Urgent Advice from any car insurance Experts - HELP!

[JQ]

Well the st has well and truly hit the fan here and I'm seriously panicking.

2 weeks ago a bus drove into the back of me, no dispute over liability. I started a no fault claim with my insurer and they provided a hire car. The complicating factor being that we are driving to France on holiday today. Proved to be a nightmare to get a car of comparable size to my own and with a towbar for the bike carrier. But all sorted and various bookings changed to reflect the change of car, including Channel Tunnel, Peage tag, a rear numberplate for the bike carrier and various other bits and bobs.

My insurer have just phoned (3 hrs before we leave) to say my car is a write-off. They were not prepared to discuss the hire car as that is through a 3rd party and advised I speak the ACM direct. I'm fairly certain as soon as I tell the ACM, they'll want the car back as we leave today and return on 20th August. I believe i can keep the hire car for 5 days from my car being written off.

So far I've told my insurer I don't accept their offer, but not spoken to the ACM.

What the fk do I do (that doesn't land me with a huge hire car bill, and hopefully still enables me to drive to France)?

Edited by JQ on Thursday 10th August 09:26

[Krikkit]

Difficult - did you get legal protection on your insurance? If so it'd be worth thinking about hiring a car for your holiday (or checking with the ACM and seeing what they'd charge you), then trying to claim it back off the at-fault insurer as it's an incurred expense which wasn't your fault.

[edthefed]

Surely you tried" to call ACM and got no answer ?

Now do not use your phone / answer emails until you are abroad ?

Of course you need to check ACM allow you to take their car abroad

[DaveCWK]

Surely you keep the hire car until you either have your repaired car back, or the right off settlement to go buy another? And from what I've read on here, 2 weeks isn't an unreasonable period to go through rejecting the write off valuation via email, providing equivalent evidence, all that BS.

[JQ]

edthefed said:

Surely you tried" to call ACM and got no answer ?

Now do not use your phone / answer emails until you are abroad ?

With hire costs running at £380 per day and being away for 11 days, that's definitely not a risk I'm prepared to take.

edthefed said:

Of course you need to check ACM allow you to take their car abroad

That's already all sorted, which included taking full AA European Breakdown cover for the hire car.

[JagYouAre]

edthefed said:

Surely you tried" to call ACM and got no answer ?

Now do not use your phone / answer emails until you are abroad ?

Of course you need to check ACM allow you to take their car abroad

I would definitely check this.

I had a hire car while mine was being repaired a couple of years ago. Part of the time I had the car I was over in Italy for a few days (not with the car, we had flown) but while we were away the repair was done and insurer wanted to sort out swapping the cars over. I told them they'd have to wait till I was back from hols, following which I received a very angry email from AMC suggesting that if I was abroad with their car without clearance there would be hell to pay (they got an equally snotty response telling them to foxtrot oscar, but of course I didn't have the car with me so it was all good).

Edit: see you already sorted that, so ignore me.

[Dark85]

Delays not returning a hire car because the user is away on holiday are very common. ACM will probably thrilled about an excuse to charge the bus insurer for a load of extra hire charges with a genuine reason. You're worrying about nothing.

[JQ]

Dark85 said:

Delays not returning a hire car because the user is away on holiday are very common. ACM will probably thrilled about an excuse to charge the bus insurer for a load of extra hire charges with a genuine reason. You're worrying about nothing.

I can't delay any further, as if they want it back I need to sort an alternative car in the next 2 hours.

I'm going to give them a call, I hope you're right.

[130R]

JQ said:

I believe i can keep the hire car for 5 days from my car being written off.

I think it would usually be until you receive payment (and possibly a bit longer than that). You said you haven't accepted their offer yet.

[JQ]

Panic over - I think.

AMC have said I have to return the car 7 days after receipt of payment from the insurance company. On the basis I dispute their offer and I'm travelling for the next 3 days I intend to respond to the insurer at the start of next week with evidence of a higher valuation from Autotrader. Assuming it takes a few days of negotiations to agree the final settlement figure, that should easily take me past my return date. Hopefully.