Collision with a Deer on motorway. HELP

[Blueskye]

I will avoid certain details to ensure I'm not identifiable..

The other day was travelling apprx 300miles and at about 290miles I hit a deer! That's the first time I've seen one in real life , not a pleasant one.
Travelling at 65-70mph my M3 took a strong hit, all passengers are fine and the deer too.
The car was undrivable as the deer hit the front passenger side and pieces folded behind the wheel.

The "guy" popped out of nowhere in the middle lane and annoyingly was pitch black all around (no cars near me) so couldn't see nada until it was too late..

Reported to police and logged insurance claim (Direct Line).
This is my first ever claim in 10yrs of driving and I have no clue how things work nor do I have anyone more "senior" to advise me, unfortunately.

Now here are my questions:

1. The insurance said this is a fault-based claim. I obviously disagree as I don't have a fault in this.
Their logic is that since deers don't have insurance ( ) I get the blame as there's no other third party.
My NCD has taken a -5yr hit
Is this correct, am I to blame?

2. Got referred to Veetec for the repairs. They are a Tesla-approved bodyshop. I understand this is the best after the manufacturer.
Has anyone got feedback on them or their work at all?

3. I have been referred to Auxillis for the hire car. Their reviews are shocking and got me quite frightened.. From shocking conditions of teh cars, to not respecting requests, to dropping off the wrong cars and cars people can't drive, etc.
I've also given them a call and they suggest that they will "attempt" to get an automatic (two of the named drivers have auto only licenses so they wouldn't be able to drive anything) but the cars they're proposing will depend on the branch but something like Nissan Micra, Toyota Aygo, etc.

WTF??? Now I don't need to say that these do not compare at all to a Model 3.. Is this normal?

My issues are the following:
- Car is nowhere near comparable to mine in size
- I was travelling and planning to stay 2-3 weeks here and therefore I had a boot full (including rear seats down) of belongings and other things. There is 0 chance to fit all that into a Micra or Aygo if I had to go back home (likely, given the car isn't going to be fixed that quickly).
- Due to the nature of my work I can't roll up with a car like that as it will make look half dodgy and half not serious or not good at my job given I can't afford something more premium. (I know it's superficial AF and insurance DGAF but it is a problem for me and I definitely cannot afford to hire one myself for 2 months or more while paying all my other expenses and the loan on the car )
- I drive a LOT and have quite a few commitments (hence the trip) with a lot of medical and work appts and gas on a car will cost me a lot compared to charging the car ).
Do any of the above matter? - Possibly the auto thing and not similar to my car size/capacity is the only thing I can leverage I take it?

4. Given the *sugar* reviews, can I ask them to use a different company?


Thanks for anyone taking the time to read this


P.S. to make myself not identifiable I can't post pic of the damage, but I've seen people on US forum posting pics and it looks very similar to those but the windshield is intact. No Airbag deployment.

 

[yessuz]

Travelling at 65-70mph my M3 took a strong hit, all passengers are fine and the deer too.

I am sure deer is dead

 

[Blueskye]

I am sure deer is dead

Nope, me, a truck driver and highway patrol went and check and it wasn't there anymore.. (looking at sentry footage it flew/jumped on the grass so wasn't hit again).
But I guess he/she could have died from internal injuries later on like humans..
I hope not

 

[pcgtron]

To answer your questions.

As far as the insurance company are concerned, it's a fault claim as there is not another insurance party to claim from.

As far as the hire car is concerned, check your policy wording. Some policy's include a like for like hire car, whilst others include anyone car as a hires car. With some you have to pay extra for like for like hire car, which if yours doesn't include and it is important to you and your job maybe you should have done. I would always advise also to protect your no claims bonus as well when it gets above a few years so things like this don't impact it as much, although with a claim on your policy, it's going good go up next year.
I can't answer about the body shop guys as I don't know.

A deer hit me in my old mazda 6 which I had before my M3, and wrote it off.

