Re: What to do for accidents during warranty period
melo said:
I was just reading Ahbengdriver's unfortunate accident story, and recently a friend of mine had an accident where his entire door panel was assessed as required to be replaced. I'm wondering, what's the best action to take when your car gets involved in an accident while it's still under warranty? My initial thought would be that it has to be sent to PML for work otherwise they might void the warranty for letting anyone else touch the car
But its that the case even when the accident is simply body panel damage and perhaps parts such as side mirrors or door window motors? Nowadays with some insurers (hmmm, i wonder who) who make so much noise about sending cars back to authorised dealers due to the higher costs, what's to be done? And from I've been told, alot of insurers get assessments done at IDAC. Should PML also be brought in for assessments especially for those of us with valid warranties?
Being involved in an accident is never a pleasant experience but seldom are owners equipped with the knowledge of knowing what to do when things do go wrong. To start with, it is the responsibility of owners to know the insurance policy that they take up, what are the terms and conditions and what does it really mean to the owner. Not all insurance companies offer the same terms and conditions even if premiums are fairly similar. Owners have to enquire further to finer details to know if there are any hidden 'traps' should the unfortunate happen.
To your question: what is the best course of action to take while your car is under warranty? The decision is yours to make but you must know the pros and cons of going back to PML and how will it affect your NCD and future premiums.
Are you intending to claim against a 3rd party? If so, will PML effect a 3rd party claim on your behalf or will they claim OD 1st and let your insurer follow-up while your NCD is suspended during the claiming period (ranges from mths to years). What this means to you is paying full premium (while NCD suspended) and the possible fact that other insurers may not offer you insurance when you intend to switch upon renewal while claim is still pending.
Outside workshops can offer you the option of letting them take care of the claim while your policy is not affected BUT this is also dependant on the circumstance leading to the accident and how confident are they in a successful claim. In this case, the wkshop bears the risk of a less than successful claim just to secure your business. Basically less hassle for the owner but also the risk of losing warranty for the damaged area from PML.
In short, go back to PML only if you're ok with paying for the repairs or claiming from your own insurer 1st. If you don't want to affect your policy and also not coming out cash from your own pocket 1st, an outside wkshop would be the better option but thats also dependant on who you go to.
Its ironic that even if the accident is no fault of ours, we are better off not going back to PML. That said, there are wkshops outside who (IMHO) can match or better the repair standard of most local car agents. Why I say this is the fact that these pple outside have been doing it for years and its their bread and butter skill whereas most agents engage paper-qualified staff to perform these skill and experience dependant tasks. The challenge is knowing who to go to and who is good...that's where forum members (like me) will give their 2cts worth.
The motor insurance industry has not found the perfect solution/processes for all insurers to adopt. There is a long way to go for all these to be established and hopefully do not make an already unpleasant experience any worse. Even the IDAC concept is collapsing with insurers pulling out from the scheme. What does this tells us?....been there, done that, didn't work...move on and look for something that does. In the meantime, owners will continue to bear with the current practices while the industry strive to come out with something sustainable and acceptable to both owners and insurers.
