some advise ALBANY C**P ASSISTANCE

rev_henry

soolin wrote: »

Just an update, Admiral were still a tiny bit evasive on the phone about what was happening and what we should do, so we phoned the other insurance company. Their client has admitted full liability so they are going to take over our claim now. It means a slight delay while they find someone to come and assess the car in the garage where Admiral finally arranged for it to be taken, but they were much clearer about the process and there is no need to talk to third parties.

It looks like we won't hear anything until the end of the week now, but at least they sounded like they knew what they were doing and we feel a lot calmer and reassured.

That does make it much easier now. Do you now have a courtesy/hire care now or not? If not then, as they've admitted liability you can ask their insurer for one. And they have to give you one, same size as your car. Unless of course they can repair/replace yours in the next day or whatever.

soolin

rev_henry wrote: »

That does make it much easier now. Do you now have a courtesy/hire care now or not? If not then, as they've admitted liability you can ask their insurer for one. And they have to give you one, same size as your car. Unless of course they can repair/replace yours in the next day or whatever.

We asked and they were very happy to supply one, but as two of our named drivers are under 21 they would not be allowed to drive it, so we decided not to bother. I have my car and both me and OH are insured on that . It also seems very likely now that car is a write off, so if we had taken the car we couldn't have had it until Wednesday and it is likely the car will be assesed that day as well so they would just turn round and take the car back then.

dacouch

Soolin they will be very pleased that you have saved them a fortune in credit hire charges, as they cannot provide a hire car for the drivers under 21 (You are entitled to it if you need it and its not practical for them to use the other car). I would ask them to make an exgratia payment towards the loss of use for the under 21 year olds. If you are polite and word it correctly there is a good chance they will. Insurance companies like people like you who are reasonable and try to save them money. So it's worth giving it a try, alternatively they will have to pay the alternative transport costs for them providing they are reasonable and required. So this can avoid them paying out for late night taxis etc.

soolin

Ok, just had a phone call from the garage and they confirm the car is a total write off and the insurance company will send a salvage van for it tonight or tomorrow. We spoke for a while and i happened to mention Churchill but garage said they are handling this for Admiral and no one else.

My OH has called them back and told them not to allow the car to go to salvage as we have told Admiral not to proceed and have instructed Churchill instead. The garage isn't happy but is prepared to wait .

soolin

OH phoned the insurance companies, Admiral not answering their phones but Churchill picked up and confirmed thay will liasie with garage. They also said that they would be looking to give us just trade value of the car, we asked if they would just get us a straight replacement, but they said no.

rev_henry

soolin wrote: »

OH phoned the insurance companies, Admiral not answering their phones but Churchill picked up and confirmed thay will liasie with garage. They also said that they would be looking to give us just trade value of the car, we asked if they would just get us a straight replacement, but they said no.

You are LEGALLY ENTITLED to a straight replacement, its not a case of asking, its a case of telling them that's what you want. Saves you the £2k and the running around finding a new car.

dacouch

rev_henry wrote: »

You are LEGALLY ENTITLED to a straight replacement, its not a case of asking, its a case of telling them that's what you want. Saves you the £2k and the running around finding a new car.

I think your confused, legally from the other party you are entitled to be put back in the same financial position as immediately before the accident. With a 6 month old car the law would not expect the Insurers to replace the car with a brand new car, they only have to pay out the market value of a 6 month old car.

rev_henry

dacouch wrote: »

I think your confused, legally from the other party you are entitled to be put back in the same financial position as immediately before the accident. With a 6 month old car the law would not expect the Insurers to replace the car with a brand new car, they only have to pay out the market value of a 6 month old car.

You may be right, but I thought it was just the same position, financial or otherwise, thus covering the actual car as well as money.
I'm sure I remember Honest John saying that a few years ago, to someone who'd had their Renault Twingo written off by someone else. At the time it wasn't really worth anything, but was quite rare as an import, and the person wanted a replacement, not just the £400 it was technically worth. He advised her to demand a replacement Twingo from the insurance company. I was just trying to find something that said this, but I can't seem to. :S

Tigsteroonie

This thread makes interesting reading ... I am currently with Elephant and due renewal shortly, but I may be inclined to ditch them based on your experiences with Albany as their claims handlers. Thanks for the heads up.

soolin

Just an update, Admirall kept sending us letters even though we told them we were dealing with the insurers of the other party. Admiral offered us £6k for the car, less £500 excess which we would have had to use Albany to recover (so £5500 in total). They also wanted tons of documents and papers plus DVLA conference calls and oddly a valid MOT certificate. We actually phoned them to say that even if we were dealing with them we wouldn't be able to supply an MOT document as the car was less than a year old and was told that no certificate meant they would rethink their offer!

However, thanks to the wonderful advice on here we went via Churchill, who saw the car, wrote off the car and offerd us £6500 for it and sent the cheque with no paperwork required at all. We can't do anything with the gap insurance as they have confirmed they only pay out the difference between the price we paid and the amount we are offered, and we got back slightly more than we pad for the car.

AS we can't replace the car for the same price we are rethinking what to do next as a replacement, we might even wait a few weeks and trade in our older car as well for something smaller.

So thank you everyone for your advice.