Hello,
I was wondering if someone could provide me with their opinion on the following.
At the end of May 2023, another car collided into my car leading to a rear end collision for which I was not at fault.
Details of the other driver and their insurance was provided.
On the top of the obvious body damages, I also immediately noticed that the fuel tank gauge was failing to read the correct amount of fuel I had in the fuel tank.
For context, prior to the accident the fuel tank gauge indicated that I had about 300km left but when restarting the car immediately after the accident, It then indicated that it had above 800km left.
I therefore immediately lodged a claim with my insurance and mentioned to our insurance broker the issue with the fuel tank gauge.
I was requested to drive my car to the insurance chosen repairer for an assessment, which I did a couple of hours later.
During the assessment, I mentioned to the assessor that there was an issue with the fuel tank gauge and was told that it will be noted on the file.
(It is important to note that the assessment only included a quick turn around the car).
I was given a repair date in over two months time with an estimation of 5 days for the repair to be completed.
I therefore kept driving my car anxiously for over two month hoping that I will not run out of fuel since being unable to tell how much was left.
On the repair date, I drop my car to the insurance chosen repairer and reminded them of the fuel tank gauge issue.
However this time, I was told that it may be a warranty issue and not necessarily related to the accident. (For context, this car is a luxury demo car which I had only bought a month prior to the accident).
I re-explained that the fuel tank gauge issue happened not before or after the accident but at the the exact time and that, I therefore did not believe that it was a coincidence.
The insurance had also organised a hire car for me however, I had to organise and pay myself an Uber to pickup the hire car from the rental car company, as it is located 3km away from their repairer.
Time passed and the estimated 5 days repair turned into 7 and a half weeks…
During the first two weeks of the repair, I was again told at some point that they did not believe that the fuel tank gauge issue was related to the accident.
However, as more damages were found within my car, they eventually admitted that it was indeed related.
After changing a few wires (not within the fuel tank itself), I was told that they were hoping that the fuel tank gauge sensor will restart working and that in the event that it was not the case, they will remove the fuel tank to replace its sensor.
Yesterday, I was told that my car was finally ready for pick up.
During the pick up, the repairer told me to drive the car around and refill it to see if the fuel gauge sensor was repaired.
As the repairer strongly hoped that the fuel tank gauge issue will resolved by changing a few wires around, they did not actually assessed nor tested the fuel tank sensor itself at any point.
I therefore drove a few km and added 40L of fuel into the tank.
Unfortunately, the fuel tank gauge did not move after the refill which showed that the issue is indeed, still present.
I immediately called the repairer to let him know and was told to keep driving the car for a couple of days to see if the fuel gauge sensor magically restarts working and that, if driving does not magically repairs it, that they will replace the fuel tank sensor.
I will then have to again drive my car to their body shop and organise at my own expense an Uber or taxi to pick up and drop off a new hire car.
I therefore called our insurance broker to express my extreme disappointment.
Our insurance broker immediately contacted our insurance and was offered the exact same remedy as their repairer.
While I am thankful that they are both willing to address this matter, I find this situation to be unacceptable and extremely stressful and inconvenient for myself.
I personally consider that my insurance had failed to restore my car in its pre-accident condition, by allowing their repairer to not address appropriately a well known issue and by failing to ensure that the fuel gauge was repaired prior to me picking up the car.
I also strongly believe that what is now expected from me to be unreasonable.
If the repairer had tested himself the fuel tank gauge, he would have immediately realised that it was not working and, would have saved me from organising the drop off of the hire car, the Uber to drive me from the rental car company to their body shop and, the unnecessary fuel consumption.
Nothing is in my opinion made by the insurance to mitigate this matter by making the second repair process as less inconvenient and stressful as possible.
I am also seriously doubting of their chosen repairer capabilities in repairing my car and I am very anxious with the fact that I will keep encountering issues with this new car bought for a large amount of money and which did not have any issues nor damages prior to the accident.
I would like to therefore know where I stand with this matter.
Thank you very much.
