Cars can be written off without a person looking at it

Tony Jones’ son had his car written off over the phone.

After an accident on the Eastern Freeway on-ramp last week, the insurance company wrote the car off on the spot, without a person looking at it.

And apparently, such computer assessment is common.

Campbell Fuller from the Insurance Council of Australia told TJ it’s more likely to happen on low-value vehicles.

“The customer can also go through internal dispute resolution and ask for an assessment if they believe the car has been correctly assessed,” Mr Fuller said.

But Tony was unimpressed.

“What happened to the days where you actually take your car to a panel beater and get an assessment?” TJ asked.

“It just seems completely out of whack to me.”

Click PLAY above for the full story