No fault accident - positive insurance experience!
Discussion
Hi all,
Just thought I'd recount my positive experiences after being involved in a non-fault accident last week.
The crash
I was diverted off the M6 on Friday evening due to a closure in both directions. Somewhere in rural Cheshire saw me stationary on a single carriage way road whilst trying to make a right turn.
A lady came round the corner behind me, saw me blocking the road, panicked and 'missed the brake pedal' and ploughed into the back of me at c' 30 mph. I saw this happening in my mirror and had time to take my foot off the brakes and brake for impact.
The car was pushed 30/40 feet down the road and although just about drivable sustained a lot of damage to the rear and nearside quarter - tailgate and rear wings smashed up damage and a badly creased boot floor. The car is 2005 plate Focus Estate so no doubt that it was a write-off.
There were plenty of witnesses and the other driver (lady in her 60s) admitted that it was all her fault.
As I was in a rush to get to my destination (family emergency) and only had a minor headache and slightly stiff neck I exchanged details and continued my journey - God knows why I wasn't pulled on the motorway when I passed a traffic X5.
The ambulance chasers
When I spoke to my insurers (Hastings Direct)on Saturday they basically passed me on to Albany Assistance and said they would handle the claim - no other options were suggested.
They called me within 20 minutes (all very efficient) and sent through some documentation to sign. They also said suggested I should speak to one of their affiliated solicitors specialising in personal injury claims.
After doing some Googling it became clear that Albany are a credit-hire company and seem to specialise in inflating no-fault claims for their financial benefit.
It was also clear that their terms passed any liability in the event of a successfully contested claim back to me - either they received their vastly overpriced hire car fees from the third party or from me. Nice business model!
Doing the 'right' way
After digesting this information I called Albany on the Sunday and told them I didn't want to proceed with a claim and I was going to deal directly with the third party's insurer. I was pretty blunt about my reasoning and they didn't make any fuss.
On the Monday morning I called the lady who'd crashed into me, she confirmed she was speaking to her insurers and they would contact me.
They called almost immediately and confirmed they were accepting full liability.
I explained that I would prefer to deal directly with them rather than an Accident Management company, but in return I expected them to supply a decent sized estate car as a rental and that they didn't try and stiff me on the settlement.
By 2PM I'd agreed a sum of £3500 (possibly way more than the car was worth!) and they'd dropped off a brand new Passat TDI estate on an 8 day rental period.
The funds were transferred to my bank account yesterday and I bought a nice shiny S-Max to replace the old Focus.
The moral
If you have a straight forward non-contested non-fault claim then going direct to the other insurer can be efficient and risk-free. I was still able to get like-for-like rental despite my car being 9 years old and there is no long-term liability for inflated car hire costs hanging over my head.
I've also not contributed to rising insurance premiums in the process.
I'm annoyed that my insurance company aided and abetted this scam - at no point did they suggest the course of action I eventually took.
Just thought I'd recount my positive experiences after being involved in a non-fault accident last week.
The crash
I was diverted off the M6 on Friday evening due to a closure in both directions. Somewhere in rural Cheshire saw me stationary on a single carriage way road whilst trying to make a right turn.
A lady came round the corner behind me, saw me blocking the road, panicked and 'missed the brake pedal' and ploughed into the back of me at c' 30 mph. I saw this happening in my mirror and had time to take my foot off the brakes and brake for impact.
The car was pushed 30/40 feet down the road and although just about drivable sustained a lot of damage to the rear and nearside quarter - tailgate and rear wings smashed up damage and a badly creased boot floor. The car is 2005 plate Focus Estate so no doubt that it was a write-off.
There were plenty of witnesses and the other driver (lady in her 60s) admitted that it was all her fault.
As I was in a rush to get to my destination (family emergency) and only had a minor headache and slightly stiff neck I exchanged details and continued my journey - God knows why I wasn't pulled on the motorway when I passed a traffic X5.
The ambulance chasers
When I spoke to my insurers (Hastings Direct)on Saturday they basically passed me on to Albany Assistance and said they would handle the claim - no other options were suggested.
They called me within 20 minutes (all very efficient) and sent through some documentation to sign. They also said suggested I should speak to one of their affiliated solicitors specialising in personal injury claims.
After doing some Googling it became clear that Albany are a credit-hire company and seem to specialise in inflating no-fault claims for their financial benefit.
It was also clear that their terms passed any liability in the event of a successfully contested claim back to me - either they received their vastly overpriced hire car fees from the third party or from me. Nice business model!
Doing the 'right' way
After digesting this information I called Albany on the Sunday and told them I didn't want to proceed with a claim and I was going to deal directly with the third party's insurer. I was pretty blunt about my reasoning and they didn't make any fuss.
On the Monday morning I called the lady who'd crashed into me, she confirmed she was speaking to her insurers and they would contact me.
They called almost immediately and confirmed they were accepting full liability.
I explained that I would prefer to deal directly with them rather than an Accident Management company, but in return I expected them to supply a decent sized estate car as a rental and that they didn't try and stiff me on the settlement.
By 2PM I'd agreed a sum of £3500 (possibly way more than the car was worth!) and they'd dropped off a brand new Passat TDI estate on an 8 day rental period.
The funds were transferred to my bank account yesterday and I bought a nice shiny S-Max to replace the old Focus.
The moral
If you have a straight forward non-contested non-fault claim then going direct to the other insurer can be efficient and risk-free. I was still able to get like-for-like rental despite my car being 9 years old and there is no long-term liability for inflated car hire costs hanging over my head.
I've also not contributed to rising insurance premiums in the process.
I'm annoyed that my insurance company aided and abetted this scam - at no point did they suggest the course of action I eventually took.
Edited by maturin23 on Thursday 20th November 12:48
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