Albany Assistant. Before too deep?

NineFiftyThree

Hello,

I'm starting this thread as my query doesn't appear to be answered after having a quick glance through other peoples' issues.
So apologies if this has been covered previously, and thanks in advance for any assistance.
I have a non-fault claim. I believe that the other driver admitted fault to their insurance company.
I'm insured with Admiral and they put me through to the Albany people today who have accepted to kick off the repair to my vehicle. Luckily, being the weekend, the ball hasn't rolled much further yet.
My biggest concern is the 'HelpHire' I felt I had no other option but to agree
to get their "Help". After seeing reviews of them and their service it seems scary that I accepted this 'HelpHire" agreement. The other driver's insurers phoned me to arrange repair to my car, but I said that Albany have now taken the lead on it.
I'm hoping this is where I can get advice.
Should I tell Albany & HelpHire that I do not require their help?
Albany have already given the details of the repair shop that is manufacturer approved to not invalidate my warranty with them. Will the third parties insurer uphold the same level of repair?
I don't want to end up being accountable for any shortfall whereby the other driver's insurers cap costs and do not pay the bills they receive in full.

Many thanks.

NineFiftyThree

Sally_A

Very sensible of you in my opinion. If you go down the credit hire/credit repair route, you could end up get stung if the claim goes 50/50.

Who is the Third Party insured with? you can phone them and see if their insured has admitted liability. If you let them take control of the claim, ask about your rights if you feel the repair is not up to scratch. Another plus point is you will probably not have to fork out your excess up front, and they will bend over backwards to get you in a similar vehicle, rather than you upgrading on a credit hire arrangement.

Many of the better known quality insurers would rather take control of the third party (i.e. you) claims, as this can reduce total payouts by 2/3rds. Also, if you are seen to be a reasonable non fault party they will be more reasonable with your settlement.

NineFiftyThree

Thank you for your reply. I believe they have taken liability and are insured with Allianz. The other thing was if I go with Albany they want £15 to have the courtesy car where I drop my car off.
Can't phone their insurer until Monday to confirm. Would they also be more helpful with collection of my car instead of me dropping it off to a garage.

NineFiftyThree

Also was it wrong for Admiral to give me the ultimatum that either is use Albany or claim on my insurance where the third undisclosed option is to let the third party repair my car?

Quentin

Not "wrong" - they offered you an alternative to making a claim (saving you having to pay your excess then await the claim being concluded before you could reclaim it and temporary loss of any unprotected NCD)

eddddy

NineFiftyThree wrote: »

Albany have already given the details of the repair shop that is manufacturer approved to not invalidate my warranty with them. Will the third parties insurer uphold the same level of repair?
I don't want to end up being accountable for any shortfall whereby the other driver's insurers cap costs and do not pay the bills they receive in full.

Select your own repairer, if you want - i.e. a main dealer for your car. If the car is drivable, take it to get a quote and pass all the details to the 3rd party insurer. The insurer will probably contact the repairer direct and arrange to pay direct etc.

NineFiftyThree wrote: »

The other thing was if I go with Albany they want £15 to have the courtesy car where I drop my car off.
Can't phone their insurer until Monday to confirm. Would they also be more helpful with collection of my car instead of me dropping it off to a garage.

Tell the repairer you want your car collected from your home/workplace for repair. Tell the insurer you want the hire car delivered to your home/workplace, and collected from the repairer afterwards.

I've had claims dealt with by 3rd party insurers a couple of times - and they've happily done all of the above.

Auxillis

Hello NineFiftyThree,

Just to clarify comments posted on this thread. All non-fault customers using our services are insured against being held liable for the hire and/or repair costs, and any legal costs where the third party insurer does not settle the bill. In our case we also have agreements in place with the vast majority of insurers to ensure cases are settled on agreed terms. There are circumstances where the policy can be voided by the non-fault driver, for example if they have provided false/misleading information or are not willing to co-operate in defending a case.

You are covered by this insurance which would protect you in this rare situation. If you would like to discuss this in more detail please contact us directly by emailing onlineteam@albanyassistance.co.uk

Kind Regards,

Albany Assistance Online Team

eddddy

Hello albanyassistance

Based on many posts on MSE, this seems to be a big problem for some people that use your services:

albanyassistance wrote: »

There are circumstances where the policy can be voided by the non-fault driver, for example if they ... are not willing to co-operate in defending a case.

My understanding of the posts is that you claim very high car hire rates from 3rd party insurers, so that 3rd party insurers sometimes challenge your claim - so your customers are dragged into appearing court cases, to justify your high car hire rates.

For example:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3383482
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4939442
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3957327

Is my understanding correct?

In this thread, would you agree that if the 3rd party accepts liability, and the 3rd party insurer agrees to arrange a hire car (instead of Albany Assistance) - there is no risk of NineFiftyThree being dragged into a court case of this kind?

laurawilliams500

I know I'm late to the party, and hopefully you're getting this sorted now, but for what it's worth I wanted to add my two-penneth as I was in a similiar position last August and couldn't seem to find ANY positive reviews about Albany Assistance! Granted I didn't take a hire car because I had the use of my partners, but Albany Assistance sorted the repair of my car and ultimately settled my claim satisfactorily. It took a while because the TPI weren't replying initially but they sorted it. I'd say if you've gone with Albany the quickest way to get a response is to Tweet them... That's what I found as emails were not always responded too.

Hope you get it sorted x

Martin1883

I have recently had an car accident for which I felt the 3rd party was to blame, for cutting across a roundabout, which caused fairly minor damage to both cars, but they were both still driveable. On contacting Admiral, we were pointed in the direction of Albany and subsequently signed their contract as we believed the fault was that of the 3rd party and Albany agreed, based on the description of the incident. Subsequently, after our car was repaired and returned, Admiral contacted us to say that the 3rd party were now claiming it was my fault and they wouldn't accept liability or may look at 50-50 but Admiral would still fight my cause. We have now been contacted by Admiral, who say the 3rd party is denying all liability, so do we want to admit liability or fight this in court? We want to know the implications of both options, from Admiral and Albany? FYI - there were no witnesses for either side.

Auxillis

Hi Martin1883,

Would you be able to email onlineteam@albanyassistance.co.uk with your reference number so that we can identify your claim and arrange for a member of our team to contact you directly to discuss.

Kind Regards.

Albany Assistance Online Team