The Instruction:
We were asked carry out a damage assessment inspection on this Land Rover Evoque which had suffered a tyre blow out at motorway speeds. The Vehicle was taken directly from the road side to the insurers salvage agent & deemed unrepairable, Cat N.
Background information:
Our background checks confirmed the vehicle had be categorised a Cat N. Following assessment by the salvage agents in house assessor the vehicle was deemed uneconomical to repair and Categorised a Cat N. The owner was surprised the vehicle was written off and unhappy with the total loss settlement, we were asked to independently assess the damage at the salvage agents site.
Our findings:
Our inspection identified that In the process of the tyre becoming detached from the wheel, damage has been sustained to the plastic wheel arch liner, external panels and external mouldings.
Although the LH front wheel was damaged beyond repair there was no obvious damage to the suspension components or drive.
Numerous fault codes were displayed consistent/associated to the total tyre failure.
The outcome:
Due to the fast paced nature of the salvage industry where assessments are often carried out using images taken by designated staff, not the assessor in person. It is possible that the in house assessor had based his estimate on a worse case scenario viewing images only, and without a full understanding of the nature of the claim.
Having instructed our engineer assessor to see the vehicle in person, without time or volume pressures, we were able to provide our client and her insurer a second opinion.
After consideration, the insurer removed the Cat N marker and moved the vehicle to an approved repairer. It was agreed that cosmetic repairs would be carried out following replacement of the wheel/tyre, and sucessful investigation of the fault codes and steering alignment.
Our Follow Up:
This particular claim was far from straight forward however our client was determined to get a better understanding of the damaged sustained. Having recently purchased the vehicle, the insurers valuation would have resulted in a significant loss.
We were pleased to get an update from our client "I finally got the good news and the car was fully repaired, I had a few problems but my persistence paid off so I am happy I've had my car back now. Thank you for all of your help and guidance whilst it was going on."
