Albany Assistance - Steer clear

andrewmp

Albany Assistance are part of the Helphire Group since Albany ULR were sold to Helphire.

They were previously known as NORMA (The Northern Motorists' Association).

Auxillis

Both Albany Assistance Limited and Helphire Limited (formally Helphire Group plc) are part of Redde plc.

Kind Regards,

Albany Assistance Online Team

Cornucopia

Once again, can I ask for a statement from Albany on the alleged inflation of courtesy car costs?

Quentin

You are wasting your time.


They don't do courtesy cars!


They supply hire cars which are provided on a credit basis.


All legal, above board and the prices regulated. They are entitled to set their charges how they want to.


If they inflate their charges they don't get paid and the charge gets disputed (in court if necessary)


(Though if you read up on Albany here and across the net you may decide they are one company to think twice about before signing up with them!)

Cornucopia

Okay, so putting it another way: if I have to make a claim on my insurance, what would Albany say to persuade me that I should use them in resolving my claim, when my natural instinct is not to?

Quentin

Cornucopia wrote: »

Okay, so putting it another way: if I have to make a claim on my insurance, what would Albany say to persuade me that I should use them in resolving my claim, when my natural instinct is not to?

There are advantages to you in not claiming off your own policy assuming liability is clear cut.

So Albany would quote those.

Though whether you would choose them to act for you is a different matter!

owlet

My insurer put me onto Albany after a no fault claim a couple of months ago. I agreed to their choice of repairer but after seeing the pages & pages of bumph about the hire car, I cancelled it (before signing).
The repair was only going to take a couple of days, so I decided to go without. After reading online, I'm glad I did!

abandonded

abandonded wrote: »

....
Why do insurance companies put clients through so much worry and uncertainty? We have decided that when our insurances are up for renewal later this year we will opt for a company that doesn't make a drama out of a crisis by steering them to Albany Assistance because that is what our present insurer, knowingly or otherwise, has done.

..........and I think that I've just found such a company! My wife got a text today asking her to contact an 0800(free) number. I phoned the number and got the sort of service that we expected from our own insurance. Roughly, it went like this:

"Hi. Just to let you know that our client has accepted responsibility and that we will arrange for one of our repairers to carry out all the work involved at absolutely no cost to yourself and of course your no claims bonus will remain intact. We will also arrange for the supply of a courtesy car for the duration of the repair again at no cost to you. We will get things moving immediately and if there is anything else we can help you with just phone this freephone number again".After a few more niceties the call ended.
Now that's what I call service!!!

londonTiger

my non-fault accident was dealt with by albany assistance. Their recommended garage used cheaper non-oem parts. The panel they fitted sounds noticably more tinny and hollow compared to the factory fitted panel on the opposite side.

dacouch

londonTiger wrote: »

my non-fault accident was dealt with by albany assistance. Their recommended garage used cheaper non-oem parts. The panel they fitted sounds noticably more tinny and hollow compared to the factory fitted panel on the opposite side.

Albany Assistance made about 5% of the garage's bill.

Garage's are aloud to sign up as an authorised garage provided they agree to pay Albany a percentage of the final repair invoice