Car Insurance - Without Drive Assist!

izzy13

Oh dear I thought we were the only ones who had problems with this lot! i dod not know where to start, but here it is.

NoMy husband was involved in an accident which was not his fault, they gave us a hire car which cost £281 + vat per day and went off to repair the car which has a market value of approx £6995 upwards for the condition and spec. OK they decided to write the car of offering £4810 less the scrap value of £1433 and a cheque for the remainder would be issued. we did not accept this and were asked to submit evidence to support or claim which we did, they refuse to budged and have valued our car on the lower spec model a 4lt engine not the 4.4 which is in our car and has been fully rebuilt (we bought the car to keep not scrap) We have complained to the FSA and to drive assist and to IMS the engineers.
We have been sent a cheque for the amount they valued the car less the scrap value at as an interim payment however they still refuse to budge.

1, The car is under valued
2, We offered to send back the hire car which by the time they took it back, after we complained cost the third party nearly £15,000 (the hire car was provided by Drive Assist nice little earner)
3, We only asked them to settle for the full amount of £4810 and we would have been happy.

Drive assist need the claim settled but IMS are asking for the paperwork, drive assist said we should not worry about the cost of the hire car as it was not being paid by us but by the third party, we were first told the third party did not know what we had been offered but then the story changed to it being them who decided the valuation? confused? we are.

We now need to go back to the FSA as that is the next step, we will take it to watch dog as I think these lot need to be exposed.

Seems they win, i am without a car through no fault of my own surely we are entitled to be back in the same position as we were prior to the accident?
And if you buy a 2.5 engine in a car with a higher spec should you accept a 2 engine with a lower spec as a replacement as there is apparently no difference?

izzy13

I Am also with S Wheels, they just sent me back to talk to DA, maybe they need to be on Watch Dog again? I am sick to the back teeth of trying to get a fair price for my car so as I can try and repair it and get it back on the road

izzy13

dacouch wrote: »

Da now days often don't make you liable if the third party does not pay unless you do not help them where needed in the recovery or if you miss lead them about the circumstances of the claim. The paperwork you sign must make you liable for the costs for them to be able to recover them.

They often have a seperate insurance policy to make you exempt except for the above circumstances or they give a separate undertaking again excluding the above circumstances.

I suspect DA are just trying to scare you as they are losing out on a lot of over priced hire car.

The chances are the other Insurer will pay it, if not you could always put a complaint into DA (They often back down with a well worded complaint)

They charged us £281 + VAT a day which we had for 45 odd days! who got that money DA did :mad: SW insurance provide a policy to settle the credit agreement with DA should they not be able to recover the cost from the third party. the third party had no idea

StuieUK34

thank god i dealt with my own claim last April when someone rear ended me, seems i saved myself lots of hassle!!
At least we know its DriveAssist banging up premuims, and not the drivers!

izzy13

StuieUK34 wrote: »

thank god i dealt with my own claim last April when someone rear ended me, seems i saved myself lots of hassle!!
At least we know its DriveAssist banging up premuims, and not the drivers!

That is why they need to be stopped, they are just adding to the nightmare and they are the only ones who win

Ms77

I have collected a hire car arranged by Drivers assist in a pitch black condition hence was unable to inspect the car. I was rushed to signed all of the paper work in the office before even laying an eye on the car.

I have returned the car with no problems but a month later I was charged £85 by Drivers Assist for damage to the passenger alloy wheel.

My bank returned unpaid DD and SO because of this is fraudulent charge and charged me £30.

Thank God the previous hirer left their rental agreement form to find with the dame clearly marked on her pre rental form.


Drivers assist since refunded the £85 but refused to pay the £30 bank charges.


*********This is the respond i got when I asked them to refund the bank charges****


Dear Ms ****

You advised us that you would be out of the country until 26th December 2011. Payment was not taken until 3rd January 2012 so youhad more than enough time to contact us to dispute the charge.

As advised previously, we will not be refunding your bank charges. Any legal proceedings will be defended.

Kind regards

Credit Control
Drive Assist UK Ltd

citylife

OMG I'm another complainant having trouble with Drive Assist.

MrCourteous is right, avoid dealing with them the stress is too MUCH.

Last year (Oct) a driver hit behind my car while I was at stationary. I contacted Sheila's Wheels and they said I was under Esure....?? ok...then they put me throught to Drive Assist to make arrangements for a courtesy car while my own car is being repaired. They said I have to give them my card details so they can take out a £1 from it....(no card details no car)

