Hit from behind - opinions please

w50nky

Driving wires car yesterday with wife as passenger. I was stationary at a roundabout for approx 30 seconds. Our car struck from behind by another car. Driver admitted responsibility and I took photos and details.

Car taken to garage for estimate as other driver did not really want to involve insurance but after giving estimate she has decided to go down the insurance route due to cost of approx £1000 - £1200 estimate.

The garage suggested using Albany assist but after googling this company and searching this forum I am not too sure this is a good idea.

Is claiming from her insurers a good idea and straight forward?

Or should I just contact our insurers and let them handle it all as we are fully comp.

Anyone with experience with these possibilities care to share?

Thanks in advance.

mkirkby

I'd go through your own insurance. Less hassle and that's why you pay the premium in the first place.

Yolina

Just bear in mind if you go through your insurance that you'll have to pay them your excess, and once they've recovered all their expenses from the other insurance, they will give you the money back (which can take a few months, depending on how straightforward, or not, things are). On the plus side, they sort everything out for you and are likely to have your car fixed faster than if you contact the other person's insurance.

=booboo=

i was in an accident in June and was put in touch with Albany.

I was recieving an awful lot of calls around the time (insurance firms, legal, recovery etc).

They were appointed by the other parties Insurance co but i hadnt picked up on that and assumed they were with mine.

Anyway, Had no issues with them at all. Car delivered by 8am next morning (had it for a month) and almost no paperwork. All paid up by the other drivers insurance and can recommend them if you do choose to use them.

Shack_attack

I was in an accident a few months ago when someone in a lovely brand new Bentley ploughed into the side of my car out of a side road, safe to say there wasn't as much damage to his as there was to mine!

I contacted my insurance company and they sorted everything out with no problems, he admitted liability and they didn't need to take any money off me for excess as the claim went through in time before the bodyshop sent out the invoice.

They sorted me out a hire car and mine came back in perfect condition after a week or so.

I would advise to let you insurance company sort it out, they will ask for a variety of details to make the process quicker such as their insurance company, policy number etc. Sounds like you have all bases covered in terms of photos and details so the process should be pretty easy.

Yolina

Shack_attack wrote: »

They didn't need to take any money off me for excess as the claim went through in time before the bodyshop sent out the invoice.

That's good, hopefully it will be the same for the OP

Mine got bumped by a BMW at low speed, so only one panel repair and respray needed but it took quite a while for my insurance to recover costs - the other party was driving his brother's company car (UK based) but the car was left-hand drive registered in Germany and insured by a company in Switzerland I think... I most certainly wouldn't have wanted to be dealing with that!

InsideInsurance

Really is your choice.....

1) Go direct with the TPI and assuming liability is admitted, no indemnity queries or such then this is probably the quickest and painless option because everything is agreed and authorised by the company that is ultimately going to foot the bill

2) Go via your insurance and you gain the protection of the Financial Ombudsman however some insurers these days will sell your details to companies like Albany. This route MAY result in you paying your excess and having to claim it back and MAY impact your renewal if it happens before your insurers get their funds back from the TPI.

The other issue with this is a replacement vehicle during repairs. Most insurers only give a group A type vehicle (if anything) and will otherwise pass your details to an ambulance chaser like Albany for credit hire

3) Use ambulance chasers.... you can actually be paid by them to let them take your case on so money in your pocket but then everything is done on credit and they then try to get the money back from the TPI. Obviously there can be disputes and you have to read the terms and conditions about what happens if they cannot recover all of their money from the TPI for whatever reason... most write off the rest unless you have lied or been obstructive, others will look to you to reimburse them.


Personally I would claim direct from the TPI for anything not involving injury

w50nky

Thank you for you replies. Have had to claim In the past for a similar incident so I am familiar with the claims process.

I quite liked the idea of using third parties insurance but have not met anyone who has gone down this route before so was just asking opinions. Was trying to avoid having having to claim via own insurers to avoid any future loadings/penalties that may be incurred (if any).

The scare stories regarding payment by the TPI after they received large claims for car hire by Albany that were rejected by the TPI which then becoming liable for payment by the claimant is what puts me off this route. I was looking for any positive feedback as it were.

Wongsky

w50nky wrote: »

Thank you for you replies. Have had to claim In the past for a similar incident so I am familiar with the claims process.

I quite liked the idea of using third parties insurance but have not met anyone who has gone down this route before so was just asking opinions. Was trying to avoid having having to claim via own insurers to avoid any future loadings/penalties that may be incurred (if any).

It doesn't matter whether you claim off your own or third party insurers - as long as you claim of somebody (whether at fault, or not) your future premiums may be loaded.

Whether you're "at fault" or not (really whether the claim was settled by somebody other than your own insurance), really only has bearing on your NCB

So whether, or not, you claim off purely a third party insurer, if the claim is of any notable amount, it has to be disclosed, and will likely affect future premiums, although your NCB may well be pristine, intact, and then apply to some possibly increased base premium.

Strider590

w50nky wrote: »

approx £1000 - £1200 estimate.

The garage suggested using Albany assist but after googling this company and searching this forum I am not too sure this is a good idea.

What garage did you go to???

No body shop is going recommend Albany, you either went to a dealership or you went to an insurance repair centre/company. In which case that £1000-£1200 is approximately 3x higher than it should be.

Lum

I wouldn't go through my own insurance for this. I've been badly screwed over by this in the past, with an apparently simple case (someone drive into the back of me while I was stopped at a give way line) dragging on for 2 1/2 years after a cheque went missing in the post and was cashed by an opportunist. This turned into a stand-off between the two insurance companies and the garage with each side accusing the others of double dipping.

In the meantime, my no claims bonus went away and at the time the NCB was worth more than the cost of the repairs, so I ended up paying for the repairs myself and not seeing the money back for another two years... with no interest.