Admiral Direct vs Auxillis? Which route to take

stockbroke

Hi all,
My car was rear-ended a few days ago (bumper/boot damaged). I asked my insurer if they’ll check for hidden mechanical issues (suspension, sensors, etc.) — they said yes, but ABL1Touch (the repairer they use) told me they only do bodywork.

Options I’ve been given:

• Admiral (via ABL1Touch): Lifetime repair guarantee, but very poor reviews. I’d need to collect the hire car myself.

• Auxillis: No upfront excess, 5-year guarantee, they deliver/collect the hire car. Reviews of Auxillis are mixed about hire car issues etc but the garages offered seem slightly better rated than the above

• 3rd party insurer: 3-year guarantee, but I don’t know which garages they’d use.

My main worry is making sure the car’s properly inspected and repaired, not just patched up — I don’t want to discover mechanical faults months later.

Any advice on which route is best?

Thanks in advance

MyRealNameToo

stockbroke said:

My car was rear-ended a few days ago (bumper/boot damaged). I asked my insurer if they’ll check for hidden mechanical issues (suspension, sensors, etc.) — they said yes, but ABL1Touch (the repairer they use) told me they only do bodywork.

Options I’ve been given:

• Admiral (via ABL1Touch): Lifetime repair guarantee, but very poor reviews. I’d need to collect the hire car myself.

• Auxillis: No upfront excess, 5-year guarantee, they deliver/collect the hire car. Reviews of Auxillis are mixed about hire car issues etc but the garages offered seem slightly better rated than the above

• 3rd party insurer: 3-year guarantee, but I don’t know which garages they’d use.

My main worry is making sure the car’s properly inspected and repaired, not just patched up — I don’t want to discover mechanical faults months later.

Any advice on which route is best?

Where has the TPI option come up from? Have you spoken to them? Did Admiral state it was an option in which case how has the guarantee period been established?

If you have already had conversations with the TPI and they have offered to deal with the mater for you then be cautious about using Auxillis and make sure there is no doubt in Auxillis that they have offered to deal with you. Part the reason credit hire can charge what they do is because the risk they are taking on that they won't get repaid and they are helping people with no other option who cannot afford to deal with the vehicle themselves/privately hire and reclaim. If both parties subscribe to the ABI GTA then they should start dealing with the claim after the TPI has offered to. In my days were they to do so then we'd pay them the £8/day we could hire a small car for rather than the £60-£70/day that they invoiced us for. Some were even more extreme differences, some prestige marks from the likes of B&L could be over £1,000 per day when we could hire a car for £60.

Most firms will use bodyshops, if a mechanical issue is found then often it goes to another garage for those aspects. A lot of garages are the same, if you take your car there for bodywork they just subcontract it a bodyshop and add their 20% markup. Remember a former customer who'd been very insistent that it had to go to the branded garage rather than our bodyshop. We agreed as the garage agreed to our pricing but the customer then was on the phone shouting at us saying he'd just driven by the bodyshop we'd recommended and saw his car there... obviously nothing to do with us, its his garages choice plus as we didnt instruct he lost the warranty we'd have given on the repairs. 

stockbroke

Hi, The TPI had contacted us directly stating they can take over the claim.