Sorry to hear that, it's a total pain in the ass and I hope you get it sorted

 

[Blueskye]

To answer your questions.

As far as the insurance company are concerned, it's a fault claim as there is not another insurance party to claim from.

As far as the hire car is concerned, check your policy wording. Some policy's include a like for like hire car, whilst others include anyone car as a hires car. With some you have to pay extra for like for like hire car, which if yours doesn't include and it is important to you and your job maybe you should have done. I would always advise also to protect your no claims bonus as well when it gets above a few years so things like this don't impact it as much, although with a claim on your policy, it's going good go up next year.
I can't answer about the body shop guys as I don't know.

A deer hit me in my old mazda 6 which I had before my M3, and wrote it off.

Sorry to hear that, it's a total pain in the ass and I hope you get it sorted

Thank you so much, this is really helpful actually.

I didn't protect the NCD as my thought was that if there is a claim insurance goes up anyways and you'll have to declare it on renewals for a few years anyways..

Luckily there's a LONG time before renewal as I've only renewed a few months back. But my premium almost doubled at this renewal so I'm scared of what it would go up by as it's around £1300 now

 

[yessuz]

Thank you so much, this is really helpful actually.

I didn't protect the NCD as my thought was that if there is a claim insurance goes up anyways and you'll have to declare it on renewals for a few years anyways..

Luckily there's a LONG time before renewal as I've only renewed a few months back. But my premium almost doubled at this renewal so I'm scared of what it would go up by as it's around £1300 now

if you had 10 years, and now you will end up with 5 - I can tell you, that in most cases insurance companies cap actual discount at 5 years (max is 10)

 

[father_of_6]

I will avoid certain details to ensure I'm not identifiable..

Hmm...

 

[Blueskye]

if you had 10 years, and now you will end up with 5 - I can tell you, that in most cases insurance companies cap actual discount at 5 years (max is 10)

That's interesting.
I had less than 10NCD, I'm left with 3 now.. so yay for me lol. It makes me feel a bit better that I only need to realistically build up to 5..

 

[Blueskye]

Hmm...

hehe.. not my car
That's also a MS and mine is a M3.

With that wrap I'd be identifiable in the whole country hahah.

 

[Durzel]

In my experience, more often than not, if it's offered at all then a "like for like" courtesy car is an additional expense - an addon to your policy. Who are you insured with? Was there an option like this when you took out the policy?

If there was a like-for-like courtesy car option and you just took a gamble that you wouldn't need it to keep the premium down, then unfortunately you're probably stuffed.

As has been said already unfortunately this would be classed as a fault claim because there's no other party to claim from. It's a technicality of how insurance works, I wouldn't focus too much on the semantics of the "at fault" part. I doubt that's of any consolation though

 

[Adopado]

Thank you so much, this is really helpful actually.

I didn't protect the NCD as my thought was that if there is a claim insurance goes up anyways and you'll have to declare it on renewals for a few years anyways..

Luckily there's a LONG time before renewal as I've only renewed a few months back. But my premium almost doubled at this renewal so I'm scared of what it would go up by as it's around £1300 now

Yes they "get you" one way or the other ... protected no claim or not. If you stay with the same company then the raised premium will still receive your existing discount percentage ... but the base premium is higher. If you go to another company then you must declare your claim so the protection doesn't work.

There was a situation where I may have benefitted but I'm not sure if this broke any "rules". It was some while ago when I had a protected NCD which was stated by my existing company as 9 years (their max), however I had had a claim 6 years before (NCD protected). When I applied for a quote from another company I answered all questions honestly: Have you had a claim within the last 5 years? NO "What is your present NCD" 9 YEARS. So my insurance with the new company started at 9 years NCD and no penalty for any previous claim (which I had made 6 years previously).

 

[Danno_]

I would steer well clear of Auxillis, speaking from experience once they’ve got you on the hook with a rental car the repair to your own car will take a back seat.

Is there any way you can avoid insurance altogether and just get the repair done yourself? It’ll end up costing you either way but the less others profit from your misfortune, the better, in my opinion.

