is this normal with car insurance?

[crickets]

My wife was rear ended by a truck who was at fault, the truck was a government truck. My new car had only had 400 km on the clock. The insurance company are asking for extra cash, about 8000 to fast track it or it will take a month. Is this corruption, everything should be paid for by them as it was the other drivers fault. Any comments would be appreciated.

[faraday]

Can't comment on the insurance part, but has she  had a Neck Xray?

[NanLaew]

Asking 8000 baht to fast track what? If it's to expedite the repair, that's par for the course. Car repair shops are busy... no big surprise there since Thai drivers like to claim insurance repair for anything be it simple fender benders, self inflicted and not necessarily a prang with another at-fault vehicle. In my experience, even minor repairs can take a month to 6 weeks. Did you select the dealer repair or cheaper insurers shop repair option?

[worgeordie]

It can take a while to have bodywork repaired here,

as the body shops are usually very busy,due to the

way people drive. never heard of asking more money

to go to front of the cue,what about the Govt. truck,

that should have 1 st class insurance,I would be looking

to them to rent a car until yours is repaired.

good luck.

regards Worgeordie

[chiang mai]

It sounds very much like a scam to me, which insurance company, please?

[wprime]

Whose insurance company? Yours or theirs?

 

If it's theirs, to speed things up, just tell them you're going to have to rent a replacement car in the meanwhile, ask them how long you should rent it for. 

 

The at fault party needs to pay for your rental car so they will likely speed things up then.

[Shot]

Sounds like a scam. I would email the top dog at your insurance company and cc it to the agent that sold you the policy. That said, last time I had some idiot run into me, it took 3 weeks to "complete" the job and another week to get it right.

[Kwasaki]

Let your wife deal with it, if it can still be driven take it to the repair shop when there ready with the parts that's what we did.

[i claudius]

When we have had an accident , ,two to be precise , no problem , all sorted very quickly ,

[kannot]

11 hours ago, Shot said:

Sounds like a scam. I would email the top dog at your insurance company and cc it to the agent that sold you the policy. That said, last time I had some idiot run into me, it took 3 weeks to "complete" the job and another week to get it right.

left my car with the main toyota dealer for  6  weeks to give them plenty of time to get it right whilst I was in the Uk, came  back to nice orange  peel, made them re  do it, then whilst being jet washed  the paint came off!! 25k baht

[NanLaew]

53 minutes ago, kannot said:

left my car with the main toyota dealer for  6  weeks to give them plenty of time to get it right whilst I was in the Uk, came  back to nice orange  peel, made them re  do it, then whilst being jet washed  the paint came off!! 25k baht

The peril of the 'unsupervised' repair. From my experience and regardless if it is your own insurance that's paying, first class coverage, dealer repair option or otherwise, check that the parts being used are new; ask to see those parts and know where the repair shop is so you can do spot checks. You need eyes on the back of your head with repair shops here as they are all working in collusion with the insurers to reduce costs per claim.

 

Despite the above, the repair shop still managed to do a crap job replacing a headlight on my truck. When I collected my truck, they pointed out that they had ordered the wrong headlight (different interior reflector trim colour) but the proper one was back-ordered and would be ready in a few days time and they would replace the used one (scratched lens) temporarily installed. Five days later they call and I take the truck back. The guy shows me a brand new headlight assembly with the correct interior trim and he hands the assembly and my truck keys to one of the workers. Thirty minutes later it's ready but instead of changing the whole headlight which would mean removing the plastic crumple zone bumper and taking about an hour, they simply unscrewed the lens from both the installed and new headlamps, swapped the interior reflector trim and put the old lens back on. The seal with the glass was damaged in the process and I still had a scratched lens; all for saving 30 minutes and totally buggering up the seal on the brand new headlamp assembly as well.

 

Watch 'em like a hawk!

[LukKrueng]

14 hours ago, wprime said:

Whose insurance company? Yours or theirs?

 

If it's theirs, to speed things up, just tell them you're going to have to rent a replacement car in the meanwhile, ask them how long you should rent it for. 

 

The at fault party needs to pay for your rental car so they will likely speed things up then.

 

You probably think you are in the US of A or Europe.... In Thailand all they have to pay for is the repair of the vehicle (and of course medical expenses if injured) nothing else. Many years ago I took a 1st class insurance that included a replacement car. Had to go through many hoops to get a car, and even then, it was a very old car that actually belonged to the insurance company and was for employees' use. 

[bark]

15 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Asking 8000 baht to fast track what? If it's to expedite the repair, that's par for the course. Car repair shops are busy... no big surprise there since Thai drivers like to claim insurance repair for anything be it simple fender benders, self inflicted and not necessarily a prang with another at-fault vehicle. In my experience, even minor repairs can take a month to 6 weeks. Did you select the dealer repair or cheaper insurers shop repair option?

When my ex had her car hit from behind; it took 3 months to fix. 400,000 baht damage. I thought that first class insurance

would cover the cost of a car rental ? But no luck. I had to rent another car at 9,000/month.

[AsianExport]

Yes, corruption is great sometimes, I paid only 10000 and saved more than 1 month queue, car repaired in 5 days. I find so stupid to let my car 1 month at least at any garage that will need 5 days to work on it. But it seems that you all accept it, great !

[RBOP]

When I had scratch from a motorcycle the insurance guy on a motorbike showed up within 20 minutes. Filled out the form and told me various car repair shops to take it. I went to the nearest one to my home and made a booking. After 3 weeks they called me and my slot was coming up. Took the car on the day my slot came up and picked up my repaired car a week later. No extra money was asked for by the garage or insurance company.

