Hi Guys

I recently moved to Johannesburg for employment reasons. I borrowed a car from a family member in durban for a couple of months to travel to work until I get my own vehicle.

On my way home from work one day someome rear ended me. This was quite annoying as it was peak hour traffic which was barely moving so clearly the other driver was in too much of a hurry to care about his or anyone else's safety. The vehicle was a company owned one, and after reporting the incident at the police station i contact the owner of the company. He assured me that he was aware that his driver was in the wrong and referred me to his insurance to take the matter up.

The family member had tried to claim from their own insurance but as expected it was declined due to me not being listed as a driver.

After the other guy's insurance dragged me on with paper work for about 3 months. They then asked me to obtain 3 repair quotes, all of which were above R9000. Afterwards they had me get my car assesed at one of their recommended assessors. After the assessment the insurance company offerred offerred me a settlement of R5000 which apparently would be the price a panel beater they refer would sort out the damages for. Why did they make me get 3 quotes if they were going to refer their own panel beater?

I researched the panel beater they advised on hello peter and their average rating is 1 star. Everyone had negative things to say about them. Furthermore the panel beater quoted on local parts for the repair. Why should I have to put generic parts on the car when their driver damaged original parts and it was their driver's fault?? And how the hell is it fair that I'm being forced to take the vehicle to a panel beater that has such terrible reviews?? The insurance company refuses to budge on the issue.

Please advise