some advise ALBANY C**P ASSISTANCE

dacouch

Ah that could change my advice.

If the car looks like it's going to be a write off (Generally repair costs over 60% of value) then his own Insurers will replace it with a brand new one in the first year of ownership providing he is the first registered keeper. (He won't get this benefit if he goes to the other Insurer as they will give the current market value)

rev_henry

dacouch wrote: »

Ah that could change my advice.

If the car looks like it's going to be a write off (Generally repair costs over 60% of value) then his own Insurers will replace it with a brand new one in the first year of ownership providing he is the first registered keeper. (He won't get this benefit if he goes to the other Insurer as they will give the current market value)

I'm fairly sure you can say to the other insurer, 'I don't want the current market value paid out, I want to be put back in the same position I was before the accident.' Which would mean them having to buy you an identical car to the one which was written off, even if they have to pay an extra £2k.

soolin

dacouch wrote: »

Ah that could change my advice.

If the car looks like it's going to be a write off (Generally repair costs over 60% of value) then his own Insurers will replace it with a brand new one in the first year of ownership providing he is the first registered keeper. (He won't get this benefit if he goes to the other Insurer as they will give the current market value)

Goodness. Yes it is OH's car he bought it brand new late last spring and is the first registered keeper and owner. I've never heard of this replacement clause before but at the moment we don't know if it is going to be write off as it's been towed to a garage to be assessed. It did look pretty bad though, the frame is bent, the doors don't close and most of the front passenger wing had just gone to nothing . One of the policemen said it was amazing what they could do and it was probably repairable, the other said he couldn't see them even considering it, but we'll have to wait and see. I just can't believe my son was able to get out with just some brusing down his side and legs and a small cut across his neck where the seat belt tightened.

rev_henry

Repairable yes most probably, economically viable to repair at authorised repair centre using brand new parts etc, well that's a different story. Glad your son was ok though; crashed newer cars often look bad themselves, when in fact the actual cabin is reasonably intact because they're designed to crumple and absorb the impact. Which is all very well for safety but does not make for minor damage or cheap repairs!

dacouch

That's weird, teh Admiral Policy does not seem to offer the new car replacement in the first year of ownership. I've never seen that before which is a bit of a shame if the car is a write off.

You never know they may operate the system and don't put it in the policy (I doubt it).

soolin

That's a shame, there is no way at all we can buy even a car of a similar age at the same price we bought new. Still, fingers crossed they can repair it so we don't have to worry.

soolin

Admiral were helpful when we called and said that as far as the replacement car is concerned we do not have to use Albany and can ask Admiral's nominated garage to provide one instead at no cost and with no credit agreement to sign. Apparently the car supplied by Albany would be just a hire car, hence someone somewhere having to pay for it, whereas the car supplied by Admiral as part of our policy would be a courtesy car and free.

However Admiral will not persue our uninsured loss should the other driver dispute the accident in which case they say they would then refer us to Albany, which then puts us in the position of signing credit agreements which is back where we started.

They have also confirmed that they would not replace a car that is not one year old if it is a write off which was not made clear when we took the policy out.

soolin

Just to add, can everyone please cross their fingers that the car is repairable as there is no way at all we can even buy a comparable second hand car of the same age with what we originally paid for the brand new car as we got a massive deal on it.

dacouch

Soolin, if your use a courtesy vehicle from the garage this will be free to you and no one has to recover the costs from the other party.

If your uninsured losses are just your excess this is not that hard to recover from the other party if they do not dispute liability. You simply send them a letter along with a copy of the receipt for the excess you paid and they will refund it.

If you have other uninsured losses such as injuries and loss of earnings there are plenty of solicitors or claims companies that will do this on a no win no fee basis and you don't have to sign any credit forms so there is no risk to you (A small minority will, so if you find one of these simply give them the swerve and find another).

If you have a search of MSE and other forums you will find Albany have a bad reputation and are incredibly slow, so not using them could do you a favour. If it's just your excess that you have to cover it is almost certainly quicker for you to do it yourself.

If you need a recommendation let me know.

As I mentioned before if you want a like for like car with no credit agreements just ring the other drivers Insurers. If they don't dispute liability they will be very happy to provide one as it costs them a small fraction to provide one rather than you using a Credit Hire Company whose charges are well above the going rate

soolin

Thanks again.

Yes, a quick google search for Albany rather makes the hair curl doesn't it!

We've left it that Admiral will call us back today once the garage has done a preliminary report on the car. If it is repairable then they will supply a courtesy car free of charge. If it is a write off then obviously we get no car, but if it is borderline we also get no car until Admiral themselves have sent an assessor to take a look. We asked how long extra that would be and she said there was a backlog so we are probably looking at end of the week.

Admiral have also confirmed that as yet they have made no attempt to contact the other insurers to confirm that their party admit liability, she couldn't tell us when they will do that.