Help! Terrible insurance repairs to 4month old Civic (+pics)

UPDATE: Page2 with more pics.

Hi Guys,

first post to the site its a shame it under such circumstances.

on the 19th Feb on my way to work I was stopped in traffic on the south east freeway (bris) and hit from behind by the ugliest car I have ever seen, ssang yong people mover thing, cant blame the cow for trying to write it off. Anyway was pushed into the car in front and had a tow ball holder into the front bar, no radiator damage. The rear had a flattened bar and the boot floor had crumpled, the boot lid and was dented and out of alignment.

Got both of their details and drove home and called AAMI, my insurer and the insurer of the ssang yong... First problem. I believe AAMI may have gone oh crap we are have to pay for all 3 cars time to cut some costs. I had no excess and I elected to have AAMI handle the repairs rather than get quotes my self (2 nd problem…or perhaps not). First available assessment time was the 3 mar, I asked if there was anything else and there was a 23 Feb at an assessment centre closer to work. So I dropped it off and they initially said 2.5 weeks but it was 3.5 and when I picked up the car that’s when the fun started.

When they phoned me to collect the car they said they had scratched the rear window and have it on back order. They agreed to pay for it and would need the car for an hour or so to fit it. I asked “what about the tinting” they said ‘… oh… well we may need it for a day or two then”. I went to pick it up during lunch and upon inspection the rear window had deep sanding scratches in the two bottom corners and it was obvious they had tried to polish it out with no success. I also pointed out that the black plastic bumper grills had been painted white.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3062/frontxiw.jpg
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3062/frontxiw.jpg


It looked good and I needed to get back to work so I said great do you have a list of what was repaired and he gave his job sheet and I left. On the drive back to work I noticed a lot of grubby white marks in the car and a line on the dash above the tacho.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5636/dashg.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/5636/dashg.jpg

Didn’t think much of it I thought it was dust and the buggers hadn’t cleaned the car. When I parked it I tried to wipe it off but it didn’t move. Looking around the interior I also noticed that the center console had something similar.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2913/centrecon.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2913/centrecon.jpg

The penny dropped those F#@!wits had managed to get overspray throughout the interior! You can actually see the mark in the coin holder below the gearstick where I put the boot light assembly so the battery didn’t go flat as the boot didn’t close after the accident. It was EVERYWHERE the dash, drivers door controls, centre console, the badge on the steering wheel, the clear plastic on the AC and stereo screens. It was even on my street directory on the back seat. It shows up well in the photos but in daylight it is not as visible from certain angles and you can’t tell if it is on something unless it is clear, shiny or if it was partially covered. I was pissed I had a shit day at work and went home at 5 on the dot, said bye to the boss and was out the door before he had a chance to reply. On the way home fuel light came on so I pulled into a servo and filled her up. I was admiring a paint run above the rear door when I herd splashing and looked down to find petrol pissing out the bottom.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3918/fuelspill.jpg
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3918/fuelspill.jpg

Attendant said I had to push the car away because it was unsafe to start. Other drivers helped out and offered to act as witnesses but I got a photo and a report from the servo. Had to pay for the bloody fuel too I’ll be claiming that back.

Then I rang AAMI. When they picked up the phone I said “first let me tell you I am so frigin pissed right now” it took all my strength not to open up with a fistful of four letter words. As it was after hours all I could do was lodge a report the guy was pretty good and agreed that it was crap and assured me that it will all be fixed. I couldn’t drive my car too far as it was nearly out and he said he didn’t have the power to arrange a tow or a rental so after 30min I drove home about 1k away.

When I got home I parked her on the grass, got out the camera and photographed the trail of destruction. The paint was shocking: runs, hair stuck in the paint, edges of the boot not painted, and bumps of crap that had been painted over. The edges of where they stopped painting halfway through panels are visible and where they masked the rear door frames there are big lines of sh!t. But wait there more… overspray.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1367/taillight.jpg
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1367/taillight.jpg

The next day I had to call AAMI again after lunch. They were suposed to ring me in the morning but they “had not received the message yet” but the client guy called me back 4 times arranged a rental but it was not necessary as the repairer came out that day and reconnected the fuel tank. They wanted to take the car away to fix the tank, I said like hell. I still have the car and I have another assessment with AAMI and the repairer Thursday.

The Damage:
Front bumper grills painted white instead of bare black plastic
2 Runs on the front bumper.
Overspray, paint and scratches on the headlight protectors.
Overspray on front right corner glass.
Runs and mess on rear door frames.
Visible paint edge and run above rear left door.
Fuel tank not connected to fuel cap (has been fixed)
Scratched rear window (they admitted to this and agreed to replace)
Hair and painted lumps above right taillight.
Boot lid top face scratched
Edges of boot lid not painted/grazed/chipped.
Inside boot lid has missed painting and patchy
Boot light refitted but does not work.
Overspray and scratches on taillights
The new VTI-L badge cracked in half.
Interior has overspray on entire dash, center console and drivers door THAT I CAN SEE.
Grubby white paint marks on all door trims, back of seats, kick and door step panels.
Glue on seatbelt and roof, burn mark on same belt.
Rear seat clips broken.
Dust and metal finings in interior and exterior.


What do I do??? :confused:

The car was just under 4 months old and in immaculate condition when it was given to them for repairs. And now they have managed to stuff just about every part of the repair as well as cause significant damage to other areas completely unaffected by the initial accident.


