Admiral Insurance

Adf29

Hi

I am hoping that someone can point me in the right direction.

I was unfortunate to have two cars crash into my van on two separate occasions in 2022 which I was not at fault.

I accepted Admirals offer of conducting the repairs and hire van.

This took nearly a year for this to happen. I was told that I would be given a van like for like, but instead was given a small van and when my van was returned after 2 months, I found that the garage had caused further damage to the van.

I contacted Admiral who have been a nightmare to deal with and was not given much option but to return it to the garage that had conducted the repair. I had told them that I did not have any faith in them and wanted to use a different garage.

I contacted my own insurance company but as I had accepted Admirals offer there was little they could do, and I did not take out legal cover.

I also contacted the Financial Ombudsman to be told that because I was not a customer of Admiral they could not help.

I passed the case onto the Law Clinic in November 2022 but have had word back from them saying-

Our course of action was therefore to contact Admiral on your behalf in the hopes that they would be willing

to help resolve the issue. We asked primarily for Admiral to accept liability for the damage to your vehicle and cover the costs for repairs. We also detailed the loss of earnings that you have suffered since this incident. However, again as highlighted in our initial advice, it was difficult to quantify any loss suffered due to you being self-employed.

Unfortunately, despite numerous phone calls and letters over the past year, Admiral have failed to engage in any of our correspondence. We understand that this is a very disappointing outcome for you considering the amount of time that the incident has involved for you.

Further Steps

After speaking with our supervisor, we feel that we have exhausted all options within our capacity to try and resolve your case. As noted above, the only other option to recover losses would be to raise an action in court, but this is not a route we recommend. If you were to choose this option, as previously advised, we unfortunately would not be able to represent you as the amounts involved in the claim would require a solicitor.

I am lost into what to do now.

cw8825

Was an admiral driver responsible for both accidents?
Did you give Admiral garage the chance to rectify the sub standard work?
Did you enquire about a larger van?
If you had a replacement van, how did you also have loss of earnings? Is yours a specialist van
Have you spoken directly to admiral, what was your last conversation

Adf29

It was 2 separate incidents, 1 happened on the 18th April and the other was 26th April 2022, both drivers were insured by Admiral.
I had said to Admiral that I did not want the van booked back into the original repair garage as the damage they caused was shocking, over spray of paintwork, the van is white and there is an over spray of yellow. They have broken 2 internal door trims trying to rewire the door mirrors, all they needed to do was unclip the button but instead ripped of these trims, cracked the cover under the wheel arch and attempted to fix the signwriting which had just been done the previous week of the crash.
I had asked for a replacement van but there was nothing in stock. The van they provided did not have a roof rack, and I could not fit a sheet of MDF in the back forcing me to have materials delivered to site. My van is racked out and has about £10k of tools and a roof rack. the whole van had to be emptied prior to going into the garage and I was told it would be in the garage for a couple of weeks which ended up nearly 2 months.
My loss of earning is due to the time I have battled to get the van booked in, phone calls, emails. Sixteen calls made to Admiral, average time per call 1 hour. Fourteen emails sent. Also lost a day’s wage collecting the van as when I went to collect the van on stated time, I found that it was away being serviced.
My last call to Admiral was complain about the repairs, after this I passed it onto the Law Clinic. 

cw8825

Adf29 said:

I had said to Admiral that I did not want the van booked back into the original repair garage as the damage they caused was shocking, over spray of paintwork, the van is white and there is an over spray of yellow. They have broken 2 internal door trims trying to rewire the door mirrors, all they needed to do was unclip the button but instead ripped of these trims, cracked the cover under the wheel arch and attempted to fix the signwriting which had just been done the previous week of the crash.

It is usual process for the same garage to attempt to repair the work that you find unsatisfactory, - as you had rejected the work from that garage, did you suggest another or were you expecting admiral to have another garage local to you?

Adf29 said:

I had asked for a replacement van but there was nothing in stock. The van they provided did not have a roof rack, and I could not fit a sheet of MDF in the back forcing me to have materials delivered to site. My van is racked out and has about £10k of tools and a roof rack. the whole van had to be emptied prior to going into the garage and I was told it would be in the garage for a couple of weeks which ended up nearly 2 months.
My loss of earning is due to the time I have battled to get the van booked in, phone calls, emails. Sixteen calls made to Admiral, average time per call 1 hour. Fourteen emails sent. Also lost a day’s wage collecting the van as when I went to collect the van on stated time, I found that it was away being serviced.
My last call to Admiral was complain about the repairs, after this I passed it onto the Law Clinic. 

So i would say you cant claim loss of earnings as they provided a replacement van to you to enable you to work, obviously they are not going to provide a fully kitted out van the way yours is but they provide a van for you to swap tools over and be able to carry on working

What you are trying to do is bill them for your time which is different, 

It was 2 separate incidents, 1 happened on the 18th April and the other was 26th April 2022, both drivers were insured by Admiral.

As a third party you have less rights, as you are not their customer, 

Have you involved your own insurer at any point in the last 2 1/2 years?

Have you had the van repaired or does it still have the poor repair work?

Adf29

 

When Admiral contacted to offer to conduct the repairs, they said they would provide a van like for like I also asked if it would have a roof rack which they said yes. I drive a long wheelbase Citroën Relay Volkswagen Transporter which is tiny and not fit for my line of work. If I had known this I would have not gone ahead with Admiral and I now realise I should have used my own insurer who were only providing a car.
I did contact my own insurer but as I had accepted Admirals offer they could not provide any further assistance.
The van has still not been repaired.
I have been suffering from depression and the last thing that I wanted to do was to have to chase up Admiral, I have other things on my mind hence I passed it onto The Law Clinic but they could not get any response for Admiral.