Another Albany Assistance car crash query...

loststeve

Hi all, hoping someone can provide advice on the best way to proceed. Apologies for the long post ...

Situation so far:
- No-fault accident for which the other driver/insurer have accepted full liability.
- My insurers, Bell, have passed me off to Albany Assistance.
- Albany have arranged a hire car for me (which I've received) plus got my car in with a repair specialist for a quote (no further progress yet).
- 3rd party's insurer (Swiftcover) has also contacted me offering repair etc + courtesy car at no cost to me.

I've just received a Vehicle Repair Finance Agreement from Albany, which on first sight looked a bit worrying, hence a search of this forum which turned up a number of worrying threads on Albany suggesting that:
A - Albany would take AGES to get the car fixed/process the claim.
B - If Albany's handling of hire cars etc results in unreasonable costs the 3rd party insurer might not pay it all back, leaving me liable.

On the plus side having re-read the finance agreement it actually looks OK, BUT can I avoid either / both of the above problems (if they are actual problems!) by:
1. Don't sign the repair finance agreement: the car's only worth £1500, if repairs are that I can affort to pay it and presumably get Bell/Albany to recover it, if its >£1500 for repair it'll be a write-off anyway.
or
2. Get Albany to cancel the hire car / repairers and take up Swiftcover's offer.

thanks in advance to anyone who's read this far!

S

ykloke

I was in the same boat, and I returned the Albany Assistance car after 48 hours. Like you, I received an equivalent hire car offered by the 3rd party insurer, and that took all my worries away.
You are right that Albany's costs might end up in your lap if the 3rd party insurer refuses to pay up that amount, especially if they have offered you an equivalent hire car from their end.
Make sure that you don't take any nonsense from Albany, I was quite firm in telling them that they needed to come and collect the car right away.

loststeve

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! Did that all work out, i.e. you didn't end up paying for the Albany car while you had had it? Did you still go thro them for the repairs?

thanks again,
S

ykloke

Before handing the car back to Albany, I spoke to the 3rd party insurer and they confirmed they would bear the costs for the 48 hours that I was using it. Anyway, it worked out a lot cheaper for the insurer because Albany were intending to charge twice the going rate for providing the car. The third party insurer fixed me up with a nice 6 month old car from Enterprise Rental, and they settled the bill directly without any hassle.

However, I didn't take up the repair offer from the 3rd party insurer as I felt that they might use cheaper parts, so I got my own insurer to fix my car.

mcjordi

i would take the offer frmm swift cover..
albany/drive assist/help hire fees are astronomical and the insurers can refuse to pay them they ultimatley then its your problem..
ask them what about a write off situation and weather they'd provide a car till settlement is sorted

loststeve

Oh man how did anyone manage to deal with these sorts of companies before this forum!!

@mcjordi - thanks, very good point.
@both - the Albany deal does include insurance in case the 3rd party insurer doesn't pay the full amount, but it needs you to sign the credit agreement to get it, and then possibly having to chase *another* insurance claim after a waiting period of 343 days (or something similar) - who wants to be doing that! - as someone else said, I just want it sorted with the minumum of hassle!

I've also concluded that there's less chance of getting the car written-off if I get Swiftcover to provide the courtesy car, as there'll be less cost overall and therefore (compared to the car's value) more money for repairs ....

However as I've had the Albany car since Wed and I'm not going to manage a swap till Mon, to do this I'm going to have to get Swiftcover to confirm they'll be happy to cover all costs to date, else I'm better off sticking with Albany & signing all the paperwork, grrrr...

I think MSE need to do an article on this!

mcjordi

i think swift cover would gladly pay albany for the few days youve had the hire car.. rather than the 8+weeks your likely to have it if they dont
they are looking out for there profits not you sorry to say and will do what ever is cheaper for them, which to start is to rid you of albany as its a major expense for them..
if its too expensive to repair then swift will write it off and pay you out for the car.. so start looking for similar mileage/age cars just incase and save the adverts to negotiate a settlement.
and dont forget if your injured aswell

Christopher7

Be careful of Swift Cover, their claims management company SIMS, are renowned for cutting corners.

Like a host of other insurers they will use Non Genuine parts to repair your vehicle as they are approx a third of the price but repairers hate having to fit them as more often than not they do not fit properly.

They will also demand that you have your car repaired at their approved garage. These garages are the ones who agree to work for the least amount of money. If you do not agree to have your car repaired they will just give you a cash settlement based on the costs they would have paid their garage and leave you to arrange the repairs and foot the difference in repair cost.

weston_2

I'm in this boat now, I'd love to hear what happened next loststeve.

manicdeb

Yes I'm also in the same boat - some idiot crashed into me whilst I was giving way to him at a speed bump thing and is trying to say I was on his side of the road therefore I was in the wrong - even though he hit me (a stationary vehicle!)

Albany are dealing with the claim rather than royal sun alliance as it was not my fault and I have an independant witness to say I was not in the wrong. I have a albany hire car and they have my trashed car in their garage but I'm nervous of signing their vehicle repair hire agreement even though the woman from Albany said I will definately not have to pay the costs even if the 3rd partys insurance don't pay out - just not sure if I beleive them knowing that they would actually have an agreement saying I would bear the costs

dacouch

Ask them to confirm it in writing if they are certain you will not have to pay under any circumstances...