No fault claim - own insurance or AMC?
Discussion
Rear ended by a guy on Wed. No injuries. Swapped details etc, he admitted liability.
I informed my insurer who put me in contact with their 'trusted partner' DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company. I contacted the other guy's insurance company and as of today, he still hasn't contacted them, and they can't contact him; so they won't process my claim. They say they will write to him today and he then has 7 days to respond. Then they will engage with me.
Meanwhile, my busted car is sitting on my drive. I've had a quote of £2,500 to fix, assuming they find nothing else when they strip the busted bits.
Should I go through DAS as recommended by my insurer, or is there any benefit in me going through an AMC?
Thanks in advance.
I informed my insurer who put me in contact with their 'trusted partner' DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company. I contacted the other guy's insurance company and as of today, he still hasn't contacted them, and they can't contact him; so they won't process my claim. They say they will write to him today and he then has 7 days to respond. Then they will engage with me.
Meanwhile, my busted car is sitting on my drive. I've had a quote of £2,500 to fix, assuming they find nothing else when they strip the busted bits.
Should I go through DAS as recommended by my insurer, or is there any benefit in me going through an AMC?
Thanks in advance.
^^ Agreed.
I went with an AMC following my no fault bump up the rear last November. Car was repaired last December but I had to pay £800 excess to get my car back from the repairer. This was then to be recovered from the Romanian third party (who had admitted liability).
Seven months later, I'm still waiting for my excess despite numerous promises that it was about to be paid.
Never again. Go with your own insurer.
I went with an AMC following my no fault bump up the rear last November. Car was repaired last December but I had to pay £800 excess to get my car back from the repairer. This was then to be recovered from the Romanian third party (who had admitted liability).
Seven months later, I'm still waiting for my excess despite numerous promises that it was about to be paid.
Never again. Go with your own insurer.
KungFuPanda said:
If the guy isn't playing ball, go with the AMC, get them to sort repairs and get yourself a hire car.
If he doesn't have the common decency to report the accident, his insurers are going to have to pay.
See above poster to this one! AMC are on your side until they meet resistance, then it's every man for themselves.If he doesn't have the common decency to report the accident, his insurers are going to have to pay.
Based on what I've read about credit hire companies, I wouldn't go anywhere near them with someone else's barge pole. I'd rather chance not getting my excess back through claiming via my own insurer than potentially being liable for ridiculous hire car fees if the 'accident management company' can't get payment.
In defence of AMCs, many years ago my Caterham was nudged by the car behind at a red traffic light. Twice, because he forgot to take his auto out of drive when getting out to see what he'd done. What would have been a bumper touch-in on a regular car is a complete rear skin and part respray on a Caterham, but I didn't need a loan car as I had my everyday. Until it broke too, at which point Angel Assist got me a shiney new Golf delivered to use until the Caterham was fixed, with the added advantage of being able to leave it at the Caterham specialist for them to sort the collection.
Aside from a brief discussion when they thought I might want to claim for whiplash from a 1mph bump, I have nothing but praise for them.
Aside from a brief discussion when they thought I might want to claim for whiplash from a 1mph bump, I have nothing but praise for them.
I cursed using an AMC (AccidentExchange for reference) when the guy who ran in to me started changing the story and said it was my fault.
My insurance company was underwritten by the same insurance company as his, so they were more than happy to just close out on a 50/50 claim and call it a day. No additional costs to the underwriter and both policies get hiked premiums and loss of NCB moving forward - win/win for the insurance companies.
AccidentExchange, however, had an inflated hire car to chase. They fought it on my behalf for 5 months through the courts. Appointed barristers, went through the whole process. I was cursing this for a while - but in the end we won, I went back to my insurers and had everything re-instated. Justice done in my mind and I was pleased with the outcome.
Just another opinion based on experience.
My insurance company was underwritten by the same insurance company as his, so they were more than happy to just close out on a 50/50 claim and call it a day. No additional costs to the underwriter and both policies get hiked premiums and loss of NCB moving forward - win/win for the insurance companies.
AccidentExchange, however, had an inflated hire car to chase. They fought it on my behalf for 5 months through the courts. Appointed barristers, went through the whole process. I was cursing this for a while - but in the end we won, I went back to my insurers and had everything re-instated. Justice done in my mind and I was pleased with the outcome.
Just another opinion based on experience. lm1600 said:
Rear ended by a guy on Wed. No injuries. Swapped details etc, he admitted liability.
I informed my insurer who put me in contact with their 'trusted partner' DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company. I contacted the other guy's insurance company and as of today, he still hasn't contacted them, and they can't contact him; so they won't process my claim. They say they will write to him today and he then has 7 days to respond. Then they will engage with me.
Meanwhile, my busted car is sitting on my drive. I've had a quote of £2,500 to fix, assuming they find nothing else when they strip the busted bits.
Should I go through DAS as recommended by my insurer, or is there any benefit in me going through an AMC?
Thanks in advance.
DAS are an accident management company/legal expenses provider. Your insurers won't really look to get involved in repairing your car if it's non-fault unless you insist that they pay out for the damage. What they have done is pass you on. I informed my insurer who put me in contact with their 'trusted partner' DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company. I contacted the other guy's insurance company and as of today, he still hasn't contacted them, and they can't contact him; so they won't process my claim. They say they will write to him today and he then has 7 days to respond. Then they will engage with me.
Meanwhile, my busted car is sitting on my drive. I've had a quote of £2,500 to fix, assuming they find nothing else when they strip the busted bits.
Should I go through DAS as recommended by my insurer, or is there any benefit in me going through an AMC?
Thanks in advance.
TR4man said:
^^ Agreed.
I went with an AMC following my no fault bump up the rear last November. Car was repaired last December but I had to pay £800 excess to get my car back from the repairer. This was then to be recovered from the Romanian third party (who had admitted liability).
Seven months later, I'm still waiting for my excess despite numerous promises that it was about to be paid.
Never again. Go with your own insurer.
My guess being that the foreign TP was driving on a Romanian policy? If so, the claimant (you) or representative would have to deal with a UK handling agent and communication between handling agent and at-fault insurer can be quite problematic and also quite lengthy. Being honest, I'm not too surprised that you're still waiting. As an aside if you didn't have somebody recovering your £800 excess on your behalf would you rather do that yourself? Have you considered issuing legal proceedings, that you may have to pay for, against the handling agent? Your insurers would only be interested in recovering their own outlay for the repairs to the car. Have you asked them if they have been paid back yet? You may find they've not been paid either. You may think the process is simple but i can assure you that having an accident with a foreign third party is anything but. I went with an AMC following my no fault bump up the rear last November. Car was repaired last December but I had to pay £800 excess to get my car back from the repairer. This was then to be recovered from the Romanian third party (who had admitted liability).
Seven months later, I'm still waiting for my excess despite numerous promises that it was about to be paid.
Never again. Go with your own insurer.
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