shhhhhh – keep it under you hat, but they already know

They do yes, and they go to a lot of effort to catch repairers who try it on in this way.
They actually employ people who’s job is to do exactly that.
but as has been demonstrated already, actual industry knowledge seems irrelevant in this thread. So…..

In the OP’s case though, they insisted on going to a main dealer, which is always going to be the most expensive option.
No need at all for main dealer prices just to bolt on a bumper. He said himself he could do it at home In half an hour.

No need at all for main dealer prices just to bolt on a bumper. He said himself he could do it at home In half an hour

There is some value in a bit of expertise, though. DIY bumper replacement might miss some of the potential underlying problems that we’ve heard about on here. Paying someone ostensibly competent to fix this should remove the risk of missing important damage beyond the bolting-on of a new bumper

What might an industry do to rationalise, maybe even standardise these common processes that it purchases repeatedly from garages? (I mean of course, an industry that didn’t have a captive, legally-mandated customer base)

I mean, you’re right; one option is to expect every individual non-expert customer to assess this personally and bear the responsibility for chasing up any excess charges

As I’m pretty sure I mentioned, they already employ people who do random checks on cars that have had quotes submitted to make sure the repairers are not over quoting.

But as the OP is clearly not a fan of rising premiums, and is obviously enough of an expert to state what the job should cost, and how much the garage are over charging (its right there in his first post) then why wouldn’t he do something about it ??

then why wouldn’t he do something about it ??

let me guess – because it is not his problem and all insurers are scammers?

As I’m pretty sure I mentioned, they already employ people who do random checks on cars that have had quotes submitted to make sure the repairers are not over quoting

So they’ve already got an iron grip on this overcharging, great. Would they listen to a customer anyway or would they offer some complacent, condescending bollocks? Oh wait, that’s also been answered by you above:

Of course they aren’t interested in your opinion. Why would they be

Of course they aren’t interested in your opinion. Why would they be.

Perhaps because I’m a qualified expert?

The bigger question though is despite them knowing the defences have been built and the near non-risk reduced even further they aren’t interested to update the shared insurance database or offer an option without flood damage. They don’t need to because they all agree to use the same outdated (shared) database and they only adjust risk upwards as a priority.

So yes… someone has to pay for the losses caused flood damage caused elsewhere but those in areas where effective flood defences are put in place are paying more than a fair share because they are only adjusting risk upwards.

There is some value in a bit of expertise, though. DIY bumper replacement might miss some of the potential underlying problems that we’ve heard about on here. Paying someone ostensibly competent to fix this should remove the risk of missing important damage beyond the bolting-on of a new bumper

Exactly and its a binary option…
Either get it done by the most competent at an exorbitant cost or DIY/local garage who don’t have the diagnostic tools to do the sensor checks or know the potential other damage specific to the model.

But even if I do limit the costs I’m obliged to inform them and then they can penalise me anyway…

What might an industry do to rationalise, maybe even standardise these common processes that it purchases repeatedly from garages? (I mean of course, an industry that didn’t have a captive, legally-mandated customer base)

I mean, you’re right; one option is to expect every individual non-expert customer to assess this personally and bear the responsibility for chasing up any excess charges

and as scardypants points out

Would they listen to a customer anyway or would they offer some complacent, condescending bollocks?

It’s all a scam you know.

I’d just stop paying if I were you. That’ll learn ’em.

nealglover – Member
<<complacent, condescending bollocks>>

Why’d you quit? You seem pretty well suited

Oh wait, that’s also been answered by you above:
Of course they aren’t interested in your opinion. Why would they be

Surely you can see the difference between …

“Based on nothing verifiable, I think you’ve overestimated the flood risk in my area”

And

“Based on fact, the repairer has charged you £200 for painting a non painted bumper, this is a bogus charge”

Surely you can see the difference between …

“Based on nothing verifiable, I think you’ve overestimated the flood risk in my area”

And

“Based on fact, the repairer has charged you £200 for painting a non painted bumper, this is a bogus charge”

Thy haven’t charged them anything… it’s an estimate (as I’ve said numerous times and you ignored numerous times)

The insurers then informed OH they will deal directly with the Honda Dealership…. so the other parties insurers politely took her out of the equation.

Your whole premise seems to be that this is data driven … the data the insurers have is a estimate for a paint job of a unpainted bumper …

So the format of this conversation seems unclear to me….
“Oh hello I just wanted to tell you that the invoice you have includes repainting and the bumper isn’t painted…”
“Yes, thank you .. is there anything we don’t already know we can help you with”

You really think an insurer is going to look at a quote, think “oh, they’re specified paint, I wonder if it actually needs painting?” and look up whether a car’s bumper is painted or not in their Bumper Book of Automotive Trim Levels?

I’d have thought that it’s a standard item on this sort of quote. Fitted a new bumper = needs painting. When the repair is undertaken they’ll realised it’s not necessary and the final invoice will be lower than the quote. Or that the damage is more extensive than first thought and the invoice is higher. That’s how quotes work, it’s an estimate.

Oh, and on the subject of DIYing / not fixing the bumper, consider:

You have an accident, the crumple zones in the bumper deform / break as they are designed to to. You ignore it, then the next accident you have the bumper does absolutely nothing whatsoever and you’re on a “what pliers for extracting a steering column from my kneecaps” thread.

Your whole premise seems to be that this is data driven …

And yours seems to be moaning about something happening, but doing nothing to stop it happening.
You just want to keep imagining reasons/excuses as to why it’s not your problem.

As I said earlier, you can do that if you like.
But if you don’t like it, you could at least try to stop it from happening.

Although it does seem more likely, that you just enjoy moaning about insurance being a scam, and aren’t actually interested in any sort of advice or information

You really think an insurer is going to look at a quote, think “oh, they’re specified paint, I wonder if it actually needs painting?” and look up whether a car’s bumper is painted or not in their Bumper Book of Automotive Trim Levels?

I’d have thought that it’s a standard item on this sort of quote. Fitted a new bumper = needs painting. When the repair is undertaken they’ll realised it’s not necessary and the final invoice will be lower than the quote. Or that the damage is more extensive than first thought and the invoice is higher. That’s how quotes work, it’s an estimate.

Not necessarily on a estimate…. however they don’t exactly need to look it up as it’s all the one insurance database. If I go to eBay and search for headlight bulbs it comes up with the correct bulbs for my car which based on the year actually switched halfway.

When I call the insurer they know my make, model, colour, what radio was fitted, what wheels were fitted … etc. etc. it’s not like the old day’s when they had to pick up Glass’s now its manufacturer provided straight from the ERP systems

I certainly wouldn’t want to risk changing the wheels for example and not informing them.
We keep being told by people who know that everything is data driven …

I’d have thought that it’s a standard item on this sort of quote. Fitted a new bumper = needs painting.

Well quite possibly but then how does it take 3 days …???

The dealer took photo’s….again how hard is it ??

However the main thing is once they said we will deal with the dealer directly then I’m taking it to mean just that. They haven’t asked my opinion on the quote (or technically the OH’s) … ad so far as I know they didn’t invite it after an account of the incident.

We just want it sorted at minimum cost to us… as soon as possible… that doesn’t really seem that unreasonable to me.