ChipsAway for Cambridge, Ely and Newmarket
Dealing with Insurance Claims:
ChipsAway Cambridge can manage your claim and recover payment from your insurer if you choose to claim on your insurance
Your right to choose your repairer
"It's your car, and you have a right to choose where it is repaired. Your insurer is obliged to pay for all reasonable costs of the repair." That is the legal position according to the Office of Fair Trading.
Your insurer may try and divert you to a repairer that provides them with special discounts or kickbacks - they may refer to such a repairer as "Approved" or "Authorised", (suggesting that any other repairer is somehow "Unapproved" or "Unauthorised"). While your insurer may recommend a repairer to you, in most situations it is illegal for them to try to pressure you to use their choice of repairer. The Association of British Insurers, the Director-General of the VBRA, the Office of Fair Trading, and the Financial Services Authority have all confirmed their agreement on this point.
If your insurer does try to pressure you into using their choice of repairer, the FSA consider this a significant ethics breach, and you can report this matter to them.
Insurers have been known to tell their customers that they will suffer delays, get no guarantee, or not have access to a courtesy car if they choose their own repairer. These statements are all false - it is illegal for the insurer to introduce a delay if their preferred repairer is not used, the guarantee is provided as normal by the customer's choice of repairer (we provide the full ChipsAway warranty), and a courtesy car, where needed, can also be provided by the repairer.
A quote from ChipsAway Cambridge is the only one you need
You are not required by law (unless you were explicitly told otherwise when taking out your policy) to use your insurer's repairer, or to collect multiple quotes that they then choose from. If you want ChipsAway Cambridge to carry out your insured repairs, we can forward our quote to your insurer. They are then legally obliged to pay for your ChipsAway repairs unless they can show that the cost of doing so is unreasonable.
If you require any assistance in deciding whether you should claim on your insurance, or with managing your claim, contact us - we can help.