[RahulNagaraj]

Thanks to Ameya Lokhande for sending this in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

I'm a Team-BHPian for about a decade now. I bought a Kia Sonet HTX Auto D. My car was towed by Kia's RSA Team and was damaged while towing it to the service centre. Now, the Kia showroom insists it's not their fault and I should repair it with my insurance. I would like to bring this issue to our fellow Team BHPians attention. Thank you.

[lsjey]

The RSA provider usually will be different from the dealer. The RSA provider should foot the bill for the repairs for the damages done during transit. The Dealer should help the customer in this process.

Please fight your case with the dealer, RSA provider and Kia. Do get all communications in written form. If discussions fail, these can be used in consumer court also.

I'm throwing this idea out to see if others agree. This seems to be a case of criminal negligence. The affected party can file a police complaint as well, as this is both cheating and breach of contract.

Regards,
lsjey

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by lsjey

The RSA provider usually will be different from the dealer. The RSA provider should foot the bill for the repairs for the damages done during transit. The Dealer should help the customer in this process.

+1

As a customer, we don't have the option to select the RSA service provider. It is always recommended and chosen my the dealer or the OEM and obviously it is their responsibility to get it sorted.

Good that you have photos to prove the fact, otherwise it will be difficult to deal with.

[humyum]

How can someone damage it from the rear while towing it on a flat bed?

Are you sure nothing in the suspension etc is damaged? This maybe a case of the car rolling and falling off the flat bed and someone hitting it.

Why I doubt this even more is the front of the car being damaged which could happen if the car has hit the ramp while it fell off while coming down.

[PaddleShifter]

The RSA is provided from Kia, the manufacturer. Dealer is the authorized point for sales and service. I feel Kia should take ownership and rather than making the individual customer run after the dealer and RSA company. Kia should handle this for the customer and seek cooperation of both ASC and RSA.

When my car loaded on a flatbed, I did not leave it to the towing guy. I actually traveled to the dealership in the truck after they picked up my broken down car from the road. Rather than fighting with the people, it is always best to keep a watchful eye on everything.

[gkveda]

The RSA Team would be usually subcontracted by the dealers. So, in usual case, dealer should be held responsible for the accidents that happen during transit. Sometimes, if insurance does not cover towing charges, the dealer will provide the contact of RSA team and will ask owner to book the towing truck.

So the question here is, did the owner book the tow truck himself or was it booked through Kia dealer? If it was booked by the owner, the dealer can not be held responsible for the damages.

Owner has to catch the Tow truck agency and get it settled. If the dealer has booked the truck through sub contracting route, then the dealership is responsible for the mishaps during transit.

I think the owner should lodge a police complaint on truck agency if he himself has booked. It is pure negligence of the towing people which has led to this accident.

[parathmaniraja]

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[AMG Power]

Legally, the RSA is an agent of the dealership and therefore liability to repair the car rests entirely on the dealership.

As the owner, you do not have to take this up with your insurance company.

U N L E S S

The RSA policy exempts the dealership from liability on account of damage created by the RSA agent.

Even then:

It would be construed as an unfair policy condition and can be taken up legally but would be time consuming and has to be argued out in the courts.

Depending on whatever is applicable from the above, do what gives you the best solution and peace of mind.

[abhishek46]

It looks either the Vehicle was rear ended by some heavy 2 wheeler (A Royal Enfield probably) when it was being towed, OR it was reversed into a short pole.

The Dealership should either repair at their own cost OR claim insurance and pay the NCB amount out of their pocket.

[Electromotive]

Unless the chassis or under-body has been damaged, the vehicle can get to looking like new with the rear hatch and the front bumper replaced. I guess that's the only silver lining. If owner got long term (5yrs) insurance, it will be a lot easier to claim insurance (and not have to deal with increase in premiums in the immediate term) since this is an accident, even though the RSA is at fault.

[MadMaxDiesel]

I think what happened here is that RSA guys either reversed or pushed the car from the flat bed very fast into a poll and the front bumper overhang got scraped with truck bed when car reached down.
I have seen how these guys handle customer's cars. They are very careless.

[Kalash_6324]

Originally Posted by lsjey

The RSA provider usually will be different from the dealer. The RSA provider should foot the bill for the repairs for the damages done during transit. The Dealer should help the customer in this process.

Please fight your case with the dealer, RSA provider and Kia. Do get all communications in written form. If discussions fail, these can be used in consumer court also.

I'm throwing this idea out to see if others agree. This seems to be a case of criminal negligence. The affected party can file a police complaint as well, as this is both cheating and breach of contract.

Regards,
lsjey

Since, this is a breach of contract by criminal negligence and failure to excercise proper caution on RSAs part, and dealerships refusal to co-operate, this matter would head to a city civil court.
Give Kia a reasonable opportunity and time to step in and respond, in case of unsatisfactory results lawyer up, send in a notice to all parties involved.
Their legal teams should immediately reach out to you to sort this out outside of a court.
Also, tweet and post on Facebook about this incident, with the link of this thread for reference.
That always seems to put pressure on these people.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by Electromotive

If owner got long term (5yrs) insurance, it will be a lot easier to claim insurance (and not have to deal with increase in premiums in the immediate term) since this is an accident, even though the RSA is at fault.

The minimum 5 year tenure is compulsory only for third party insurance plans and the own damage premium will be calculated on every renewal. So the owner in this case will lose his no claim bonus and hence pay a higher premium as well on renewal.

Plus since this accident happened when the car was towed by RSA appointed by KIA the owner should not pay a single penny including claiming under insurance.

The RSA has not revealed how this damage happened in the first place and if there are any other non visible damages then the dealer will not accept it later if the damage is repaired under insurance.

Owner should push the dealer to claim under the RSA towing vehicle insurance policy, which covers third party property damage in case they don't want to foot the bill themselves.

[akg7091]

Any updates on this issue ? Did Kia step in and help resolve this ?