Auto insurance in Thailand ... a waste of time

[buksida]

Notice - this is a rant so dismiss any seriousness from this post.

I have always thought that the general premise behind shelling out for fully comprehensive auto insurance is that your vehicle and anything else is covered should you have an accident and you get a better service than the bare bones third party legal cover.

Wrong.

The term 'cover' in Thailand is extremely loose indeed and the whole system seems orchestrated for a few people to make a bit of money and the poor bastard with the damaged wagon to suffer.

Now this is twice that some pelican has driven into our car though we should be grateful this time that he actually had level one insurance unlike the first one that didn't have any. Insurance companies here will only work with 'select' garages and very few of them are in Hua Hin. Firstly these select garages have such a queue of busted wagons to fix that the wait is longer than that in a Thai airport during a protest.

So its a drive to South Butte Phuk to locate the said garage. When they do finally take a look at your wagon they kindly tell you that they do not order genuine parts as they are too expensive ... so cheap copies it is then. Secondly they tell you that they can't match the body work ... so technicolour dream-car it is then.

Now if the insurance company is paying why can't they order direct from the genuine supplier? Twice the the kickbacks for cheapo parts.

The third kick in the pants is that they want to keep the car for three weeks to do a 4 hour job so that they can charge the insurance company a daily rate. Good news for the garage bad news for my kids who have to walk to school now.

So the result of a problem caused by some other careless twat is a two-tone car with ill-fitting, sub-standard, parts that I'll probably get back in March.

Insurance? Why bother!

[crazy88]

Bad experience there Buksi .And one I've heard before

I,ve been lucky with mine twice .No excess and genuine parts although a busted mirror and wheel arch did take 2 weeks

Crazy 88

[Terry]

Buksi

I can agree with your experiences from those I have heard from others.

Maybe I have been lucky.

Both the car and the truck are insured with Bangkok Insurance.

I've always found them helpful and very prompt at getting things done but the use of selected garages / repair shops is a real bummer.

When we suffered damage to the car about 4 yrs ago it was put into an insurance selected place in Petchaburi. A first class repair involving replacement of front valance, front of drivers door repair, new offside front wing and a bonnet straitening. One week and a superb job.

Last year we put the car in for the 'free' 3 yearly 'touch up'. This time to a place on the rhs of Pa La U Rd as you leave town - again selected by the insurance company.

Crap job and three weeks to do something that should have taken 3 days.

Conclusion - it's a lottery!

[fft100]

No problem with LNG. When a water truck lost control going backwards down a hill and impaled itself on my Fortuner - which no one was in as it was parked whilst i watched from 20 yards away - the assesors came down from Petchaburi, the forms were filled in, and (since it was still drivable) we drove it to the toyota garage in Petchaburi - Toyota in HH isnt kitted out for bodywork.

It took 3 weeks, all of one side of the car was replaced, and the paint job is immaculate. Toyota even gave me a ring 2 weeks later to ask if everything was ok.

I think its the same in any country. Not all insurance companies / policies are as good as each other. Have to admit that i could not have done it without having thai speakers with me - esp. the missus.

[hhfarang]

We get ours through the Honda dealer where we bought the cars. It's with Bangkok insurance. We have never dealt with anyone except Honda for repairs. They take care of everything and the work and time doing it have been both better than in the U.S. My wife scrapes her car up on posts, etc. all the time and she just waits until the end of the year, takes the car in and gets all the scratches and dents fixed. No payment from us except for the yearly premium and no questions asked or arguments about fixing anything, no matter whose fault it was.

It is the only service I've found in Thailand that is both better quality and cheaper than in the U.S.

[PET]

I use LMG but CP Alliance is equally as good. You can choose to have repairs carried out by the Car Firm Garage or the Insurers choice.

I suggest you use a good broker such as Bangkok AA Insurance Broker in Hua Hin: you then know what you are getting

[buksida]

This was with LMG.

We don't have to pay as the claim is going through their insurance (same company), but at the end of the day I'd rather pay it myself, have peace of mind with genuine parts from the actual dealership, be done with the hassle/bullshit factor, and not lose my car for a month. Its a dinged bumper, the odd scratch and a replacement rear light cluster, not a complete engine rebuild!

[redzonerocker]

Its a dinged bumper, the odd scratch and a replacement rear light cluster, not a complete engine rebuild!

i understand your frustration buks, but out of curiosity & because i haven't insured in thailand, is there an excess on the insurance, like most uk policies?
3 weeks to do a half days graft?
nice work if you can get it

[Super Joe]

Buksi, it's hardly your insurance companies fault that you failed to anticipate the other vehicles around you and lacked the ability to take safe evasive measures.
Hope this helps mate.

SJ

[Randy Cornhole]

Bucks, have you taken your motorcycle for a swim lately...

[buksida]

Buksi, it's hardly your insurance companies fault that you failed to anticipate the other vehicles around you and lacked the ability to take safe evasive measures.

It was parked.

RC, nope, managed to avoid those swerving water features that jump out on you at inopportune moments. However I did witness a nasty accident this morning whilst riding the CBR to Takiab. Just past the MV u-turn a chopper was cruising steadily in the middle lane at about 50, I went past him in the outside lane and noticed the light of a bike coming towards us. Some teenage twat was coming down Petchkasem the wrong way, in the middle of the middle lane at full pelt. I don't know what was worse, the noise it made or the cloud of debris that exploded as he ran head on into the chopper.

I wanted to stop to see if the chopper rider was ok and beat the hell out of the other dickhead but I didn't, farangs at an accident scene are like honey to the big brown swarm of bees.

[migrant]

Resurrecting this old thread

As our retirement time approaches (June 2015) I am trying to fine tune my budget.

I was wondering what people paid for insurances on autos, big bikes and small bikes.

Searched and this older thread was as close as I found.

Thanks All!!

[huahin4ever]

I'm paying around 20K per year. Toyota Fortuner.

[Dannie Boy]

Try AA Insurance, they quoted me about 14k for a Pajero Sport when it needs renewing in September, although repairs are carried out at independent garages rather than Mitsubishi, otherwise I think it's about 19k.

[kendo]

Wow this is an old thread....

A good friend of mine and my wife's, that was very well known in Hua Hin had a bike smash on the Petchkasem Road about two and a half years ago and lost a leg, the Thai driver was insured and he did get paid out please anyone that knows him don't quote his name out of respect and of corse our T'S and C's on the board.

Kendo.