Albany Assistance

Jamiesmum

dacouch wrote: »

The daily rate for that type of vehicle on credit hire is around £50 a day

I just went and checked the document and it says £24.99 under Daily Rental Rates.

captainawsome

Conderned wrote: »

I told them from over a month ago that I wouldn't be able to appear in court on the specific date & the solicitor asked me to return the court statement stating that the case is likely to not even reach court. the bank statement is likely to be with me tomorrow which I was going to submit at court but they are saying that the indemnity has been removed due to lack of co-operation. What is your situation at the moment?

Not as far advanced as yours. They phoned a few weeks back to say they are instructing solicitors and I havnt heard anything since, although it's not unusual to go 2-3months without hearing a thing from them. Initially I wasn't worried but now after reading this I am a bit unsettled. I'm getting married in August and am away for nearly all of it, if a court date falls then I'll be in a bit of bother

EdGasket

dacouch wrote: »

If you assist them and they actually lose the court case, they normally write the money off.

But do they write off the hire car charges too? I don't think so.

captainawsome

I believe dacouch is right. When they called to tell me they had appointed solicitors I questioned what would happen if they lost in court, and the guy on the phone told me that as long as I had fully cooperated they would swallow the cost. under the payment protection insurance that was included when I accepted the online deceleration, it wouldn't cost me anything.

EdGasket

captainawsome wrote: »

under the payment protection insurance that was included when I accepted the online deceleration,

What on earth is that?
I think whatever was said, you have to sign a credit hire agreement which means you pay if they don't recover the hire charges from the third party.

captainawsome

Exact wording from the last email I had from them:-

The Credit Protection Insurance policy that you were provided with at the time of arranging the credit hire services will cover all related costs, providing that you continue to offer your full cooperation in this matter.

This is why I asked on the phone for confirmation. The thing that has me worried now is if they start asking for bank statements etc, one because I don't have them so would have to sort that out and two because I don't know how much was in my bank at the time, and how much they would consider 'enough' to live on and hire a car.

Conderned

Could I not request a new court date as I am still their client & offering full support? For them to decline this offer if they have cancelled the court date is surely a malicious act rather a compassionate, professional view? What grounds would they have to decline a new court date?

captainawsome

Conderned wrote: »

Could I not request a new court date as I am still their client & offering full support? For them to decline this offer if they have cancelled the court date is surely a malicious act rather a compassionate, professional view? What grounds would they have to decline a new court date?

Did you get any paperwork from the courts? Did Albany offer you a chance to rearrange the date or just say "be at court on this date, like it or lump it"?

To be honest it sounds like you would be best ringing Albany and asking them these questions, then ask people's opinions with more information

Epideme

I had an accident where Albany were managing on behalf of Admiral and failed to get witness statements from the provided witnesses in a reasonable time, causing the accident to ultimately be 50/50 liability instead of no fault. However, because it was initially pursued as no fault I did end up without any excess to pay exactly because of the excess insurance.

They then messed around with the 3rd party insurers over the car seats, and wouldn't pursue them to court. I eventually sued Admiral, and the 3rd party insurer, receiving a check from Admiral within a week of the small claims court documentation...

WellKnownSid

Epideme wrote: »

I had an accident where Albany were managing on behalf of Admiral and failed to get witness statements from the provided witnesses in a reasonable time, causing the accident to ultimately be 50/50 liability instead of no fault. However, because it was initially pursued as no fault I did end up without any excess to pay exactly because of the excess insurance.

Sounds a bit like my experience with them about 15 years ago. They were claiming the other party had a "reliable witness" - a solicitor no less, and it was going to go the other party's way.

I had to trace the "witness" myself, eventually found her manning a reception desk (!) at a solicitors office somewhere in Berkshire and also proved that this "solicitor" was also a friend of the third party and also discovered that this reliable witness hadn't even witnessed the accident at all. All very embarrassing really... Oh how we laughed over that one...

You can win these things but people like Albany won't do 'owt - they just shuffle paperwork from one desk to the next, they don't actually get out and check any facts.