[AsianExport]

8 minutes ago, RBOP said:

When I had scratch from a motorcycle the insurance guy on a motorbike showed up within 20 minutes. Filled out the form and told me various car repair shops to take it. I went to the nearest one to my home and made a booking. After 3 weeks they called me and my slot was coming up. Took the car on the day my slot came up and picked up my repaired car a week later. No extra money was asked for by the garage or insurance company.

 

Usually they just ask you to let the car sit there 3 weeks, you have been lucky.

 

 

[RBOP]

18 minutes ago, AsianExport said:

 

Usually they just ask you to let the car sit there 3 weeks, you have been lucky.

 

 

Had about 8 claims so far and I always book a slot and have them call me when to bring in my car. Letting a car sit on the lot doesn't make business sense as it takes up room. Now they might start working on it and then just do a little work every other day or waiting for parts too.

[fvw53]

More than 10 years ago my car was hit in the back while I was waiting at a traffic light.  Serious damage and I repair would take 6 weeks. In Europe my insurance company would provide me a leased car during the time needed for the repair. I had to rent a car at my own expensive although  I had comprehensive insurance.

Does somebody know about a Thai insurance company which would have provided a leased car?

Edited September 26, 2016 by fvw53

[johnmcc6]

Banged up my Isuzu. Took it to dealer . Had 1st class insurance.  Waited one week and repair finished with perfect job done. Cannot fault the customer service or quality of workmanship. Never asked to pay a cent. ( Or a baht.) I think you get what you pay for here. Insurance is expensive but a fraction of the cost to fix possibly two vehicles in an accident.

[johnmcc6]

I should have added the repair was full back panel and rear lights

[RBOP]

9 minutes ago, fvw53 said:

More than 10 years ago my car was hit in the back while I was waiting at a traffic light.  Serious damage and I repair would take 6 weeks. In Europe my insurance company would provide me a leased car during the time needed for the repair. I had to rent a car at my own expensive although  I had comprehensive insurance.

Does somebody know about a Thai insurance company which would have provided a leased car?

I use Viriyah but you have to tell them you want vehicle loan while repair. Its not automatic and costs a little more on the premium. They will have some deductible too.  

[Grubster]

I smashed my truck into a pole, My fault. I had no 1 insurance that paid for all minus half for tire and battery, fair enough. It took six months to fix at a very good body shop. In hindsight I should have offered them 10,000 baht to put me at the top of the list. I never said I was smart.

[SOTIRIOS]

...you know the answer.....

[bbbbooboo]

From my experience with car repairs with no 1 insurance covering it, you still need to give the "repairers" some extra money or your car will be sitting there for months while other cars are fixed ahead of it.TIT

[richard_smith237]

In the past I have simply had Bumper Scratches or a Minor Dent fixed while I have been on holiday overseas... 

The Car has always been ready on my return. 

 

That said, recently I had a 'bumper scratch'... the garage said it would take a week to fix...  I wouldn't accept this and called in the supervisor, who then called in his supervisor !!!...   I turned out there was no decent reason that they needed the car for a week... It didn't need to sit there until they were ready...  The Garage did in the end call me up a few days later, I took the car in in the morning and picked it up in the evening... 

 

Some Garages simply run very unorganised systems and fail to take any 'customer' consideration into their planning. 

 

Others want the insurance to pay up front for the required parts before the parts are ordered... Terrible customer service. 

 

 

Paying an additional fee up front to expedite your repair seems spot on for Thailand... Where there is a way to make a little extra money on the side it's nearly always taken...  'The Thai' way... Thai's expect this behaviour and see it as the norm while we in the West generally see this behaviour as morally reprehensible. 

[Pilotman]

There seems to be little point in a forum subject like this unless the regulators of TV allow recommendations for insurance and other companies. I know it could be open to manipulation, a bit like comparison websites, but this kind of subject leaves people hanging . I'm just left with the question' who should I use to insure my car and under what terms. 

[Fookhaht]

Welcome to living in a country with draconian defamation laws.  It's not the fault of the forum. 

[wprime]

5 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

 

You probably think you are in the US of A or Europe.... In Thailand all they have to pay for is the repair of the vehicle (and of course medical expenses if injured) nothing else. Many years ago I took a 1st class insurance that included a replacement car. Had to go through many hoops to get a car, and even then, it was a very old car that actually belonged to the insurance company and was for employees' use. 

 

The at fault party is liable for any reasonable, foreseeable, consequential expense in Thailand. My insurer has chased up at fault parties for rental replacement costs before and when they have insurance it's always been successful.

[transam]

Tell them to <deleted!> off.........Ask their name as you will be talking to head office....

Edited September 26, 2016 by metisdead
Please stop posting in this profane manner.

[ericthai]

On 9/25/2016 at 7:08 AM, NanLaew said:

Asking 8000 baht to fast track what? If it's to expedite the repair, that's par for the course. Car repair shops are busy... no big surprise there since Thai drivers like to claim insurance repair for anything be it simple fender benders, self inflicted and not necessarily a prang with another at-fault vehicle. In my experience, even minor repairs can take a month to 6 weeks. Did you select the dealer repair or cheaper insurers shop repair option?

really?  I never had an issue.  First one was simple the mirror was hit when parked, had to wait 2 days for the part, took it in one day picked up the next.  My wife had an accident on our car the trunk was pushed into the back seat only took 2 weeks to repair. 

 

OP look for another shop.