Repairs to Chimaera through insurance company
Discussion
I just got rear-ended quite badly in my 4.5 Chimaera. The insurance lot (Ageas, through Footman James) want to take the vehicle to one of their recommended garages and I would rather it went to my nearest TVR specialist. I would assume that Ageas know what they are doing as they work for FJ but I am a little nervous of having repairs done by a non TVR garage. What does everyone think?
Try and take control of the car, if its tucked away under your control you have the upper hand with the insurance company. The insurance company have an obligation to put you back into the position you were in before the accident. Over inflated repair costs and under priced valuations are their business model.
Remember they do want to write off your car as they make more money from that very efficient process than they do from repairing your car. Don't worry about them loosing money, they just increase the premiums and we all pay to aid their profits.
Do the leg work for them, get quotes from TVR specialists, get a repair schedule organised under the true value of the car and play hard ball, the other option is to agree you keep the car, they pay an agreed sum to compensate your damage and the car has NO RECORDED classification against it.
Before lots of keyboard warriors say you can't do that, you can and I have done it twice on my standard road cars when some idiot has hit me.
Remember they do want to write off your car as they make more money from that very efficient process than they do from repairing your car. Don't worry about them loosing money, they just increase the premiums and we all pay to aid their profits.
Do the leg work for them, get quotes from TVR specialists, get a repair schedule organised under the true value of the car and play hard ball, the other option is to agree you keep the car, they pay an agreed sum to compensate your damage and the car has NO RECORDED classification against it.
Before lots of keyboard warriors say you can't do that, you can and I have done it twice on my standard road cars when some idiot has hit me.
I had two accidents, 18 years apart, where I was in no way to blame, no arguments, 100% down to the third party insurers.
On both occasions I chose who I wanted to repair it (TVR/glass fibre experienced), that is who did it, had very decent loan cars while the car was being repaired, both perfect repairs.
It wasn’t your fault, assuming they are insured and clearly at fault you can get it repaired by whoever you want (within reason).
On both occasions I chose who I wanted to repair it (TVR/glass fibre experienced), that is who did it, had very decent loan cars while the car was being repaired, both perfect repairs.
It wasn’t your fault, assuming they are insured and clearly at fault you can get it repaired by whoever you want (within reason).
The situation I am currently in is that I don't know how repairable fibreglass is and therefore I don't know what sort of job is going to be required. It looks like Chimaera bodies are one piece so if the damage is unfixable then an entire new shell will be required. I understand that the only place in Britain that can do this is in Birmingham and this is something that I have to my insurers. (Footman James) I have added an image of some of the damage so that the knowledgeable amongst you can let me know what I have in store. Thanks
Yatz said:
It looks like Chimaera bodies are one piece so if the damage is unfixable then an entire new shell will be required. I understand that the only place in Britain that can do this is in Birmingham
The shell is one piece but sections can be cut off and new grafted in. I would think the cost of a complete re-shell (if one is available) would make it a write of?Many mainstream bodyshops won't want the job, I'd be surprised if your insurers don't let you choose somewhere familiar with fibreglass cars.
What/where is this place in Birmingham?
Edited by phillpot on Saturday 24th February 13:34
Read the policy documentation. I have read it online.
https://www.ageas.co.uk/globalassets/policy-docume...
Your insurer's usual approved bodyshops won't have a clue about how to repair a TVR. They will most likely all reject the work as they are not set up to do it and won't have a clue where to get the parts from. They are not in the habit of buying repair panels from cottage industry suppliers. They won't know how to do it, or how to estimate it. Your insurers will then writ the car off as being unrepairable.
You need to take it to a specialist TVR bodyshop who is prepared to deal with insurers and their requirements. You need to get an estimate from the bodyshop and send it to your insurers. They may want to send an assessor to inspect the car. That is what the policy says.
