Albany Assistance

Bigpappa_2

Hi newbie here

About 3 weeks ago i had car accident to my ar which was no fault of mine. The third party admitted fault and hes car insurance company rang me up to offer their services but i declined as my car is still under warranty and did not trust them to use official parts etc.

My insurance company (elephant) advised me to use Albany so i have.
Albany offered me a hire car but i refused it after taking it up initially.
The car has gone to the manufaturers approved garage.

I just recieved a letter from Albany saying that i have to sign a Credit Protection Policy which means that in the unlikely event that we are unable to recover the costs from the responsible party, we would not look to you for reimbursement.

But im confused as if the accident was not my fault, i have fully com insurance with full protected no claims why should i sign an agreement with a legal expenses unit.

Shall i recall my car back?
Phone my insurance to take over and if so do albany charge me for using their services?

Thank you for reading and look forward to your replies

InsideInsurance

To play devils advocate a little, one reason can be that whilst Liability may be agreed (you dont mention that the TPI themselves have accepted liability yet) that doesnt meant that Quantum (ie claim amount) will be. There are always cases where the TP puts their hands up to an accident but then says they only tapped you causing a slight dent that was next to a load of pre-existing damage and so the TPI dispute the £10,000 repair bill.

In these circumstances, if you claim from your own insurance and they payout in full but then only get back part of their costs it counts as a fault claim against you. An insurers definition of fault is linked to them having a net zero outlay hence why theft and fire claims count as fault in most cases. By going through this route, assuming the Credit Protection Policy means your own insurance remains protected, then there is no risk as if Albany cannot get the TPI to pay the credit protection clears the remainder.

I did have one case where our PH was at fault, the TP had their "classic" car repaired to the sum of about £20,000 but we only paid out about £3,000 as the car was a rust bucket so should have been total lossed instead of repaired. Old doesnt automatically mean classic (he didn't have classic car insurance etc)

Bigpappa_2

Hi

Yes the TPI did ring me up and admitted their client has admitted liability but i did not take up their offer of repairing the car.

Ive gone through Albany, the car is in the manufacturer approved garage now.

Im just worried about this Credit Protection Policy..

Bigpappa_2

No its not for the car hire, it is the repair for the vehicle the Credit Protection Policy is for.. is it worth signing?

I persume because the TP has admitted liability then they will pay for the repair no matter the cost!

chanz4

manufacture approved are not any different, but the price they charge. When an insurance does a repair it comes with the warranty of 3 years on the work anyway.

Bigpappa_2

i used manufacturer approved because my car is still under warranty

chanz4

So is myn, when you have an accident the parts that are mended are covered differently for warranty purposes (non manufacture) on replaced parts.

vaio

Yep, and if you use a non manufacturer approved garage to do the repairs then, as you say, you’ll get a three year warranty from the garage/insurance company, but you’ll lose the 6, 7, 10 or 12 year anti corrosion warranty the manufacturer provides.