Accident management companies like Auxillis - BEWARE!

Herzlos

Petriix said:

ontheroad1970 said:

Petriix said:

So, back on topic...

Yes, definitely avoid the parasitic accident management companies. As usual, most people seem to be ignoring the most pragmatic course of action when involved in an accident where the third party is obviously at fault: deal directly with the third party insurers.

In the past decade my partner and I have been involved in three such accidents. On each occasion we've simply notified our insurers on an 'information only' basis and claimed back all our losses and expenses via the TPI.

It's a non-zero-sum-game. The TPI benefit because they're not being fleeced for every penny with extortionate costs. You benefit by avoiding any liability for having such costs claimed back. You also get the chance to negotiate a better payout, especially if you can put together a reasonable case of evidence to support your claim. 

It boils down to this: accident management companies are only interested in their own profits. They don't care about getting the best outcome for you. The TPI want to minimise their costs. By cutting out the middleman, you are in a far better position.

This obviously requires a bit of admin, but not massively more than would be needed anyway. It's also only recommended if liability is readily accepted by the TPI.

The problem with going directly to the third party insurers is that if there is a problem you have no recourse to the regulator.  

Sure, but they do have a legal obligation (backed by the courts if necessary) to leave you in the same position as you were before the accident. That tends to trump any regulatory body.

IF you can enforce it, and that potentially means waiting months for it to go through the courts (hopefully in the small claims track).

Sandtree

ontheroad1970 said:

Petriix said:

So, back on topic...

Yes, definitely avoid the parasitic accident management companies. As usual, most people seem to be ignoring the most pragmatic course of action when involved in an accident where the third party is obviously at fault: deal directly with the third party insurers.

In the past decade my partner and I have been involved in three such accidents. On each occasion we've simply notified our insurers on an 'information only' basis and claimed back all our losses and expenses via the TPI.

It's a non-zero-sum-game. The TPI benefit because they're not being fleeced for every penny with extortionate costs. You benefit by avoiding any liability for having such costs claimed back. You also get the chance to negotiate a better payout, especially if you can put together a reasonable case of evidence to support your claim. 

It boils down to this: accident management companies are only interested in their own profits. They don't care about getting the best outcome for you. The TPI want to minimise their costs. By cutting out the middleman, you are in a far better position.

This obviously requires a bit of admin, but not massively more than would be needed anyway. It's also only recommended if liability is readily accepted by the TPI.

The problem with going directly to the third party insurers is that if there is a problem you have no recourse to the regulator.  

Regulator doesn't look at individual customer complaints... think you meant the ombudsman?

Herzlos said:

Petriix said:

ontheroad1970 said:

Petriix said:

So, back on topic...

Yes, definitely avoid the parasitic accident management companies. As usual, most people seem to be ignoring the most pragmatic course of action when involved in an accident where the third party is obviously at fault: deal directly with the third party insurers.

In the past decade my partner and I have been involved in three such accidents. On each occasion we've simply notified our insurers on an 'information only' basis and claimed back all our losses and expenses via the TPI.

It's a non-zero-sum-game. The TPI benefit because they're not being fleeced for every penny with extortionate costs. You benefit by avoiding any liability for having such costs claimed back. You also get the chance to negotiate a better payout, especially if you can put together a reasonable case of evidence to support your claim. 

It boils down to this: accident management companies are only interested in their own profits. They don't care about getting the best outcome for you. The TPI want to minimise their costs. By cutting out the middleman, you are in a far better position.

This obviously requires a bit of admin, but not massively more than would be needed anyway. It's also only recommended if liability is readily accepted by the TPI.

The problem with going directly to the third party insurers is that if there is a problem you have no recourse to the regulator.  

Sure, but they do have a legal obligation (backed by the courts if necessary) to leave you in the same position as you were before the accident. That tends to trump any regulatory body.

IF you can enforce it, and that potentially means waiting months for it to go through the courts (hopefully in the small claims track).

The ombudsman also typically has a 9-12 month wait though it is a bit of a luck of the draw... had two banking complaints last year raised within days of each other and the first an adjudicators response was received in 6 months and the other it took 15 months.