The likelihood is that they will write the car off because of the cost of repair and the complication, the time it takes to repair it, the delay waiting for parts, especially if you take a hire car from the insurers. A specialist bodyshop is unlikely to be able to start the work immediately and they make take several months to complete it.
Ultimately it may be down to the other driver's insurers as they were presumably at fault here and from whom your insurers will want to recover their costs. As others have said, it's all about them finding the cheapest solution. Often to save costs, those insurers will want to deal directly with you.
https://www.ageas.co.uk/globalassets/policy-docume...
Your insurer's usual approved bodyshops won't have a clue about how to repair a TVR. They will most likely all reject the work as they are not set up to do it and won't have a clue where to get the parts from. They are not in the habit of buying repair panels from cottage industry suppliers. They won't know how to do it, or how to estimate it. Your insurers will then writ the car off as being unrepairable.
You need to take it to a specialist TVR bodyshop who is prepared to deal with insurers and their requirements. You need to get an estimate from the bodyshop and send it to your insurers. They may want to send an assessor to inspect the car. That is what the policy says.
The likelihood is that they will write the car off because of the cost of repair and the complication, the time it takes to repair it, the delay waiting for parts, especially if you take a hire car from the insurers. A specialist bodyshop is unlikely to be able to start the work immediately and they make take several months to complete it.
Ultimately it may be down to the other driver's insurers as they were presumably at fault here and from whom your insurers will want to recover their costs. As others have said, it's all about them finding the cheapest solution. Often to save costs, those insurers will want to deal directly with you.
My insurers have already arranged for someone to assess the damage in my presence and I shall be making what recommendations I can about where I think the work should be done. As the car is fine other than its fibreglass shell I sincerely hope that writing it off is not mentioned. I am insured through a specialist classic car insurance company (Footman James) which I hope will prove useful. As for the insurance company of the "other party" I have yet to hear anything regarding that and I am concerned that they will try and quibble. I am not sure what my options would be if they decided to write it off. I could pay for the work out of my own pocket but I feel that would be most unfair as the accident was wholly the other person's fault. I certainly don't want to give up the car.
Footman James are the broker. They won't have any influence over an insurer. Your insurer will want to recover all their costs from the other driver's insurers, so they are not going to do anything that they won't pay for.
You say that it's only the body shell that's damaged, but that is still a massive amount of work. It isn't just panel beating like it would be on a steel bodied car. Someone else showed you the repair panel that will be needed. You need to cut the whole back end off and then that has to be trimmed to fit, then glassed, filled, smoothed, painted, blended in. All the trim and fittings, wiring to be removed, and then put back. That's a lot of work that will take a long time. No one even knows whether the repair panel is still being made or whether any are in stock.
You say that it's only the body shell that's damaged, but that is still a massive amount of work. It isn't just panel beating like it would be on a steel bodied car. Someone else showed you the repair panel that will be needed. You need to cut the whole back end off and then that has to be trimmed to fit, then glassed, filled, smoothed, painted, blended in. All the trim and fittings, wiring to be removed, and then put back. That's a lot of work that will take a long time. No one even knows whether the repair panel is still being made or whether any are in stock.
Yatz said:
The situation I am currently in is that I don't know how repairable fibreglass is and therefore I don't know what sort of job is going to be required. It looks like Chimaera bodies are one piece so if the damage is unfixable then an entire new shell will be required. I understand that the only place in Britain that can do this is in Birmingham and this is something that I have to my insurers. (Footman James) I have added an image of some of the damage so that the knowledgeable amongst you can let me know what I have in store. Thanks
If the boot lid still fits properly and shuts that doesn’t look too bad at all.I have seen far worse than that repaired without grafting in parts of panels.
Sadly, the boot mechanism has been damaged (at the moment it won't lock) and there are ruptures in the fibreglass along the rear wings due to the rear portion being squashed. My own suspicion is that a new rear portion will be needed. The car still drives fine and so one could just fix the lights and do a cosmetic repair on the rear end but I'd like the vehicle not to lose too much value.
