DUBAI An Indian expat has accused a Dubai-based insurance company of trying to put fake parts in his car.
Dhawal G. Nandedkar, a 40-year-old accountant, said he made the shocking discovery after his 2007 model Mercedes C180 was involved in a minor road mishap last month.
"I faced a panel of surveyors (from various auto repair shops) my insurer works with. When asked, some of them clearly told me that they would use duplicate — a nice way to say spurious — parts or used parts to repair my car," he said.
Nandedkar said this amounts to fraud. "By allowing the non-agency garages to use spurious parts, the consumer, that is the individual who takes insurance on his vehicle, is cheated."
'Standard policy'
He said a staff at the insurance company mentioned it's a standard policy to use duplicate parts for cars older than one year.
"They used the word ‘duplicate' — they obviously meant non-genuine, " he said.
Nandedkar bought the car from a friend in 2009, and had an insured value of Dh73,000. While the damage to the front bumper was minor, safety features such as the reinforcement and the parking or proximity sensors were damaged and needed to be replaced.
If Nandedkar had not insisted on genuine parts, the fix would have cost insurers just Dh1,000 to Dh2,500, against the Dh5,000 that Gargash Enterprises, Daimler Benz dealership in Dubai, unofficially quoted for both parts and labour.
"I have sufficient reason to believe UAE insurers customarily choose the garage that charges the least for a certain job," he said. The lowest-cost garage is identified following a panel auction in which a pack of car-repair representatives give competing bids after checking a vehicle's damage. Nandedkar said this practice encourages the use of counterfeits, posing a possible safety hazard for consumers.
Deadly consequences
Dealerships have repeatedly warned about the deadly consequences of using fake car parts. Authorities in the UAE routinely crack down against counterfeits. In 2009, fake Mercedes parts worth Dh8 million were seized and destroyed in Sharjah.
Nandedkar said he had been knocking on doors to redress his grievance. When he approached the Consumer Rights Section at the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED), he was told the complaint cannot be processed because it was beyond their scope.
He later lodged a complaint with the Insurance Authority and the Insurers Association but has not received any response from them yet. "I have my doubts whether they will be keen on taking up the issue because it serves the purpose of the insurance companies to allow non-agency garages to use spurious parts."
After days of haggling, on Wednesday, the insurance company told him that if he wanted genuine parts, he will have to pay 40 per cent of the cost, he added. "I believe it is a suitable option as I get genuine parts — which is my sole intention."
