The vehicle was brought from a panel shop. It had experienced some front end damage. It was repaired, but the a/c was now not working.

The panel shop had tried to recharge the system but could not get the a/c clutch to cut in.

We were asked to determine what was wrong with the a/c system and advise if the problem was accident related.

This is always a big ask because we are dealing with an insurance company that is trying to minimise their costs and a panel shop that 'does their bidding' or won't get paid. The owner definitely didn't want to pay, whether it was a problem prior to the accident or not.

The fact is, no one wants to know the correct answer if it affects their pocket. They really don't want to pay for the time to analyse and diagnose the fault and what caused it.