Car accident - Albany Assistance/police

EdGasket

You did well to refuse Albany's hire car and credit agreement; some people have been left with huge hire bills when the insurance claim has gone wrong. I had a claim that Albany were 'dealing with'. Had to do everything myself including contacting the third party/her insurers and threatening legal action. Claims 'assistance' companies are there to make money, not to assist you in my opinion.
As you are third party insured, get two quotes for repair and send the cheapest by recorded delivery to the other driver claiming the cost. Say if it is not paid within 7 days you will issue a Small Claims Court summons against him/her for the cost of repairs plus court fees (plus hire car if you want one though arrange it yourself). They can then either pay or pass it back to their insurers to deal with. It's the only way to get things moving in my experience.

Just noticed you say that the mother claims the driver has moved. How convenient ! The other party and mum may just be fobbing you off hoping you'll give up. Well see if Albany will tell you who the other insurer is; they at least did that for me. Then you can put a claim in to the other person's insurance company direct. It will still take a month or longer though so be prepared ! And the other insurer will need a statement from the insured so if he isn't found or doesn't cooperate (as happened with me) you are stuck with tracing the driver and threatening court action via the Small Claims Court. Best of luck.

...or you could use an alternative claims firm as per the previous post. I expect they will want you to take a contract hire car though as this is where they make their money. If you do change remember to advise Albany that as no progress has been made, you are taking over the claim yourself but like I said, try to find out who the other insurer is and the insured's policy number first.

Quentin

EdGasket wrote: »

As you are third party insured, get two quotes for repair and send the cheapest by recorded delivery to the other driver claiming the cost. Say if it is not paid within 7 days you will issue a County Court summons against him/her for the cost of repairs plus court fees (plus hire car if you want one though arrange it yourself).

This isn't good advice, and these points need considering before following it through:

1) The OP doesn't have a current address for the third party

2) The OP doesn't know if the third party has any funds

3) The OP would have to pay court fees up front (non refundable) in the hope that he both wins the case and is able to enforce his win.

EdGasket

So what do you suggest then?

Quentin

EdGasket wrote: »

So what do you suggest then?

Ignore your advice to go to the SCC and leave it with his claim manager or replace them if he is unhappy with them.

(Edit: SCC = small claims court)

magentacafc

Thanks everyone - this is my first experience with something like this so I had really no idea how it all worked... I didn't even realise I could ditch Albany & use another company if I wanted to - just thought I was stuck with them as that's who my insurers use!

I assume the police will advise who the insurers are once they get back to Albany with the report? I have a crime reference number, but does anybody know if it is usual for them to take over a month to respond to a letter requesting information? Not sure if I am simply being impatient!

The main issue with timescales really is that my MOT runs out soon - but there is no point spending money on a car that will not pass, so I may as well cancel my insurance, get a refund on the tax and park it off the road awaiting an outcome - but for how long??! It is so frustrating.

EdGasket

I would not count on the police to be of any help in the 'civil' side of this. As I said Albany should be able to tell you the insurer and policy number of the third party; phone them up and ask for it. They can find out quite easily whereas on your own, you can't. It took around 4 months for my car to be repaired but luckily I was able to pull out the wing sufficiently to carry on using the car. I should try and get the insurance details from Albany and see how that goes. Then follow my suggestions (or Quentin's whatever SCC means), or maybe consider a different claims company as per Mustard Dave's suggestion.

magentacafc

Thanks, I have called Albany several times now! They say that they haven't heard back from the police, so did a trace on the reg and have written to the third party to ask who his insurers are - they write a letter then 2 weeks later send a reminder letter apparently so still do not know who they are & seem to be suggesting to me that we just wait and wait endlessly for a response - I myself thought it would have been easier to find out than this?!

EdGasket

Yes I think so too. Albany should be able to find out who the insurer is just from the registration number as they have access to this information; they should not need the cooperation of the Third Party to find this out. Presumably you know the registration number? In which case you can go to: http://www.askmid.com/
to check if a car is insured or not yourself etc. For a £3.75 fee it will tell you:

"The date of the accident and the registration details of the other vehicle are required to search on askMID. If the registration is found on the MID, you will receive on screen the insurance details: policy number, name of insurer and the claims contact details to help you progress a claim. "

However Albany can tell you all this if they would cooperate, ask Albany why they can't check the insurance details from the registration number and tell you the insurer and policy? If they still won't help; you could try the other claims company MustardDave suggested.

Bear in mind that even if you know the TP's insurance details and deal directly with that insurer, they will still not pay out if the TP does not cooperate by reporting the incident. In this case, so long as you know the address of the TP, you can threaten him with a Small Claims court action as I suggested.

If you cannot find out his address (though you say the police gave this to you) or he has indeed moved and is untraceable, I think you have to put a claim for the damage into the MIB; see: http://www.mib.org.uk/Home/en/default.htm and check the Customer services section: http://www.mib.org.uk/Customer+Services/en/Default.htm
Good luck; don't let it drift or nothing will happen, especially with Albany on the case !

xycom1

Albany are !!!!!!!g useless, worst company I have ever had to deal with! A call to the MDs office seemed to poke them into action back then.

magentacafc

Thanks again - I guess it's trying Albany again, they are not exactly pro active though! I suppose on their part that's all good if they have flogged you a hire car at an extortionate rate - more money in the long run.

I have an address, though his mother says he has left, and have managed to get a telephone number (mobile) for the TP - not too keen on phoning myself though so putting it off - I understand that he has been banned from driving too following the incident, not sure whether for drink driving or other?

I thought as the police witnessed the accident this would be simple - obviously not so!