Not at fault car accident - Auxillis

mirene

After many years of driving this is the first time I've ever been involved in an accident and had to make a claim, so the whole process was new to me.
I rang my insurer, Admiral, who took some details and stated it was a no fault claim and I could claim through them or through their accident management company, Auxillis. They made the option to go with Auxillis more attractive as I would not have to pay my excess, my no-claims would not be affected and they could provide a vehicle similar to mine whereas the insurance wouldn’t match my car specification.
My initial inclination was to go with my own insurance figuring they would be acting in my best interest. I asked Admiral to explain the difference and if I would be worst off if going with Auxillis and the explanation was again the same, with no mention I would lose my rights if something went wrong. However I was told the decision was mine.
The following day I had a text from the other party's insurance company offering to arrange for the repairs and a replacement car. I called Auxillis and Admiral to let them know. Admiral told me if I decided to go with the third party insurance they would not be able to do anything if something went wrong whereas I could always come back to them if there was an issue with Auxillis. So after much hesitation I decided to go with Auxillis, always thinking my car would be repaired.
Auxillis arranged for a hire car next day and also for my car to be collected (although it could be driven) and taken to a local repair place, who quoted £7100 for the repairs (seemed very over-inflated to me, looking at the damage). Due to the high repair cost, it's been decided the car will be declared a total loss, Category N, non-structural, just cosmetic.
Auxillis have used an independent engineer, Acorn Assessors, who have deemed my car a write off. They have valued the car at £4.1k, which seems to be a bit low from what I can see looking on Autotrader, Parkers and other valuation sites and have offered me £3.6k from Auxillis, + an additional £500 from the salvage agent.
Acorn Assessors say there is no move on their valuation and that they use Glass's guide to value the car, which is not available to the consumer. They also refused to provide an engineer’s report stating that this is only done once I have agreed a valuation.
If I had known about the ombudsman protection with your own insurer and the bad press about Auxillis I would have done things differently. Unfortunately, when you start the claim process you assume the insurer is looking after you. When the accident has just happened you are not thinking about researching all the options and making a considered decision, you just think ring the insurer, that’s what they are here for and trust implicitly their advice.
I really don't know what to do. I feel this valuation is very unfair and that I would be unable to get back onto the road with the money offered. Furthermore, having read about Auxillis online - they don't have the best reputation and I am concerned that I may be liable to pay for the hire car that they have provided although Auxillis have said that if the 3rd party insurance does not pay up they will take a liability insurance on my behalf for free which will protect me against any charges.
I am also concerned if I agree to take their offer they would take ages to pay up.
My questions are:
1 - Can I go back to Admiral without being liable for any of the costs incurred so far by Auxillis?
2 – Can I contact the third party insurance or at this stage is too late?
3 - Is the write off of the car definite or could Admiral have a different view?
All very, very stressful specially for something that wasn’t my fault.
Any help much appreciated!!

lisyloo

Autotrader shows asking prices not selling prices.

Didn’t admiral say you could go back to them if you had issues with auxilis?
Have you done that?
What did admiral say?

Presumably you signed an agreement with auxilis when the hire car was dropped off?

mirene

Yes, Admiral said if something went wrong I could go back to them. I interpreted this as if something went wrong with the repair of the car. I am trying to gather as much information as possible before calling Admiral today.
With Auxillis they sent the documentation to their online portal, which I agreed to after checking with both, Admiral and Auxillis that I wouldn’t have to paid anything apart from £60 as insurance in case I have an accident with the hire car. But after reading all the comments about Auxillis I’m quite concerned. Also I don’t know where I stand with Auxillis if I go back to Admiral now.
I thought it would be a straight case of repairing the car and getting the third party insurance to bear the costs as a no fault accident. Stressful way to learn!

dacouch

Auxillis will have this thread removed

Just saying

Sarahb87

I’m new to the forum , looking to see if I can get any advice. Will try cut this short. My parked car was hit and damaged on 3rd of August 2019. The woman driving the other car took full responsibility . I called my insurance and gave them all her details, I was told I had 2 options, claim my own insurance and loose no claims and pay excess or claim on her insurance and not pay a thing. I obv opted for the second option. I was given a hire car 2 days later ... great as I need the car for work and kids. Fast forward to today and guess what I still don’t have my car back. Apparently when they put the car onto the geometry test it came back that the car was not satisfactory to drive. The have sent it to 3 different garages and now had 3 axels as they claim it was a batch of faulty axels. I am waiting to hear back tomorrow to see if this final axel has fixed the problem. My issue is with the hire car I was given. Not at any point did anyone talk over the terms and conditions, I was asked to sign a new extended lease form as I have had the car for almost 4 months. on reading the document it states the daily hire car charges are £144.00 per day. I couldn’t believe what I read then towards the end it explains that I am responsible for the cost of the hire charges should the insurance company refuse to pay. Calculating 4 months of hire car is £16,500 . I called my accidents management company and told them I was not happy that if the other woman’s insurance doesn’t pay the hire charges then I am left liable. She told me that if I wanted to hand the car back then I could but I obv wouldn’t have a car to get to work or I could hold on tight and it would all be sorted. I’m freaking out at the thought of possibly being held liable for this not to mention the fact my car after 4 months still isn’t fixed. I don’t know what to do. Any advice would be appreciated .

