Awarding damages

Renewal quotes for 2010 BMW 318 SE Business Edition £317 from Saga £452 from BMW Insurance. Both comprehensive, both de facto 5 Star. Key difference is that with BMW (they say) car will always be repaired at BMW dealership and repairs guaranteed for 5 years whereas Saga will use 'approved repairer' but say that if critical BMW part needs repairing/replacement this will be used. On the face of it seems to be a no brainer inasmuch as eg if iDrive System needs replacement implication is Saga would have to use this but am I being naive?

Asked on 29 August 2011 by RN, Eastbourne

Answered by Honest John
The car will lose thousands in value if not repaired at a BMW repairer. And if you are not at fault you may get put into a credit hire car for the duration of the repair, which you will be liable for if the insurers refuse to pay.
Similar questions
My insurers want to write off my damaged car which is repairable. What are my options?
My insurance company has marked my car as Category S. However, they fully repaired the vehicle so I suspect it was incorrectly recorded due to an admin error. How can this be removed?
I recently had a minor collision with a wall in my Ford S-Max. I decided to claim via my insurance company. They sent my car for assessment and it's come back as a Cat S - so a structural write-off. If...
Related models
Superb to drive. Great handling and steering. Upmarket image. Economical diesel engines culminating in amazingly efficient 320d Efficient Dynamics at 109g/km of CO2.