Insurance/repair issue

[wprime]

I was involved in a car accident. It was pretty straight forward. The other party accepted liability and we're both insured with 1st class insurance with AXA.

 

I brought the car to the dealership who listed all the items that needed repair. The repair bill was THB 179,268. AXA refused to pay for the repairs unless I contributed about 110,000 to the repair.

 

As a compromise, we agreed to repair the car at AXA's repairer with the following guarantees:

 - any second-hand parts used will be at least of the condition as the original parts

 - ensure no new faults will arise from the repair

 - my rental car expenses of 9,630 baht per day for 11 days will be reimbursed, plus any additional expenses if any further repairs are required. I accepted a cheap car in return for AXA pre-approving the rental car bills. A matching car would cost 19,000/day.

 

My car was returned in a sorry state. The car couldn't be locked, the door was out of alignment and couldn't be opened or closed fully, they replaced my door with one in poor condition that needs repairs. The door vibrated very noisily when driving. MB advised not to drive as the door would be damaged further. The repairer also caused new damage.

 

When I sought my approved rental costs, AXA refused to pay unless I agreed that I would not sue for any other losses.

 

I gave AXA a chance to remedy it, and they've since replaced one hinge, so the door vibrates less, repaired the accident damage the repairer caused, and agreed to repair the trim damaged they caused but haven't done so. They also agreed to replace the damaged parts of the replacement door issues but haven't done either. They have also reneged on their promise to pay for my rental expenses for the further repair time.

 

AXA is no longer co-operating and honouring its previous promises. What can I do here? Is there an industry ombudsman that helps with this sort of thing?

[alextrat1966]

By MB you mean Mercedes-Benz? 

 

If so, I suggest you contact Thomson Garage in Bangna, they are experts in Mercedes AND also they are expert in handling insurance claims for you. 

 

They may be able to offer some ideas.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Did you obtain your insurance through a broker? If so, ask your broker for help.

 

If not, you should look to file a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. The OIC will give you a fair hearing and is usually quite consumer-friendly. You will probably need a Thai-speaking person to help you with this process.

 

https://www.oic.or.th/en/consumer

[wprime]

Just now, alextrat1966 said:

By MB you mean Mercedes-Benz? 

 

If so, I suggest you contact Thomson Garage in Bangna, they are experts in Mercedes AND also they are expert in handling insurance claims for you. 

 

They may be able to offer some ideas.

I've heard of Thompson before. What advantage would using them over my MB dealer give me? At the moment I have an MB dealer helping out with the insurance issues, finding everything wrong with it and providing quotes to fix it at each step of the way. I'm planning on just redoing the repairs with MB properly then demanding AXA pay for it plus the rental car costs they agreed to pay then renegged on, plus any other costs this involves.

 

I was thinking more about an industry body that provides third party mediation to sort this sort of thing out before going to court.

 

6 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Did you obtain your insurance through a broker? If so, ask your broker for help.

 

If not, you should look to file a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. The OIC will give you a fair hearing and is usually quite consumer-friendly. You will probably need a Thai-speaking person to help you with this process.

 

https://www.oic.or.th/en/consumer

I purchased it directly from AXA. The OIC looks just what I'm looking for. Thanks!

 

 

[alextrat1966]

18 minutes ago, wprime said:

I've heard of Thompson before. What advantage would using them over my MB dealer give me? At the moment I have an MB dealer helping out with the insurance issues, finding everything wrong with it and providing quotes to fix it at each step of the way. I'm planning on just redoing the repairs with MB properly then demanding AXA pay for it plus the rental car costs they agreed to pay then renegged on, plus any other costs this involves.

 

I was thinking more about an industry body that provides third party mediation to sort this sort of thing out before going to court.

Well, the thing about Thomson, is that they provide Mercedes OEM replacements a bit cheaper than the dealer, and also they follow Mercedes guidelines, the mechanics all come from a dealer, they have the OEM Xentry Diagnostics, software, etc... All comes slightly cheaper than the dealer. 

 

When it comes to insurance, I have never had an accident here in LOS (yet). But I've heard from others who repaired their Mercedes there after an incident that: 

 

1. They speak great English, so communication tends to be better, faster, and clearer than with the dealer. 

2. They fight with the insurance company on your behalf. 

 

Of course, your case may be past that stage already, provided AXA has already refused to pay for the repairs, and did a botched job on your car.  So you may actually need to go to court. 

 

(Usually this cases end with reaching a settlement with the company, but normally you have to first take them to court).

[seedy]

7 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

If not, you should look to file a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. The OIC will give you a fair hearing and is usually quite consumer-friendly. You will probably need a Thai-speaking person to help you with this process.

 

https://www.oic.or.th/en/consumer

Second This. Should be your first stop.

Excellent service

[wprime]

So I sought legal advice and they say I should repair the car myself and recover the costs from the insurer.

 

I brought the car to Thompson, they opened up the door and found a hole inside, probably a screw hole that was missing a screw and covered up with tape. Not sure how significant that is. They advised that the door is out of alignment and needs to go back to the repairer to realign it correctly and that I need to push for them to do it right.

 

The original repairer says they can't fix it and gave the car to my MB dealer who adjusted the hinges to manufacturer specifications but the door cannot open or close without force, the locks don't work (car can be opened while locked triggering the alarm) and air/noise bleeds into the cabin like the window is open when driving. MB says the door is warped or the door frame is out of alignment and they don't fix up other repairer's work.

 

I don't really want to bring it to AXA's repairer again as they scratched up my interior. Is there anyone who can actually fix this sort of thing?