Vehicle damaged after repairs

I submitted a claim in July 2023 after an accident which was approved.

I collected my vehicle during May 2024 after the repairs were completed.

Upon collection of my vehicle, I went to the petrol station to fill up petrol and I ended up loading R700 worth of petrol on that same day, however my fuel gauge was still reading as Zero. In the afternoon after work, I went back to the Keiths Panel Beater to report the issue. They checked the vehicle for any electrical faults and the diagnostic reports revealed that everything is working as it should.

The technician explained to me that the only way they resolve the issue is to get to the fuel pump/lever which requires dismantling part of the vehicle, however they can't do that without authorisation from the Assessor (Budget Insurance).

Keiths Panel Shop informed me that the Assessor from Budget insurance did not allow them to go ahead and fix the issue claiming the damage couldn't have been caused by the sustained accident. When the vehicle went to panel shop the fuel reading was operating fine, however now it's not working after the repairs were done and Budget Insurance is refusing for this issue to be resolved. The insurance must restore the insured item to a condition it was in prior to the accident.

In addition, The assessor called me on the 18th of June 2024 to resolve the issue and we reached an agreement that the vehicle will be booked at a panel shop where it was repaired for further assessment. I specified that the suitable date would be after the 25th of June 2024 as I need the vehicle to travel to work and he promised to call me back with the update on when I need to take the vehicle for the said assessment.

I haven't received an update till today, the 25th of this month. This issue of the car not reading fuel levels has been a huge inconvenience as Ialready had an instance where I ran out of fuel while travelling. I sent an SMS to the assessor for an update on this issue and received no response. This is very frustrating and dissapointing from an insurance company which prides itself on being there for their customers when an accident occurres.