 

[Blueskye]

I would steer well clear of Auxillis, speaking from experience once they’ve got you on the hook with a rental car the repair to your own car will take a back seat.

Is there any way you can avoid insurance altogether and just get the repair done yourself? It’ll end up costing you either way but the less others profit from your misfortune, the better, in my opinion.

Were Auxillis managing the claim/repair for you as well as the rental or just the rental please?

My repair will be done by Veetec so shouldn’t interfere with the timeline I would have hoped?

There is no chance I could afford to pay the repair out of pocket at the moment..
The damage to the front is pretty hefty and it will cost very likely above £5,000 probably closer to £7,000 if I had to guess.

My deductible is around £900.. although hefty, it’s still cheaper than hiring my own car for weeks and paying out of pocket for repairs.

I lodged a claim already so either way it will affect me.

P.S. the car was undrivable..

 

[Danno_]

I got hit from behind a few years ago and despite the driver admitting falling asleep at the wheel his boss refused to accept liability so I had to go with a no-fault claim through my own insurance. Auxillis were the ‘claim management company’ and they dealt with the repair and also the replacement vehicle, the cost of the latter (which was ultimately passed on to us all through higher premiums) far exceeded the value of my own vehicle several times over. It’s a massive racket and one that I would avoid like the plague if at all possible.

Can you arrange your own repair and get your insurer to approve, perhaps?

 

[Ferret]

I just claimed against Churchill for some debris damage, exactly the same Veetec and Auxillis. But my cover should give me a same size car.

Guess will see what happens.

 

[Doudeau]

To add to other feedback…..

Veetec repaired my car a couple of years ago and returned it with paint in a shocking state - fish eyes all over bonnet. The guy who dropped it off was so embarrassed when I pointed it out. It went back and they did make good but be prepared to inspect it like you hopefully did when you picked it up from Tesla.

My loan car was due to be an Aygo (my insurance only allowed for basic car) thru Enterprise rent a car. Enterprise looked after me and offered me a Hybrid Hyundai estate car for a surcharge of £5 per day. A dog of a car but at least it was more practical for the many weeks I had to have it. Maybe an upgrade to the car you’re being offered would be possible?

 

[father_of_6]

so I had to go with a no-fault claim through my own insurance

I disagree with this statement.

 

[Doudeau]

Not wanting to scare you but here are the issues the delivery driver and I found on my bonnet and he highlighted with his special pen. I’d forgotten quite how bad until I found this pic again.

 

[djtaylor]

I don't have anything positive to offer other than to say that I'm sorry that you've discovered that insurance companies have yet to achieve status as high as pond scum.
They exist to avoid paying for anything where possible which is a bit of an illusion breaker for some people.

 

[chwe]

I am just in the middle of a claim/repair process as my wife reversed our MY into another car on the street. She later admitted to not using the reversing camera .

I am with Churchill and will only get a like-for-like car because I paid an additional fee for 'premium' cover which was primarily due to better Europe cover as well. Protected no claims also comes at a cost but I have 10 years and can claim twice in a 3 year period before it drops so I figure it's worth it even if the insurance cost still goes up (the accident added £200 to my premium this year).

Auxillis are also responsible for my hire car. Churchill have also found an approved repair shop. The accident happened at the end of July and the car was supposed to be in last week but then the part (rear tailgate) changed back to being on backorder with no date. This is a Tesla issue not the repairer. This was after all repairs were booked in, hire car arranged, pick up arranged etc.

So far, my experience with Auxillis has been fine though. They offered a replacement electric MG and it was quite straightforward to speak with them to cancel it after the repair shop had to cancel the repair. Obviously when I finally get the car repair it might be different, but so far the only annoyance is the length of time it's taking Tesla to supply the part!

As an aside the repair bill for a scratched bumper and dented tailgate is £5k, which I think is taking the piss and if I thought it could be repaired at reasonable without claiming on the insurance I would have done, but as it is we are trapped in the system...