Demise of the Grim Repair

Regarding Mazda and a leaflet advising they will handle all aspects of accident repair claims for Mazda owners. We also have a Mazda and received one of these leaflets after a service. We chose to ignore this because whilst it is preferable to have the car repaired at a Mazda dealer with genuine Mazda parts and so adhere to the warranty, there are effectively two forms of contract here: the warranty and the insurance company.

I understand that in the event of an accident your contract with the insurance company would override the warranty. I gather from your reply that other manufacturers are adopting their own accident management schemes. Does this mean that there has been a change in the way these claims are looked at and that insurance companies are happy to allow this procedure, even though the costs of repair at a dealer may well be much higher than the rates they will have negotiated with their preferred repairer?

Asked on 19 September 2011 by SW, Ilkley

Answered by Honest John
Manufacturers are trying to get some insurers to drop the £200 excess they impose if you insist on a dealer repair rather than an insurer's bodyshop repair. Insurers don't yet collectively realise that manufacturer accident management is as much of benefit to them as to the customers, because it cuts out the credit hire cowboys who can charge twice as much for their hire cars as for the cost of the repair.
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