Woman crashed into me, urgent help required please.

m1nt

Apologies for this very long post, it will be copy pasted with items redacted for security.
The TLDR:
Women crashed into me, admitted fault at scene, my insurance admiral, informed me to use albany assistance as not my fault and will all be claimed from 3rd party and wont affect my NCB as if I use admiral I have excess to pay and lose this. (Did not inform me this would not happen once 3rd party admits liability, VERY NAUGHTY) Car was picked up same day, taken to a garage they recommended. I receive e-mails, wording looked dodgy £221 vehicle rental prices but these were deferred and therefore not billable to me and in the event they were the credit protection policy covers me. Accepted conditons over e-mail. Received car next day, then call from 3rd party insurance offering courtesy car etc then told them the above. Read terms of albany and now worried the companies will dispute the vehicle rental costs and I want to return the vehicle at about £800 cancellation cost to myself over 2 days and then let the 3rd pary (coop) deal with all this and give me a vehicle where I have safe from extortionate fees etc. I also have intermittent back pain.

Please find further details below!



This e-mail has been sent to helphire and I have forwarded details to my legal services admiral law.

I am aware of no other e-mails so please take this as notice for immediate cancellation of all my services with you.

Cancellation REQUEST IMMEDIATELY! XXXXXXXX

Model Cancellation Form To: Helphire Limited care of Albany Assistance Limited Redmond House, Fern Court, Bracken Hill Business Park, Peterlee, Co. Durham, SR8 2RR 0344 571 9279. Ihereby give notice that I cancel my contract for the supply of the repair finance service, Ordered on 03/06/15 received on 03/06/15, xxxxxxx (s), xxxxxxxxxxx

Summary of incident:
3rd party crashed into my vehicle 10:25 on 03/06/16. They admitted liability.
Informed insurers and they outsources to yourself informing me that if I used my insurance I would have to pay a premium or go through you and not pay anything as everything’s recovered from the 3rd party.
My car was arranged to be picked up (15:00 03/06/16) and taken to my nearest approved garage which you suggested.
I was then told I would receive a courtesy car, informed I would not be out of pocket except the £15 fuel charge which I can claim back through admiral law (separate from admiral my own insurance company) They did mention not to worry about charges where it says deferred as these will be collected from the 3rd party as they are at fault and same with delivery / collection fee £80. They said in the event they can’t claim these costs then I would be protected under your credit protection policy. (Nothing was explained further and I accepted, after all I have done nothing wrong and am the victim here so why should I lose) Meanwhile now struggling back pains and dealing with these issues all day.
I signed the e-mails to confirm I agree your (unreasonable) terms and conditions, (This was due to my car already being received for pickup at 15:00 as I had already initiated the process, signed the documents by e-mail around 19:00 both on 03/06/16.
I receive a replacement vehicle the next day 04/06/15 Audi a3 however after accepting and read the terms and conditions further and realise the completely unreasonable fee of around £227 per day for this hire vehicle. I was informed this would be deferred but then upon reading the small print, if the 3rd party refuse to pay (Which we know they will, (despite the 3rd party being at fault) those costs are extremely unreasonable, when considering they contacted me saying it would cost £21 per day, more on this soon) Although I was previously informed I would not be charged as the 3rd party would pay or I had the credit protection policy offered free, the terms state I am liable throughout this process and if required I will need to go to court to represent and provide evidence/reference/backup albany which I dont have time to do when I consider their costs unreasonable, I do not want to take that chance I will be personally liable for thousands of pounds I know any 3rd party company would dispute.

The 3rd party contacted me around 15:00 05/06/16 asking how I was and if I had a hire vehicle, we had a detailed discussion where I confirmed what had happened and they clarified how it what Albany had proposed was very unreasonable. The 3rd party offered a hire vehicle and mentioned that it would cost them £21 per day so immediately stated it would be unreasonable and would dispute any charges Albany had above this. (Which I agree) I told them I would have accepted a hire car but already done so through Albany and can no longer cancel as they took delivery of my damaged vehicle and I would be out of pocket £15 for fuel fee and £80 for collection as well as now £221 per day vehicle hire. This obviously didnt make financial sense so I informed them I would ask the appropriate questions and get back to them. I even read today in the small print that if I didn’t advise albany the 3rd party company offered me a vehicle then I could be liable for those £221 per day vehicle hire charges as I didnt do everything as per the terms! (completely unreasonable I should know this)

I have read through all pages /terms documentation clearly with a clear head and want to cancel all agreement with Albany/fleet and any other affiliation that has recently been entered into since 03/06/16.