Yatz said:
Sadly, the boot mechanism has been damaged (at the moment it won't lock) and there are ruptures in the fibreglass along the rear wings due to the rear portion being squashed. My own suspicion is that a new rear portion will be needed. The car still drives fine and so one could just fix the lights and do a cosmetic repair on the rear end but I'd like the vehicle not to lose too much value.
The boot not locking is nothing, wing damage could mean a bigger job but without looking at the car this is just guesswork.Glass fibre cars need specialist repairers but that doesn’t mean a job is larger, in some cases you can do less damage to a GF car than a steel one.
You may find it useful to contact https://www.sportmotive.com who may be able to assist. Certainly their website shows TVRs which appear to have sustained more damage than yours which they have repaired.
Call Adrian at Central Tvr. He has extensive experience of dealing with insurance companies and assessors and repairing body damaged Tvr.
Can you post a picture side on so we can see the rear haunch and door shut line.
Usually the rear end is cut off and new one applied. Re painting the whole car is the norm after such a repair but might be possible to blow in the new paint depending on age and condition of the paint which looks good in your picture.
There’s a good chance a skilled specialist could repair your rear end as it doesn’t look to bad to me.
If the repair is 7k and your cars market value is say 12/14k it makes sense to repair it.
Using an insurance company used to Tvr the process would normally be, Insurance company advises you to take the car to a specialist repair centre such as Central Tvr to have the car assessed.
If it’s at a specialists like Central Tvr Adrian can advise said assessor of his direct cost to repair it.
That doesn’t look like terminal damage to me.
There’s not much to the rear end and that area is not structural at all.
Goodluck. Adrian will want to re paint the whole car id imagine so you’ll end up better off.
Can you post a picture side on so we can see the rear haunch and door shut line.
Usually the rear end is cut off and new one applied. Re painting the whole car is the norm after such a repair but might be possible to blow in the new paint depending on age and condition of the paint which looks good in your picture.
There’s a good chance a skilled specialist could repair your rear end as it doesn’t look to bad to me.
If the repair is 7k and your cars market value is say 12/14k it makes sense to repair it.
Using an insurance company used to Tvr the process would normally be, Insurance company advises you to take the car to a specialist repair centre such as Central Tvr to have the car assessed.
If it’s at a specialists like Central Tvr Adrian can advise said assessor of his direct cost to repair it.
That doesn’t look like terminal damage to me.
There’s not much to the rear end and that area is not structural at all.
Goodluck. Adrian will want to re paint the whole car id imagine so you’ll end up better off.
981Boxess said:
If the boot lid still fits properly and shuts that doesn’t look too bad at all.
I have seen far worse than that repaired without grafting in parts of panels.
Exactly this. I’d choose a Tvr specialist, get the car to him ASAP and have the car assessed there for best results with insurance company. I have seen far worse than that repaired without grafting in parts of panels.
From that photo the damage does not look bad at all but it would definately need a new section . I don`t think anyone can supply a complete new chim body but I could probaly come the closest . I once repaired a chim where I replaced every panel apart ftom the one between the 2 rear lights , also strangely , in Birmingham .
How much would your repair panel be, and when would it be available? Do you have any idea of how much it would cost to do all the work to the car, or is that not your area, or is it impossible to estimate from the photos?
That's what the OP really needs to know. If the panel won't be available for weeks and weeks, and then the repairs will take weeks, the the cost of a hire car alone that the 3rd party insurers will have to provide will be high, let alone the cost of the repair. It might all be too difficult and expensive for the 3rd party's insurers. The OP might be looking at buying back a write off.
That's what the OP really needs to know. If the panel won't be available for weeks and weeks, and then the repairs will take weeks, the the cost of a hire car alone that the 3rd party insurers will have to provide will be high, let alone the cost of the repair. It might all be too difficult and expensive for the 3rd party's insurers. The OP might be looking at buying back a write off.
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