8 ChrisCityE

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Posted 14 April 2014 - 07:53 AM

Audi is on a 58 plate, think its October or November 2008 but it is the 2009- B8 model 2.0 Turbo S-Line Avant.

 

I was offered a like for like by the claim management group, but as I said, they were useless when it came to actually contacting the third party for liability and the garage to authorise repairs.

 

Constantly promised a call back from the intervention team... we'll see if that happens.



#9 ibrooks

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Posted 15 April 2014 - 10:13 AM

Who on earth are Markerstudy? Your insurers?

 

We've established long ago that Flux are worse than useless so it's no surprise that they have done nothing.

 

Iain



#10 Ethel

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Posted 15 April 2014 - 11:28 AM

I'd go & speak to a solicitor offering a free,or fixed fee, consultation.  It sounds like they have accepted liability so you shouldn't get stuck with the bill. Once they realise your solicitor has the meter ticking and they'll be paying it they usually get keener to settle.

 

You are entitled to have all your consequential losses paid (replacement car, legal fees...) but you must mitigate (reasonably minimise) them - that may come down to accepting an offer for the whole car's value, less salvage, if the repair will cost more than the value of the car.



#11 ChrisCityE

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Posted 15 April 2014 - 06:48 PM

Who on earth are Markerstudy? Your insurers?

 

We've established long ago that Flux are worse than useless so it's no surprise that they have done nothing.

 

Iain

 

Markerstudy are the Insurers, Adrian Flux are the brokers. Adrian Flux I am not having a problem with, there was initial confusion as my policy came up for renewal but as soon as I spoke with them I had the additional premium taken off and no extra charge - very pleased with what could have been an issue.

 

Used Adrian Flux all bar 1 year since I was 17, so 6 complete years insurance. It's Markerstudy and Hastings that are the PITA.



#12 ChrisCityE

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Posted 01 July 2014 - 07:11 PM

Well, after 8-9 weeks of trying to get it in with my chosen repair bodyshop I finally gave in and said 'who is your approved audi repair shop, i just want this sorted now'

 

 

UK Carbody tried to return the car to me today - the bumper is dull and matt compared to the body, there is a 1mm deep gouge about 2 inches long on the side of the bumper and THEY DAMAGED MY ARCH!!

 

Not just that, but the bumper still had filler dust on it and wet stains from where it had it's final rub back and compounding!

 

The conversation was basically this:

 

Me - The paint doesn't match, it doesn't sparkle - it's more matt.

Garage - All cars have different coloured bumpers to body. We sprayed it off the Chassis Plate code.

 

Me: But the paint is 5 years older, you can't expect it to have suffered no effects from 5 years of sunlight'

Garage - We don't store 5 year old Audi paint, that's what you get.

 

Me - There wasn't a difference like this before

Garage - no, it's plastic bumper and metal car, of course it won't match.

 

Me - So where has the damage on the arch come from, this wasn't there before, you can check the sheet when you collected it.

Garage - We repair cars, we don't damage them.

 

Me - Well I am not happy with this condition.

Garage - *calls his mate over* right this'll be interesting *gets in my car, drives off.

 

 

 

 

I'm now without a car for the 4th day in a row (courtesy car on the way tomorrow) and have probably spent over £50 on phone bills, plus time that I owe my workplace who thankfully allowed me time this afternoon to ring the Insurance Co and get the Courtesy Car sorted.

 

What compensation can I get for 4 months of stress, financial impact, loss of social hours due to making up time at work... NOTHING.



#13 miniyellowmini

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Posted 01 July 2014 - 07:59 PM

 

What compensation can I get for 4 months of stress, financial impact, loss of social hours due to making up time at work... NOTHING.

 

Assuming you have legal expenses cover with your insurance, you should be able to claim back your 'uninsured losses' through your insurance company. I have done this successfully a couple of times.  It would certainly be straight forward to claim back the cost of your phone calls to the insurance companies for starters as well as any travel expenses incurred whilst you are without use of a car, (taxis, public transport etc.). You are likely to need to provide evidence of any expenses though.

 

Whilst it will not compensate you for the months of stress and hassle at least you will get some of your financial costs back from something at the end of the day was no fault of your own.


Edited by miniyellowmini, 01 July 2014 - 07:59 PM.


#14 Badboytunes

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Posted 01 July 2014 - 08:03 PM

Im sure we used to deal with them at work.......

 

If its the same people, then they are crap.



#15 miniyellowmini

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Posted 01 July 2014 - 08:18 PM

Don't except any inferior work, reject it if not 100% happy it's your car and should be returned as it was prior to the accident.

 

My car once went in to a main dealer for a rear bumper to be replaced after some numpty went in to the back of me. Only very minor damage but the car was 4 months old at the time so I demanded a new bumper be put on rather than it be rubbed down and resprayed. Anyway got the car back and the bumper was still scratched. Pointed this out and to cut a long story short the muppets had replaced the front bumper >_<  This is a front bumper that was new with not a mark on it but for some reason this never occurred to them :huh: . Tried to fob me off saying the rear will polish out and they were only authorised to replace one bumper. Anyway eventually they admitted their fault and agreed to replace the rear one as well, but you could tell someone was in for a bollocking that day :lol:

 






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