You have had the misfortune of having an accident and need to get your vehicle repaired but you are not sure what the next steps are, who drives the process, who needs to do what, and what role you need to play.
The good news is that Ross Champion is here to help you in any way we can to get your vehicle back on the road. You will need to let us know how we can best serve you, but in the meantime these are the steps involved in repairing an insured vehicle.
1. Accident:
You have an accident. We are so sorry. We know how frustrating and inconvenient this can be.
2. Contact Insurer, Broker or Fleet Admin:
Contact your Insurer / Broker to advise them what happened and fill in their paper work. Depending on where the accident happened, you may need to register the accident with the police and get a case number.
3. Quote:
Contact an Accident Repair Specialist (or panel beater) of your choice and ask for a quote.
You can ask for a quote without them physically seeing the vehicle, subject to the understanding that there may be internal damage that is not apparent from photos. For more accurate quotes, drive-ins may be necessary. This avoids delays down the line should additional damage be found which then requires additional approvals.
Your Accident Repair Specialist will submit a detailed quote of all the costs required to complete the repair. Line item quotes are best so you know exactly what you are paying for. Beware of Repairers who give you one lump sum price as the details are very important.
4. Assessor:
This quote is then sent to an Assessor to review.
Think of the Assessor as the guardian. They are an independent party to represent the Customer (you), the Accident Repair Specialist and the Insurer and to ensure nothing has been missed out or that could potentially be untoward.
Most of the time the Assessor is advised to assess and authorize (or reject – in which case the quote needs to be amended).
However in some instances the Assessor is instructed to assess on a WOP basis (without prejudice), or in other words to assess but not to authorize. In this case, the Insurer may still want to double check the assessor report and authorize it themselves. Alternatively, they may give this instruction if they are awaiting documents from the client or confirming if premiums have been paid in full. Once they have completed the checks on their side, they will authorize.
5. Insurer:
If the insurance company needs to authorize the assessed reports, they will do so.
6. Time To Get Your Car Ship, Shape and Shining:
The Customer (you) and the Accident Repair Specialist are informed that the claim has been accepted and the repair date can be booked, deposits are paid (if required) and replacement vehicle parts are ordered (again, only if they are required).
The Customer brings their vehicle in to be repaired and the magical transformation process begins.
Once the repair is complete the Customer is informed to come and collect their vehicle. Rigorous quality controls are in place to ensure that nothing has been missed and that the vehicle is in show room condition.
7. The Assessor:
The Assessor checks the paper work to ensure that everything has been completed satisfactorily as per what was quoted to do. If they are happy they sign it off and send it to Insurance to pay.
8. Insurance:
Insurance performs one more round of checks and then settles the claim and closes it.
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Shew! What a process! We know that the 8 steps above can be daunting and confusing and that is why, we make it our mission at Ross Champion to help YOU minimize admin and get you back on the road as quickly as possible. Please don’t hesitate to ask us anything you may want to. We are here for YOU!
