Terrible service from company and associates

One of the worst experiences we've ever had with an insurance company and their associates!

On 4 June 2022 I was involved in a motor vehicle accident where I collided with another vehicle. I immediately contacted outsurance to begin the claims process and while my initial dealings with them regarding this matter was efficient and convenient things quickly started going downhill.

My Subaru Forester was booked in with Lyttleton Autobody in Centurion to have reparations done. Initially we reported that beyond the damage to the front bumper we also noted an abnormal sound coming from what we assumed was our airconditioner. As neither myself or my wife are mechanics we had no idea what was truly wrong inside the engine of the car.

After 3 weeks in the shop we received a call that our vehicle was ready to be collected. What a disaster! We got there to find that they did not replace the mangled bumper, but had attempted to repair it. It looked like a child had worked on our car! The bumper was not properly aligned to any part of the vehicle with gaps on all sides, the number plate had been lifted to hide damage, the head light was chipped, the paintwork inside the engine was horribly done, with paint being app**** right over chips with no effort made to even the chips out. We were told that the aircon had simply been regassed, which we had had done just a few months before so this could not have been the issue. We rejected the repairs on the spot and requested that they fit a new bumper. We lodged a complaint with Outsurance regarding the incident.

From that day on we also received several calls from the car rental company requesting their vehicle back even though we had not received our car back. And had to go to go to great lengths just to have the rental for transport.

Roughly a week later we were notified that our vehicle was ready for collection once again. When we visited Lyttleton Autobody the exterior of the vehicle appeared to be fine. Outsurance also sent their assessor out to ensure we were happy to receive the car. We were none the wiser.

We were only able to drive our vehicle 3 days after receiving it again. Within driving 10km we realised that something was drastically wrong. The car was smoking heavily. When moving the car we also realised that it had acquired a heavy oil leak since being at Lyttleton Autobody. We arranged with a friend of ours who has deep technical knowledge of a vehicle to pay us a visit to give us his opinion. Upon opening the hood he immediately found that the engine cradle was misaligned which caused the radiator to rub against the front of the body, it also caused the radiator fan to erode the cooling pipe that leads into the radiator, likely causing the smoke, and several other alignment issues.

We immediately called outsurance and informed them that we would take the vehicle to Coachman's Autobody, a company that we trust to do an inspection and any consequent repairs.

We met the Outsurance assessor at Coachman's where we found some disturbing tendenices with regards to the work ethic that Lyttleton Autobody had app**** to the repairs of our vehicle. First of all it was discovered that the bumper was simply glued onto the vehicle. There was ongoing dispute that LA had caused damage to the headlight of the vehicle, where it appeared that the incorrect tool was used to remove the grill, even though we had photographic eveidence with a time stamp showing the light was not damaged prior to being delivered to LA.. Again the paint chips that were merely painted over were picked up. It was realised that the cradle was misaligned by 50mm forward and 25mm upward on the one side. The assessor continued to argue that the accident we had been in could not possibly have caused the damage even though the misalignment damage to the radiator and the oil leak was clearly new. He claimed that this must have been from a previous accident even though this is the first accident we've been in since buying the car 4,5 years ago. Surely we would have noticed this extensive damage before! During this entire event, which I could not personally attend but which my wife and mechanical friend attended on my behalf, my wife was treated by the Ousurance Assessor, one Mr. Obvious, and the Lyttleton Autobody representative, a Mr. Steven, with total disrespect, being ignored when asking questions and dismissed when raising concerns on several occasions. It would seem that this lack of respect was because she was a woman surrounded by men and she could not possibly know what she is talking about.

Outsurance has since agreed, after much fighting on or behalf, to complete most of the repairs but still claim that the oil leak, which was non existent before the accident, and now severe afterwards, is due to wear and tear. Outsurance is still slack to give any feedback to us regarding their arrangmenets to repair our vehicle, we have to follow up with every detail to be kept in the loop. We also have yet to receive any confirmation that an assessment was made of both the mechanical and aesthetic damage of the vehicle as the only report that anyone at Outsurance has been able to provide was of the aesthetics of the car. It just proves furthermore to us that Outsurance did not complete their full duty to us, their clients, to ensure that the car was thoroughly checked in order to repaired it to it's former state.

This entire experience has been awful. I simply cannot believe that Outsurance would associate themselves with a low level company with zero regard for customer service such as Lyttleton Autobody. Furthermore, the tedious process of extracting any information from Outsurance has been harrowing and has left an utterly bitter taste in our mouths.