Direct line car bodywork repairs - a good deal?

Lucky me. My car bonnet paint-work got damaged in a hotel car-park.

OK, I've been insured with Direct Line for 14 years, and haven't made a claim since 1997. So I ring up. They tell me that there is an excess of £125, and no courtesy car. They refer me to Rackhams of Ipswich to fix it.

Rackhams reckon that a machine polish of the bonnet might well take out the damage, and the price be less than the excess (which is good of them). I have to leave it with them for a day, which means a day of leave lost. They don't do a bad job; but somehow there is a dark mark now visible under the paint at the front of the bonnet. I see it instantly. Price is £2 less than the excess; a little surprising to be so close to the exact figure of the excess. They convince me to go off with the car that way. But part way home I get cold feet. I call in at Marshalls Vauxhall, and their bodyshop tell me it's no good and needs to go back.

Back I go, and it has to go in for a week for a respray. Of course I need a car to go to work. So I go to 1car1, who are just around the corner. They lease me a Vauxhall Corsa for a week for £85, including insurance, which is excellent value. In fact 1car1 are very good to deal with indeed, advising me on special deals and to book via the website. They give me an air-conditioned car, although the price didn't theoretically include this.

Rackhams ring up during the week. Do I want the stone-chip damage on the bonnet fixed as well? If I don't, it will look terrible. Of course I want the bonnet prepared for spraying -- what kind of game is this? I say yes, and learn it will cost £30.

Is Rackhams trying to diddle me, I wonder, so I ring Direct Line. The claims line tell me this is normal. They will pay for the respray, but not to prepare the bonnet for the respray (!). In short it's a fiddle by the insurance company to sneak out of necessary work for the repair.

Since I'm getting a respray, I ask about my scratched wing mirrors. Oh no, say Direct Line. That would have to be a further claim, and a further excess! At £125 per excess, it won't be worth a claim.

Rackhams do a good job indeed, and I am happy with the quality of the work. 1Car1 take the car back, without trying to swindle me in any way, and I will certainly use them again.

But DirectLine? I'm not a happy bunny. Their excess is so high that you're paying most of the cost. A respray is perhaps only £200 anyway. Their way of sneaking out of preparation cost me extra; so did their refusal to supply a courtesy car. The price is good, when you insure; not so good, when you come to claim.