Albany Assistance - Steer clear

operauser

Albany sent me a letter stating that this was their final letter after I refused to sign the Credit Finance Agreement.

If I had any dispute with them anymore they suggested that I contact Financial Services Ombudsman. Well that is the next step that I will be taking.

I posted this issue on this post, so that people are aware or how scrupulous, these companies are and should be avoided at all cost. I will definitely not be using them for insuring my cars in future.

These two companies flag up on various forums as soon as you search for "Albany Assistance" on Google. So it shows that I am not the only one faced with this type of issue. More people hear of these, sooner they will be brought to the attentions of the mases and avoid them.

barry6466blue

I have had a nightmare with this company who were sold to me as legal protection on my Aviva policy. My car was damaged on a car park on 7th May 2013. The offending vehicle and driver were traced and reports duly made. Albany were contacted to recover my excess and out of pocket expenses...what an absolute joke of a company after some 30 e mails 3 recorded delivery letters and numerous phone calls i ended up contacting the third party's insurers LV myself. Again numerous letters finally culminating in sending them a copy of the court file I had prepared for the small claims court together with their clients name and address obtained from the police under the provisions of the Road traffic Act and hey presto a phone call received next day from LV apologising for the delay and telling my a cheque was on its way to me.

Have absolutely nothing to do with Albany Assistance they are absolutely useless in fact do not take out legal protection at all because like PPI it is useless. Go to a no win no fee solicitor from the outset or contact the third parties insurance yourself. Do not be afraid to take them to the small claims court to recover your losses it is simpler than you think and you can charge them the court fees too.

tasticz

barry6466blue wrote: »

I have had a nightmare with this company who were sold to me as legal protection on my Aviva policy. My car was damaged on a car park on 7th May 2013. The offending vehicle and driver were traced and reports duly made. Albany were contacted to recover my excess and out of pocket expenses...what an absolute joke of a company after some 30 e mails 3 recorded delivery letters and numerous phone calls i ended up contacting the third party's insurers LV myself. Again numerous letters finally culminating in sending them a copy of the court file I had prepared for the small claims court together with their clients name and address obtained from the police under the provisions of the Road traffic Act and hey presto a phone call received next day from LV apologising for the delay and telling my a cheque was on its way to me.

Have absolutely nothing to do with Albany Assistance they are absolutely useless in fact do not take out legal protection at all because like PPI it is useless. Go to a no win no fee solicitor from the outset or contact the third parties insurance yourself. Do not be afraid to take them to the small claims court to recover your losses it is simpler than you think and you can charge them the court fees too.

When you told ur insurers you wasn't at fault they sold your details to AA and when they rang you after 30 mins they told you because you have legal cover you were passed to us etc... Intact it's all BS just to get you to sign the agreement paper for hire car.

The legal cover you mention of is completely different to AA they will deal with your injuries on a nowinnofee but your legal cover won't take any % from your compensation unlike the ones you mean. Your legal cover can also be included if their is liability dispute etc. basically your legal cover activates if you make a claim on your policy and insist you are not in fault. They will represent you at their expense usually upto £100,000 where there's 50%+ chance of winning.

spytek

I've been involved in a no fault accident recently and Admiral passed me onto this company for them to deal with my claim. I only saw the bad reviews after a damage estimate was done on my car at a garage that Albany recommended.

They have sent out the credit agreement for me to sign but after reading the horror stories on this forum, I havn't signed the paperwork yet. The garage keep contacting me to book my car in for repair and I'm asking them to put it on hold. I've also emailed Albany stating that I would rather deal with the third party directly.

Can I still cancel my claim with Albany and get the third party insurer to deal with everything or is it too late for me to do anything?

dacouch

Have you been provided with a replacement car by Albany?

spytek

Not yet. I was suppose to contact Albany to arrange for the hire car once the garage has given me a date to take my car in for repair. I called Albany yesterday and asked if I could cancel the claim with them and they are saying that I will be liable to pay an engineers fee (£60) as well as the cost of the parts that have been ordered.

I'm thinking of letting Albany continue with the repairs but get the third party to provide a vehicle whilst the car is in for repair once they establish liability. Would Albany/third party agree to this arrangement or will Albany insist that I am in contract with them for the hire car even though I haven't signed anything?

From what I have read, the problems arise from the cost of the credit hire car with Albany charging extortionate amounts and the third party insurer refusing to pay the higher rate and then claimant ends up being chased for the outstanding amount by Albany.

Thanks

loopdaloop

spytek wrote: »

I've been involved in a no fault accident recently and Admiral passed me onto this company for them to deal with my claim. I only saw the bad reviews after a damage estimate was done on my car at a garage that Albany recommended.

They have sent out the credit agreement for me to sign but after reading the horror stories on this forum, I havn't signed the paperwork yet. The garage keep contacting me to book my car in for repair and I'm asking them to put it on hold. I've also emailed Albany stating that I would rather deal with the third party directly.

Can I still cancel my claim with Albany and get the third party insurer to deal with everything or is it too late for me to do anything?

It's not too late, go straight to the third party.
I did that and they paid me off quickly and also paid of the scum that is Albany. Albany will draw out the time for ages so they get more money whilst you wait for your comp. no matter what Albany says,you can do what you want. Admiral actually told me that the third party would be better after I rang to complain about Albany!

Parking_Trouble

loopdaloop wrote: »

It's not too late, go straight to the third party.
I did that and they paid me off quickly and also paid of the scum that is Albany. Albany will draw out the time for ages so they get more money whilst you wait for your comp. no matter what Albany says,you can do what you want. Admiral actually told me that the third party would be better after I rang to complain about Albany!

I assume this is after Admiral have secured their commission from Albany.

loopdaloop

Parking_Trouble wrote: »

I assume this is after Admiral have secured their commission from Albany.

Yes you are right, this was afterwards. In a no-fault accident, everyone should be recommended to go to the other insurer direct in the first instance to see what they will offer.

Parking_Trouble

It seems like a better way to keep overall costs down which should have a positive impact on premiums.