Please do not proceed with any repairs, take your hire vehicle back and cancel all credit and immediately refund all charges from my cards.
I also want to make a complaint about the full process how I have been dealt with and further frustration i have been put through, its 03:34 yes I cant sleep due to the worry and sitting here with back pain and my pride and joy (car) has been damaged through no fault of my own.

I will also be telephoning to confirm this cancellation on 05/06/16.

P.S I have since read you receive commission from admiral for every referral which is why it would make sense I was mis-informed on the telephone to use Albany as it was the best way to go due to not my fault and I wouldn’t lose my excess and a claim wouldn’t be registered against myself.

I plan to obtain a vehicle from the 3rd party so I will be at no risk to pay out any fees and seek legal advice from admiral law on how to proceed in regards to the repair/payout on my vehicle as the 3rd party was at fault.

IMAGES OF DAMAGE
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bmt1b0k5ap1jh67/AABz7m8D0aoBuG6S9TL9hX-5a?dl=0

In the process of cancelling with albany and letting 3rd party deal with vehicle hire and repair costs, should I go through admiral and pay my excess or admiral legal) and I go on holiday 10June for 7 days so this can be a nightmare :@

tacpot12

Your post wasn't clear enough to confirm this but it sounds like you gave selected and hired a claims management company rather than go through your own or the third party's insurers, and now wish to cancel your contract with them. This should be possible given that the costs to you were not explained and you asked to cancel immediately these became known, but you may have to pay their costs that they have incurred to date.

You have a duty to minimise your loses, which you are clearly trying to do. So you will have keep on at Albany to cancel their contact.

You might be able to contact the repair garage and appoint them direct to work for you. You want your car repairing, but will have to pay them to do this and claim the money back from the third party - which is why we have comprehensive insurance!

The information that the excess is recoverable from the third party should have been told to you by Admiral, so you have a valid cause for complaint to Admiral, but this information is widely available.

m1nt

That is correct, I rang admiral and they said it was best to use this 3rd party as I wasnt at fault.

I do have comp insurance so will that mean its best to use my own cover with admiral paying my excess or should I claim through the 3rd party coop.

Thanks.

daveyjp

If third party insurance company has accepted 100% liability go through them.

Keep Admiral and their parasite company Albany as far away from this as you can.

Quentin

Bear in mind that you do look to have agreed their terms when first getting the replacement car and on cancelling your arrangement could be liable for all charges and their costs up to cancelling

m1nt

Update - cancelled with albany and arranged to have their hire vehicle returned. Raised a complaint with them and admiral regarding the mis-information. (Albany have informed me I will be due the fees £220 + 80 + 15 + 60 lol :S as I cancelled with them, admiral legal have refused to pay towards any of these fees as I cancelled the policy...) - will refer this to the 3rd party coop.
Admiral legal seem to be useless.

*Although my back hurtts and its a pain / inconvenience, can I additionally claim for this or would it be fruitless and should I use another company besides admiral legal?


Next step is to contact coop (3rd party) and claim through them for vehicle repair/hire car but they arent open until Monday.

Quentin

The charges you have from Albany are your responsibility and not anything to do with the third party.


So go gently when asking them to reimburse you, as if they do it will be a "goodwill gesture" rather than your "right".


You can instruct any solicitor you want to deal with your injury compensation claim (that is an uninsured loss and nothing to do with Albany (or Admiral) unless you want them to act for you or provide legal help under their "legal cover" you get "free" with your Admiral policy

m1nt

OK thanks, is it worth mentioning that I have done this to reduce the costs for the 3rd party so therefore would like to them pay this as gesture of goodwill. (This was the main reason why I cancelled because I just want it settled and sorted)

As I get free legal cover with admiral, is there any benefit/negatives about using them for my potential injury/compensation claim?

Quentin

Maybe a better main reason you did it was following the phone call you had with the Co-op persuading you to ditch Albany!!


Read up the ts + cs as there may be a benefit in using your legal cover over fees.


no win no fee firms are entitled to 25% of your compensation if they are successful, whereas your legal cover may charge you no fees at all (win or lose)

m1nt

Awesome, thanks for the great advice wish I had of came on here immediately. Next time I will, was simply worried about the other party not admitting liability etc.

m1nt

What do I need to look for in body repair shops? I'm assuming the 3rd party will let me pick where I want my vehicle to go so what do I need to consider?