Advice following car accident

Megonnie

Hi there, hoping some one can help with a bit of advice, sorry new to this so a bit lengthy.
My husband had a car accident the other evening, someone drove into the back of the car at approx 20/30 mph, and it looks like the car is written off. We're with Churchill insurance and so far so good, they've been very helpful, got a free hire car and thankfully the 3rd party has already admitted liability. The other day I was contacted by Advice Line UK? they knew everything about the accident didn't have to tell them anything and they stated that as there is a possible claim (as it not our fault and my husband has now been signed off work with whiplash) to not go with our insurers solicitors as they would take their fees out of any compensation we may receive - approx £850 +vat, however they suggested that we go with them as they provide a no cost guarentee service and would recover all their costs from the 3rd parties insurance. Has anyone heard of Advice Line UK - can find anything on the internet about them so slightly worried about that, but they were very friendly and not pushy. In addition to this we also had a call from the 3rd parties insurers asking if we would go with them to repair our car, we told them no thanks, very polite as the car had already been taken to a garage for assessing etc and we would be dealing with our own insurance. Since then we since received a letter from them which comes accross as quite threatening stating that we should hire a car through them as it cheaper and by law when hiring a car after an accident everyone should act responsibly to keep the costs down, therefore if the cost of the hire car is more than what they can provide it for it is not responsible and they may refuse to pay - what on earth is that all about?

BertTheRaccoon

There is no reason what so ever for a lawyer to be deducting anything from a client's compensation with a RTA claim with liability admitted.

The people who have called you up are just touting to be honest

The letter from the third party insurers about hire etc is so they can attempt to argue rates with the hire company that have put your bum in the hire car already. I would recommend you pass the letter onto your insurers/ whoever has sorted out the hire car for you already, so they are aware of any possible mitigation arguments that may be raised.

dacouch

The "nice" people from Advice Line UK lied to you about your own Insurers solicitors taking their fees out of any payment you received.

They will work on the same basis as Advice Line UK.

Would you be happy going with a company that would tell you lies.

The fees charged by either solicitors are likely to be considerably more than £850 plus vat and are normally the same as what they can claim is in effect set down in stone.

The person you spoke to almost certainly had no or very little knowledge about claims but were just a tele sales person on good commission

Megonnie

many thanks for the help, this is our first accident so haven;t got a clue how things work. Now just been told by my insurance company that we cannot claim through them as the legal assistance is for me only as the named owner and not my husband (who was driving)- thought it was too good to be true. Anyone recommend as good company to use for a personal injury claim

BertTheRaccoon

Megonnie wrote: »

many thanks for the help, this is our first accident so haven;t got a clue how things work. Now just been told by my insurance company that we cannot claim through them as the legal assistance is for me only as the named owner and not my husband (who was driving)- thought it was too good to be true. Anyone recommend as good company to use for a personal injury claim

That is simply staggering!

Just seek out a personal injury lawyer, rather than going to a claims management company. Look up a local firm that deal with personal injury.

arcon5

Why not write a letter to the third party insurer yourself and see what they offer before instructing a solicitor?

Megonnie

arcon5 wrote: »

Why not write a letter to the third party insurer yourself and see what they offer before instructing a solicitor?

Would that be ok to do? Thought they would have been a bit indignant/offended in this situaton

BertTheRaccoon

Insurers like to deal with third parties directly, but they can't be trusted fully when it comes to giving you a settlement on an injury claim. Odds are they will just want to throw £1500 at you to get rid.

Megonnie

BertTheRaccoon wrote: »

Insurers like to deal with third parties directly, but they can't be trusted fully when it comes to giving you a settlement on an injury claim. Odds are they will just want to throw £1500 at you to get rid.

Just been told that Unison do PI legal claims, and luckily my husband is a member - so I think we'll go through them.

Thanks for all your advice and help on this thread - really appreciated :D

terrylamps

I'm with Churchill and my partner who is a named driver on my policy was involved in a non fault accident just before christmas (other party disputing this though). I was also told the same about the legal cover.

However my partners brother in law who is also a named driver on a policy with churchil was involved in a non fault accident a few weeks ago (other party admitted liabilty) and they were told that they could use the legal cover.

About a month after the accident when my partners neck injury wasn't getting any better we decided to put in a claim for whiplash so i rang Churchill who contacted their prefered solicitor to deal with the injury claim and any out of pocket expenses and we are now dealing with them regarding the injury.

Megonnie

terrylamps wrote: »

I'm with Churchill and my partner who is a named driver on my policy was involved in a non fault accident just before christmas (other party disputing this though). I was also told the same about the legal cover.

However my partners brother in law who is also a named driver on a policy with churchil was involved in a non fault accident a few weeks ago (other party admitted liabilty) and they were told that they could use the legal cover.

About a month after the accident when my partners neck injury wasn't getting any better we decided to put in a claim for whiplash so i rang Churchill who contacted their prefered solicitor to deal with the injury claim and any out of pocket expenses and we are now dealing with them regarding the injury.

OMG I can't belive this! They were adament on the phone that the legal cover was for me only and although my husband is named on the policy it didn't cover him, they said the legal team contacted them today to advise them of it. Should I pursue this, or maybe leave it a few weeks and raise it again?