Hit by drunk driver - any advice on insurance?

[poppopbangbang]

Quick overview I was hit last night by a guy running a red light, which did a pretty good job of removing the nose off my car. He immediately legged it and was caught by the police a few minutes later, he blew just over three times the limit. The accident was recorded on CCTV which shows him running the red, he also tripped the red light camera on the junction.

Police were great, turned up within 2 minutes of me calling them and the person I was speaking to on the 999 line stayed on the phone and accessed the CCTV so I could point them in the direction the guy had run. They got as many details as they could from him and confirmed the car was insured. They also gave me a lift to the taxi office so I could get home - really a massively positive impression of the Police all round as they were genuinely bothered about me and genuinely put some effort into going after the chap and arresting him.

As this car is one I purchased as a stop gap whilst my main transport is having an engine refresh it's on a basic insurance policy with my normal broker which has no replacement car cover etc. on it. Whilst I'm loathe to go this route does anyone have any advice on if an accident management company is the way to go here with regards sourcing a hire car the costs for which are then reclaimed from his insurance? I would hope this is fairly open and shut case given the evidence and the confirmation from one of the attending officers that they intend to prosecute?

To be clear whilst I'm mildly bruised and a bit stiff this morning I've got no intention of going accident chasing here, I'm feeling pretty lucky I wasn't 5M further down the road at the time and I can deal with a few bruises. It's just the massive PITA of being carless at this time of year and I don't really want to go through the drama of hiring something, standing the costs and then arguing it back via my/his insurers.

Any advice welcome!

[Centurion07]

Might be worth contacting his insurer and seeing what they say as they'll want to avoid any potentially inflated costs from an AMC?

[WaferThinHam]

Centurion07 said:

Might be worth contacting his insurer and seeing what they say as they'll want to avoid any potentially inflated costs from an AMC?

This. If their lad is banged to rights I'm sure they'd rather avoid using an AMC. Just don't be afraid to be very firm with them if needed.

[don4l]

Centurion07 said:

Might be worth contacting his insurer and seeing what they say as they'll want to avoid any potentially inflated costs from an AMC?

This^^^^

I've been in a similar situation, and there was no need for an AMC.

The insurance company were very cooperative.

[Driver101]

Avoid the accident management company.

With the mess of this case it could be harder for the accident management company to recover their fees. Remember that if they can't recover all their inflated charges and fees it's you that is liable to pay them.

[TooMany2cvs]

Another vote for just going straight to his insurer. He can't exactly claim it was anything but his fault.

[Aretnap]

Indeed. Assuming no for over liability his insurers will be keen to arrange a hire car for you and probably fix your car too. They have an incentive to be helpful as if they're not they know you'll go to an accident management company instead which will mean they just end up with a bigger bill than of they provide the car themselves.

[SBDJ]

Contact his insurance and they will probably offer you a hire car.

I was hit by a drunk driver in his company car at 2am a few years back. Impossible for him to wriggle out of given that he had effectively gone the wrong way round a roundabout at speed, in front of an ambulance.

I had another car I could use, so declined the offer of a hire car from his insurance company. Big mistake. Took them that long to pay out that the guy's driving ban was almost over by the time they did!