My car driven by my mechanic was crashed in an accident (not at fault)?

Question

I went to a tyre service centre to change my tyres and for wheel alignment. Afte replacing and wheel aligning, the mechanic (of the service centre) took the car for a road test drive. While he was test driving, someone else has crashed into a side of my car.

It seems my car will be a 'write off'. The other fellow who hit my car admitted his fault. A police officer reported the incidence too.

Coincidently, the other fellow and myself are both with the same insuarance company.

It seems that I'm going to get something for my car which is less than the market value (given the car is written off).

Can I get the difference from the company where I took the car for repair? Becaue, I don't want to go to court for this case.

any answers are highly appreciated.

By the way, I'm in NSW

Answer 1

unfortunately if its not the mechanics fault the only thing you can do is sue the other driver you cant go after the shop because it wasn't his fault.

Answer 2

No.  Why would the mechanic pay any part of it?  Or the company he worked for?  Was it in any way his fault?  To quote you: "The other fellow who hit my car admitted his fault. A police officer reported the incidence too."

What difference?  If you are getting fair market value, that is all you have coming.

Answer 3

i work in insurance claims in australia.

i don't understand your comment that you are getting 'less than market value'.  this doesn't make sense.

whose policy are you claiming under?  

if you are claiming on your own policy, then you'll get whatever your cover dictates you can get which will either be 'agreed' (set figure) or 'market'.  if you've insured a car for 'market value' then you get the pre-accident value of your vehicle at the time of the loss.  your insurance policy will then claim the costs back off the other insurance policy.  

if you are claiming off the other persons policy then you are only legally obligated to get the market value as decided by the assessor.

whatever you've decided, it sounds like you are unhappy with the figure they've given you for settlement.  you can't just 'go to court' if you are unhappy with an insurance settlement from your own insurer.  

insurance companies get this all the time and so, there is a bunch of options they offer before court is considered (otherwise courts would be clogged with frivolous insurance matters).

Your very best bet will be to explain to their assessor why you think your car is worth more than what is offered - and quite probably back this up with an independant valuation that you will need to pay for.

I'm very doubtful you would be able to claim any money off the tyre company.  for a start, their driver isn't in the wrong, and secondly, he had implied permission to use your vehicle given the nature of the service.

Answer 4

Why would they pay for it.  The mechanic is just as much a victim as you are if he wasn't at fault.  Also, when you leave your car with them, on most you sign a liability waiver (read the fine print).

Seems odd if your with the same company that their working off his policy, why not try yours.  With his your a 3rd party claimant (they couldn't care less about you because their not contracted with you under his policy), with yours you are first party..........big difference.

Answer 5

If the mechanic had been at fault, you may, depending on local law, have had a claim against their liability coverage.  Since the accident was the fault of the other driver, there is no basis to collect from the shop.  That would apply no matter where you are.

Sorry.

Answer 6

I am an insurance agent in Ct, but, I think this is pretty standard.  Insurance companies pay NADA book value, which usually is quite different than the retail value or resale value of the vehicle.  You may be able to collect the difference from the shop, however, since they were not at fault in the incident, they may not pay.  It doesn't hurt to ask.