I asked for a similar model and make of my own car, they said didn't had any small cars in the depot so was bringing a large 5 door black, 16v hydauni, it was raining when the driver bought it..... the driver invited me to sit in the car while he completed the paper work on his hand held electronic device. No mention of scuffs/chips/scratches to the car or consequences if the car is damage in my possession. No guidelines were followed either. Also I was not invited by the driver to inspect the car extermally. When I mentioned this to him he advised that there was no point because it was raining outside, so instead he pull up the drawing of the car on his PDA/device were all the damages were located. He wasn't explaining clearly or fully, the other driver waiting to take him back started to rush him by beeping the horn. Feeling under duress with the beeping, the driver pulled up the agreement on his device got me to signed quickly.
Two weeks passed my car was still was not ready for collection and then I had to go away on a trip which was already booked before my accident happened. I contacted Drive Assist asking them to collect the car, they agreed to collect while I was away, getting the keys from a relative.who would be at my house waiting for them.
A few weeks later I received an invoice of £400 but no explanation what it was for. Next £400 was debited from my visa direct debit card!!! i contacted my bank to find out where the £400 went, and discovering that it went to Drive Assist, I called them to find out why, they said there were damages to the courtesy car, and they gave me a long list of what the damages were!!!
I disputed this (and also the driver collecting the car did not point out the damages to my relative) and requested evidence. They sent nothing other then a diagram of the car pinpointing the damages from the hand held electronic device the driver used and the damages were namely scuffs/scratches....They also sent a breakdown of the cost of how it came to £400. The cost was originally at £800 but they crossed out 2 alleged damages writing "no charge" next to it.....hmm a little fishy, bringing the cost down to £400!!! ( and the repair to my car came to £900..... ..... ). I rang Sheila's Wheels complaining about them since they were the ones who put me through to them, They said I have to deal with them directly. OMG , I've been a good customer with them for years and this is how I am being treated???
I noticed closely on the diagram , the new "alleged" damages were all located so close to all the existing damages that was there before the car was delivered to me and I know I did not damage the car so basically they were charging me £400 for their damages which their driver(s) fail collect these points on their PDA before they delivered the car to me. The whole thing is making me enraged, stressed and ill, and I am in a serious financial arrear because Im overdrawn. I have already sent a dispute letter asking them to reimbursed and refund my money , they are now investigating which is going to take 28 days before they get back to me. So this company was in watchdog programme before?? Surely they need to put on a programme called "RIP off Britain"?

hpuse

Wonder why companies like these are allowed to continue rip-off.

Blame it on the regulators.. I think the sole reason why companies like them exist is because of the complex way the insurance industry has designed the 'claims processing' for third party non-fault accidents.

Drivers also are totally unaware that they can self-manage a third party claim without the need of such companies if the accident is of non-fault of their's.

Just copy-pasting from another thread - if the accident is no-fault of your , no need of Drive Assist, just do the following simple steps below.

<< Case Assumptions:
1) This is a non-fault accident of yours and you have already spoken to the other vehicles driver.
2) The other vehicle's driver has admitted his/her fault to you verbally and you have obtained the following

a) his/her details personal details - Full name & Contact number
b) his/her insurance company details - Name/contact number
c) his/her policy details (not neccessary, but if you have it helps)

3) If the driver did not stop after the accident/incident, then it is a different case, you should inform the police first before contacting your own insurance company! >>

Step 0) Prepare a small (2-3 sentence maximum) write up as a summary of the incident. If there was any witness(es), add their contact name & details. This will become handy when you speak to the insurance company over the phone.

Step 1) Contact the Third party's insurance company and tell them you are a third party and want to make make a third party claim on the <v-reg> no.
For this, obviously you need the other vehicle' registration no:, driver name and his/her contact number. If you do not provide personal details of the driver to the TP company expect a slight delay in step 3. This is normal.

Step 2) Note down the claim reference no:

Step 3) Allow/give the company 48 hrs - if you do not provide driver details as in step 1, this will take more time- roughly 2/3 weeks. Again this is normal as they have to write to their customer.

Step 4) Contact the TP insurance company after 48 hrs (or after 2/3 weeks if you did not provide driver details) and ask them about the courtsey replacement car and accident repair company details. Some companies very promptly call you back rather than you having to contact them. Ask them about dates and repair details and courtsey/replacement car option. Note down these details and dates

Step 5 ) Collection and rental arrangement:
This step differs amongst various insurance companies.

Case1: If your own car is in your possesion: Some insurers arrange repair collection and a courtsey car at the same time using a single accident repair company. Some insurers arrange a rental car through a car rental company first (for e.g Avis, Enterprise etc) and repair through another company. In such cases, the car hire companies will normally give you a call advising you that your courtsey car has been arranged. The accident repair company will give a call separately discussing you the best time/location for the collection of your car. Make sure you already have the rental car before agreeing a collection date/time with the repair company.

case 2 : if the car is not in your possesion( for e.g in a garage) then you have two option:

a) Authorise the accident repair company to collect the car from the garage (For this you have to send a letter/fax writing the claims ref no and giving them the authority to collect) OR

b) Approve the same garage where the car is currently held to carry out repair work. Before you do this, make sure the garage is authorised to carry accident repair works. Call the third party company and tell them that you are arranging your own repair. You have to give the garage the claims reference no: obtained in step 2. The garage will then talk to the third pary insurance company arrange and receive works authorisation and charge the cost back to the repair. You normally do not have to pay anything.

step 6) Accident repair company delivers the repaired car. If you arranged repair via your own garage, you will have to go to the garage and pick the car yourself after the work is completed.

Step 7) Drive the courtsey car till your car is ready after repair.
Step 8) Call the rental company and arrange the return the courtsey rental car.

If someone can do the above simple steps - there is no need of Drive Assist company. Simple. Period.

jnd6058lod

I rang my insurer, Post Office ins yesterday, after a neighbour revered into my car. My neighbour admitted liability and provided me with their insurance details. I rang post office insurance out of courtesy to notify them, and then ensued a 90 minute call, wher I passed to "Drive Assist", told my car would be collected on Monday by an approved repairer, and a courtesy car despatched Monday afternoon. When I asked if this would be a claim against my insurance they said "No. we'll recover the costs from the 3rd oparties insurance". Having read all this stuff about Drive assist I'm not sure what to do for the best now?? Anyone got any suggestions? Am I entitled to take my car to another garage, should I contact the 3rd parties insurance company direct? Any advice welcome, cheers J

dacouch

Try ringing your neighboors Insurers, you have nothing to lose