Sarahb87

I happily have mention the claims management company I was put through to was accident exchange and the other drivers insurance company is aviva.

Sarahb87

I happily have mention the claims management company I was put through to was accident exchange and the other drivers insurance company is aviva.

lisyloo

mirene wrote: »

Yes, Admiral said if something went wrong I could go back to them. I interpreted this as if something went wrong with the repair of the car. I am trying to gather as much information as possible before calling Admiral today.
With Auxillis they sent the documentation to their online portal, which I agreed to after checking with both, Admiral and Auxillis that I wouldn’t have to paid anything apart from £60 as insurance in case I have an accident with the hire car. But after reading all the comments about Auxillis I’m quite concerned. Also I don’t know where I stand with Auxillis if I go back to Admiral now.
I thought it would be a straight case of repairing the car and getting the third party insurance to bear the costs as a no fault accident. Stressful way to learn!

You cannot just walk away from a contract you willingly signed.
If you have access to the online portal then you should be able to see what the contract says (we can’t).
I strongly suspect Auxillis won’t be happy to provide you with a replacement car for free without being able to claim the costs on your behalf. Why would they? So I don’t think you can just drop Auxillis as costs have been incurred.
That doesn’t mean that you have no recourse to complain.

I would be consulting with admiral as they referred you and told you they would help if there was a problem.

mirene

I’ve talked to Admiral and they explained I can revert the claim back to them. I will have to pay the excess and it will be an open claim until the third party admits liability. If TP is at fault then I can claim the excess back through the legal protection team. They mentioned the valuation will probably be the same Auxillis provided however Admiral don’t have to wait until the TP pays up to send me the cheque. I can keep the hire car until a week after I’ve received the cheque. Although my insurance provides a courtesy car this only applies if the car is being repaired not if is a write off.
Not trying to walk off from a contract I signed, that’s not my intention. I was told several times by both Auxillis and Admiral that I wouldn’t have to pay for the hire car as they would recoup the cost from the other insurance. I asked Admiral today and the person who handled my call said she would find out from Auxillis and call me back. She did and again told me I wouldn’t need to pay anything. Hopefully this will get resolved soon but in any case I will be out of pocket not to mention the stress and worry caused. Can’t understand how this is allowed, it should be handle between insurance companies.

lisyloo

You had the choice to stick with insurance companies (admiral) and you chose not to.
There is no reason that people shouldn’t have choice simply because you didn’t get the result you wanted.
You may not get a different result with admiral.

If you’d gone with the 3rd party insurer then you would not be out of pocket as you wouldn’t have to pay an excess.

It’s always somewhat stressful sorting out accidents.
I recommend advanced driving courses as a good solution as most accidents can be avoided but no one seems to be interested in that (I’m not saying your accident was avoidable but a proportion are).

mirene

Yes, that's true, it was my choice. However Admiral presented the option to go with Auxillis as easy and painless. I asked several times about the difference between choosing Admiral or Auxillis and I was only told that I would not need to pay my excess and I would be offered a similar car to mine instead of "any available courtesy" car.
They forgot to mention that in case my car had to be written off then Auxillis would have to wait for payment from the TP insurance before sending me a cheque. They also forgot to mention that if something went wrong with my own insurance I could take it up with the Ombudsman but I would lose that right if I went with Auxillis. It was never explained that Auxillis would be dragging their feet and I would constantly have to chase for updates that were contradictory every time I spoke to someone... and so on.
It's not about getting the result I wanted, is about not taking advantage of people in a vulnerable situation. Insurance is compulsory, I've been driving more than 20 years and paying my insurance and never had an accident before so I was quite ignorant as to how to deal with this situation. The one time I'm involved in a no fault accident this is what happens. It's unethical and morally wrong.
Yes, I agree with you there should be a choice, but Admiral and Auxillis should provide all the details so people can make the right choice for them.
Thank you for your input and for taking the time to read.