Car Insurance - Without Drive Assist!

dacouch

Mojo21 thanks for your post, you can inform the FSA annoymously of any problems at DA using this email address whistle@fsa.gov.uk

Please take the time to send an email as it will be of benefit to all of Drive Assists Customers.

P.S Could you ask Stevie19UK to come back and chat to us (He is the CEO of Drive Assist and when people had the cheek to point out his posts were rubbish he threw his toys out of his pram).

jodiepoop

hey my problem is similar to everyone else but still some advice would really be appreciatedd

last november my dad was parked outside of his workplace in a private car park when someone reversed into his car...the other driver claimed full liability and informed his insurance company. This insurance company put Drive Assist in touch with my dad where he was told that his car would be sent to an approved bodyshop and he would recieve a courtesy car, my dad told his insurance company what was happening and all seemed ok. so the courtesy car turned up and everything was going ok, except repairs were taking longer than expected (2 weeks total just to replace a rear wing), the courtesy car went back and all seemed over untill today (July, 7 months after the courtesy car was returned!!!) when my dad recieved a phone call from drive assist saying that they were having to take the other party's insurance company to county court as they were having trouble recovering costs and that it may end up that my dad will have to pay for 2 weeks of a courtesy car which he could have easily done without and only had as was under the impression that the other party's insurance company was paying....it all seems slightly well planned that the insurance company who put forward drive assist now won't pay and that basic repairs took such a long time (and in a garage 20 miles away when there were much closer places!)
does my dad have any ground to stand on or can they just do this??? at the moment his opinion is that he should go and set fire to the bloke that reversed into his car, but there much be a more productive option available...if not this is going to be very costly, much more than my dad's car was worth in the first place.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Hmmm not surprised by this lot, I come across drive assist at work. I also have experience of them from when my mum had a crdit hire vehicle supplied. they gave her a complete load of bs about how she wouldn't have to pay for the car despite her telling them that the hire company was not like for like but better than hers and that she has access to another vehicle and doesn't actually need a car.

When I explained to her that these were all grounds for a defendant insurer to refuse to pay credit hire charges in full she was horrified and asked them to take the car back, they wouldn't and continued to lie to her to try to get her to sign the credit hire agreement. In the end she never signed any paperwork and she kept the car until hers was ready - so i'm guessing they'll have some trouble recovering the hire charges there!!!

Keep up the good work against drive assist, they are a scourge that push up the cost of claims and consequently premiums.

dacouch

Jodie have a read of the entire thread or have a look at Honest Johns website as there are extensive threads about DA and credit hire

andygb

I would like to know if it is worth starting a kind of "heads up" thread, to let people know which car insurance companies DO NOT deal with DriveAssist.
KatP, you are so right about this having a negative effect on premiums, and in a case where the other side admit complete liability, you come away out of pocket - that can't be right?
All I know, is that I am dumping Direct Line in August, because I already have a quote which is £80 cheaper than this year's premium. I can't wait.

Crowmanuk

Well i've just had another letter from drive assist, they've now inspected the car and the damage wasnt as bad as they thought it was so theyre dropping the claim against me, wonder if its cos I stuck to my guns and got the fsa involved?
8 months of worry, and for what? Sod all! They still think I did the damage though which i'm not happy about but you're right about the delivery/pickup. I wasnt shown any damage on delivery, just to have a look round the car to see if I could spot any, and on collection 2 guys spent 15 minutes going over the car and they still messed it up.
Absolute joke!

clare123456_2

Drive Assist are giving me nightmares. After a car accident in April 2009, the RAC picked up my car and the next day Drive Assist were on the phone offering me a free hire car whilst mine was off the road. The reason it was free was because 'the accident wasn't my fault'. Surprised that they already had this knowledge I asked for confirmation that there would be no cost to myself. The caller asked for the Police Station details and allegedly called them. [the Police were on the scene after the accident].Two hours later the same operator called to say that everything was confirmed as not my fault and the hire car would be with me shortly.

The first thing that struck me was the extreme length of time the delivery driver took as he poured over every minute scratch on the car. Having used several hire cars in the past I could not help notice the extraordinary amount of time taken over this.

I felt uneasy with the company as their manner was cheery on the phone, yet in writing litigious. Possessing Jekyll and Hyde traits.
After a month the hire car went back. I was relieved as I felt uneasy parking it and driving it for fear of it being scratched.
Four and a half months later a letter drops on my doorstep with a tale of how they are unable to get the other party's insurance to pay the charges as they are claiming the accident was my fault. [Unfortunately the police in my region only keep the witness statements for a couple of days if no one is hurt, they then have to shred them -I wish I'd have known I would have taken my own!] The other party has admitted going through amber [I know red] the insurance companies seem to have agreed a 50/50 split as they have no access to witnesses.

This leaves Drive Assist trying to strong arm me for the hire cost and how interestingly and clumsily they try.
I have a letter saying words to the effect of we want to get to the truth so please help us by signing this statement. Yet the 'Statement of Truth' is actually a disclaimer that they want me to sign saying I acknowledge responsibility for all charges, that I signed the electronic handheld voluntarily and concur that I had entered into a credit hire agreement.
To say the least I am disgusted with the tactics of this company. I have no idea of the amount outstanding as I signed on the basis of no cost to me! It's their misfortune if they can't recover at their end. If their case was so water tight why do I need to re-sign [if apparently I had already agreed] another piece of paper and why are they attempting to dupe me into thinking that by signing this we will get to the truth with the other party!
It strikes me they wouldn't know the truth if it hit them between the eyes.
I cannot express how annoyed I am with this outfit. I am also shocked at the RAC's involvement. It was the association of the RAC that invoked my initial greeting of trust.
Has anyone had a similar scenario where they can't recover and hound the customer? If so how did you handle it? I can promise they will not get a single penny from me.

P.S. It's rare that I would post on a forum but I feel strongly that people should be made aware of the unsavoury tactics adopted by this outfit.

Crowmanuk

I'm sure when I got my phone call they also told me that there would be no charges at all, also that in the unlikely event that it looked as though the other persons insurance wouldnt cough up that they would just come and collect the car, still with no charges. Ask them to listen to the telephone call from when they initially made contact as that would confirm that their company verbally agreed that no charges would be made to you, bet they cant find any records of it though. If it was in their favour they'd soon find it.

CaptainHaZ

clare123456 wrote: »

I am also shocked at the RAC's involvement. It was the association of the RAC that invoked my initial greeting of trust.

Sorry, feel the need to stick up for my employer. Drive Assist and RAC have no connection whatsoever. Drive Assist are used by insurance companies to arrange courtesy cars at what they refer to as 'preferential rates'. Simlarly insurance companies use RAC to recover vehicle after accidents. Both companies sometimes work for the same insurer, biggest one is Aviva but also Budget group.

clare123456_2

Well this makes it even more interesting if RAC officially didn't give Drive Assist my details then how did they get them? They were not asked to contact me from my insurers. However they said that they did have an agreement with my insurers [Co-op]. The operators opening line was 'we've been asked to contact you from the RAC as you've had an accident.....'. I would love to have a copy of the telephone conversation. Is this at all possible?