I was wondering if someone could provide me with their opinion on the following.
At the end of May 2023, another car collided into my car leading to a rear end collision for which I was not at fault.
Details of the other driver and their insurance was provided.
On the top of the obvious body damages, I also immediately noticed that the fuel tank gauge was failing to read the correct amount of fuel I had in the fuel tank.
For context, prior to the accident the fuel tank gauge indicated that I had about 300km left but when restarting the car immediately after the accident, It then indicated that it had above 800km left.
I therefore immediately lodged a claim with my insurance and mentioned to our insurance broker the issue with the fuel tank gauge.
I was requested to drive my car to the insurance chosen repairer for an assessment, which I did a couple of hours later.
During the assessment, I mentioned to the assessor that there was an issue with the fuel tank gauge and was told that it will be noted on the file.
(It is important to note that the assessment only included a quick turn around the car).
I was given a repair date in over two months time with an estimation of 5 days for the repair to be completed.
I therefore kept driving my car anxiously for over two month hoping that I will not run out of fuel since being unable to tell how much was left.
On the repair date, I drop my car to the insurance chosen repairer and reminded them of the fuel tank gauge issue.
However this time, I was told that it may be a warranty issue and not necessarily related to the accident. (For context, this car is a luxury demo car which I had only bought a month prior to the accident).
I re-explained that the fuel tank gauge issue happened not before or after the accident but at the the exact time and that, I therefore did not believe that it was a coincidence.
The insurance had also organised a hire car for me however, I had to organise and pay myself an Uber to pickup the hire car from the rental car company, as it is located 3km away from their repairer.
Time passed and the estimated 5 days repair turned into 7 and a half weeks…
During the first two weeks of the repair, I was again told at some point that they did not believe that the fuel tank gauge issue was related to the accident.
However, as more damages were found within my car, they eventually admitted that it was indeed related.
After changing a few wires (not within the fuel tank itself), I was told that they were hoping that the fuel tank gauge sensor will restart working and that in the event that it was not the case, they will remove the fuel tank to replace its sensor.
Yesterday, I was told that my car was finally ready for pick up.
During the pick up, the repairer told me to drive the car around and refill it to see if the fuel gauge sensor was repaired.
As the repairer strongly hoped that the fuel tank gauge issue will resolved by changing a few wires around, they did not actually assessed nor tested the fuel tank sensor itself at any point.
I therefore drove a few km and added 40L of fuel into the tank.
Unfortunately, the fuel tank gauge did not move after the refill which showed that the issue is indeed, still present.
I immediately called the repairer to let him know and was told to keep driving the car for a couple of days to see if the fuel gauge sensor magically restarts working and that, if driving does not magically repairs it, that they will replace the fuel tank sensor.
I will then have to again drive my car to their body shop and organise at my own expense an Uber or taxi to pick up and drop off a new hire car.
I therefore called our insurance broker to express my extreme disappointment.
Our insurance broker immediately contacted our insurance and was offered the exact same remedy as their repairer.
While I am thankful that they are both willing to address this matter, I find this situation to be unacceptable and extremely stressful and inconvenient for myself.
I personally consider that my insurance had failed to restore my car in its pre-accident condition, by allowing their repairer to not address appropriately a well known issue and by failing to ensure that the fuel gauge was repaired prior to me picking up the car.
I also strongly believe that what is now expected from me to be unreasonable.
If the repairer had tested himself the fuel tank gauge, he would have immediately realised that it was not working and, would have saved me from organising the drop off of the hire car, the Uber to drive me from the rental car company to their body shop and, the unnecessary fuel consumption.
Nothing is in my opinion made by the insurance to mitigate this matter by making the second repair process as less inconvenient and stressful as possible.
I am also seriously doubting of their chosen repairer capabilities in repairing my car and I am very anxious with the fact that I will keep encountering issues with this new car bought for a large amount of money and which did not have any issues nor damages prior to the accident.
I would like to therefore know where I stand with this matter.
Thank you very much.
