Insurance and Panel beaters

For the first time i had to make a motor accident claim i experienced mix feelings with the process, my insurance company Santam handled the claim very professionally and the repairs done by the panel beater Renew was carried out also professionally however my gripe is the time that it took to repair the car. A simple job that would take 3-4 days it landed taking 19 days which could have been avoided if the insurance company dealt with more panel beating companies. I'm not complaining with the end result, in my opinion the issue is the cost to the insurance company could have drastically been reduced. (1) the rental car for which i have that option could have been cut down to 3-4 days if they chose another panel beater that was not so busy. (2) the quote that i got from another Panel beater was also so much cheaper simply because they do not have the same overheads although the quality of the service would be the same, i had feedback from other people that used this particular panel beater. (3) Insurance companies have to look at alternative suppliers in order to curb costs because in the end these costs will be pushed onto the end user. I just get the feeling that there is an hidden agenda as to where cars must go for repairs. There are a lot of smaller efficient panel beaters that are looking for work and thus repair your car in the shortest time frame.

My issue is saving money and speeding things up for the benefit oft the insurance company and the insured.