I don’t want to give my car back to these guys because I am afraid they will further damage it and/or try to cover up the evidence. The repairer and AAMI are in the same building and I believe they agree on an amount required to fix the car and the repairer doesn’t get paid until I’m happy. but they are going to be out of pocket for all the damage above that they have to fix. They are going to fight tooth and nail to minimize cost.

I would like them to replace anything with overspray on it including the dashboard, console and drivers door. What are my chances? They are probably just going to get it detailed and scratch the crap out of the interior plastic or smear it out evenly so it is not so obvious.

Has anyone had a go at removing paint from interior vinyl??? How did it go?

What about the front bar? Can you strip paint of plastic?

Interesting thing is all the damage is caused by the repairer not the accident. Because AAMI have “managed” the repairs I can drag them into this mess. I think that all the crap that happens with a normal claim like we will clean/refurbish/repair damaged parts as we see fit no longer applies because this is not part of the claim. Had I elected to arrange the repairs myself I would have been screwed because I would have came back to the dodgy AAMI approved repairer and they would have laughed at me and slammed the door in my face and AAMI would wash their hands of the matter. My repairer has ongoing contracts with AAMI that they want to maintain and its AAMI’s job to make sure the works done.

Whats the best way to go if they don’t bow to my every demand?
Small claims court?
Insurance ombudsman?
Get a solicitor? (could take ages and cost$$)
Take it to a current affair?


Damn that’s a post and a half. Sorry for having such a big b!tch. Any help appreciated!:(

Hey mate maybe not the most useful post, But im sorry for your experience people have no respect for other peoples cars, dealers and insurance companies seem to avoid accountability and cut costs at every turn. Best advise i could give you is look into a solicitor if Aami does not return your car in a completly OEM condition.

Goodluck

wow, another story about dodgy about aami.

u did say u have another assessment with aami on thursday. if u dont want to get into any legal hassle now, u can most certainly point out all the faults of the repairer during that meeting. it should be the repairers and ultimately ur insurance company that has to make sure that they return the car as close to oem as possible.
if they start telling u that they cant do anything about it, then thats when u go to a solicitor or sumthin.

if they do decide to replace u anything in the car, make sure that what they replace it with is brand new and not reconditioned. and if they do get geniune parts, then u'd probably need a replacement car for a couple of weeks, while they get them imported.

i had my car repaired at rolscar smash repairs in sumner park. they were the repairers issues by my insurance company (suncorp) to fix the damage. they took about two months in total before it was ready to be picker up, just because there was so much shit that they needed to get from thailand or japan or whatever to replace and i thinkn they ordered them one at a time or something. BUT, in the end they did do a good job on it and had the car interior detailed before they gave it back.

as for the paint on the front bumper, my repairer also painted over the plastic grilles, but i went and bought a set of foglights and plastic grills were cut out anyway.

anyway, good luck with ur claim and everything.

That really sux!

Depending which state you are in, it might be worthwhile to contact the Insurance Ombudsman for advise.

Good luck.

Wow, that's a terrible experience! Good luck with it all mate, keep us updated (+with more pics!).

Which reminds me, i'm also with AAMI and after hearing so many stories, i think i'm going to switch ASAP before i get into an accident!

What you expect its AAMI. I had the same problem with them when my car got damaged they went to the cheapest place, ruined the underside of my front bar, gouged a hole in my interior door trim, put on the wrong rear bumper skirt, paint runs and left swirl marks behind, overspray on my black plastic mirror trim and left the interior full of paint dust. Complained to the assessment managers, treated me rudely and brushed it off denying all damages.

The only way to get it fixed is to goto the higher ups at AAMI which I managed to get contacts and only then half of the problems were resolved after a 3 month battle.

I feel your anger along with any else who is with AAMI. Ive moved to another insurance company because of that. I suggest anyone else to follow suit.:thumbsup:

is Just Cars reliable? they're under AAMI i believe

hope u the best charlie.. f!@#ing suxz how the world works

Complete opposite to my experience with aami, they did a great job on my car.

aami is supposed to provide 100% satisfaction so I would just try my best to get itfixed without too much hassle.

I believe you have to let the repairer try and make things right, i'd give it back to them with your list and see if they can do it. whats the worse that can happen, it doesn't look like it can get much worse.

Far out.Seroiusly????????

what a crappy job the repairer did, just tell AAMI during the assessment what you want to fix. See how it goes.

Hi Charlie,
I feel your pain and I'm sure I would not have been so controlled in your situation.
I would give them the opportunity to fix the problems. You have everything well documented with photos etc...

If they stuff it up again and are not able to repair the further damage made - go directly to a solicitor with your photos & documentation. PM me if you need a great solicitor in QLD - my father is one in Melb and specialises in this industry and can recommend one in qld for you.

If anyone needs the best Insurance Company contact:

Affinity Insurance Brokers - 03 8587 7777
affinityib.com.au

I had a small prang 5 days after picking up my FN2R back in Aug 07 - my fault - They have exceptional service and choice of repairer. CHEAPEST DEAL OUT OF 23 OTHER INSURANCE COMPANIES! I can not sing their praises more highly. My family, friends, collegues and clients have all switched to them. Helps if you become a member of a car club ($50 a year - get $150+ off insurance).

Good luck Charlie - Keep us posted of your progress.