Stutopia Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 A few months ago someone reversed into me in a car park Today I got my Zed back from the bodyshop Now it is sorted, I thought I'd post this up to go through my experience with an accident management company and then my insurer. Long story short, the bump was not my fault, I wasn't even in the car (though I was there) when the 3rd party reversed into me and caused the damage. It occurred in a company's car park, about 20 feet from a CCTV camera. After getting the other driver's details I rang my insurer, Elephant, to report it. I was half tempted to try and do it with the third party in cash but I figured this is what I paid my insurer for. This is the first time I've been through the process, so I've learnt a bit. Here's the rubbed paint and damage to the bumper, near-side brake light, also (out of shot) the indicator cluster was detached from the bumper (which was a break on the bumper, not the cluster) and the boot lid had a scratch to the lip. The bumper was actually folded inward and popped back out, so it was a little misshapen around the licence plate recess. Nothing too serious fortunately, but it was pristine before. Here's the chelsea tractor that hit me. Anyway, Elephant sold me on an accident management company on the basis that: if I didn't go with accident management, I would lose my no claims by default and have to pay the excess My no claims and excess would only be restored to me, if the third party insurer accepted liability The AM company would also sort out any other costs, hire care, injuries, get the CCTV footage, etc. Hearing this, I thought it was worth it to save me the faff and someone else could do the leg work with the third party insurer, bodyshop, bills, CCTV, the lot. So it was passed over to them, they took the details, and checked if I had been injured. I explained I fine and wasn't in the car when it happened, as per the lengthy description I'd just given. Twice. After a couple of weeks of no progress I chased the AM company up and they explained the third party and insurer weren't responding to them. They did ask me about if I'd had any injuries. Still none, I still wasn't in the car at the point of impact, but thanks though. I waited a bit longer, chased again, same deal. At this point I asked them what they would do if nothing came back. Their response was a surprise. They told me accident management companies have no legal grounds to demand information from either the 3rd party or their insurer (apparently only proper insurance companies can do that). So they'd just keep calling/writing to them asking them to play ball, if they stonewalled, they could do precisely nothing. On top of that, they wouldn't let me use my trusted bodyshop for the repairs. Kindly they did enquire... Had I been inured at the time? Still no, still not in the car at impact. I'm really fine, thanks for asking though. Again. Had I got the CCTV footage yet? No. Should I have? That's your job isn't it? Maybe you should do it too, you know, to be safe. Grrrreatttt. Given they hadn't covered themselves in glory so far, I contacted the company who own the CCTV footage, giving references to my claim. They wouldn't let me or my AM company or insurer have the footage without getting the police involved - under data protection rules. I was tempted to do a data subject access request but never went through with it (I suspect they would have kicked it back anyway as "not reasonable" to anonymise the footage before sharing it with me). A short while late, bored of no progress, I binned off the AM company and went back to Elephant, took the hit on my no claims and was prepared to pay the excess - after all I knew this wasn't my fault. Elephant contacted the 3rd party insurer and the information came forward shorty after, the 3rd party admitted liability and then Elephant told me my no claims was restored, authorised the repair and I didn't have to pay the excess. Elephant also let me get a quote from my bodyshop of choice. Sorted. Anyway, I've banged on enough, suffice to sat I'll never touch an AM company again, Elephant did what was needed to get it sorted. Perhaps if I'd been severely injured, needed a hire car for weeks, lost out on work or something else, it might have been worth it with the AM company - I doubt it. All they did was try and bump the size of the claim. If you wonder why premiums go up, it's not polish drivers in LHD cars or women in car parks or 18 yr olds in Novas, it's this lot. All in all it's cost me about £50 in taxi fees, whilst the car's been in the shop, and a couple of calls to my actual insurer. But, I've saved hours of angry phone calls and got the work done were I wanted, and learnt something new. I win. In the end. Sort of. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I had quite the opposite experience with an Accident Management company a few years ago resulting from similar circumstances. I was down in Ashford visiting family, when a hotel delivery van smacked into my S-Max in a hotel car park. I wasn't in the car at the time. The driver admitted fault immediately, and gave contact details of his bosses. I passed all this info on to my insurer (Marker Study - Livinstone Warman) who appointed an AM company who were based close to me. After a 10 minute phone call with them to discuss my needs regarding repairs and replacement vehicle I was quite encouraged by their ability. They liased with my insurer throughout and contacted me within 7 days (by text and a phone call) to let me know that other party had accepted full liability. They booked my car into my preferred repairer within the town (already on their list of approved garages as it happens). They made sure of what my needs where from a replacement vehicle during the period mine was in the garage, and called me again with a choice of a few vehicles for me to choose from (ended up with a VW Sharan with about 150 miles on it). No claims weren't effected, and all I paid was my £150 excess. So yeah, I guess like everything in life, some are good and some bad. :shrugs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valy Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 thanks for sharing ! good to know in case this happens ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I'm with you Stu, I'll never bother with an AMC ever again. I've paid thousands to insurers over the years, so from now on I'm only ever using them to do the leg work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 I had quite the opposite experience with an Accident Management company a few years ago resulting from similar circumstances. I was down in Ashford visiting family, when a hotel delivery van smacked into my S-Max in a hotel car park. I wasn't in the car at the time. The driver admitted fault immediately, and gave contact details of his bosses. I passed all this info on to my insurer (Marker Study - Livinstone Warman) who appointed an AM company who were based close to me. After a 10 minute phone call with them to discuss my needs regarding repairs and replacement vehicle I was quite encouraged by their ability. They liased with my insurer throughout and contacted me within 7 days (by text and a phone call) to let me know that other party had accepted full liability. They booked my car into my preferred repairer within the town (already on their list of approved garages as it happens). They made sure of what my needs where from a replacement vehicle during the period mine was in the garage, and called me again with a choice of a few vehicles for me to choose from (ended up with a VW Sharan with about 150 miles on it). No claims weren't effected, and all I paid was my £150 excess. So yeah, I guess like everything in life, some are good and some bad. Sounds like they did exactly what I was hoping for! Did you get the £150 back, with it being the third parties fault? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I had quite the opposite experience with an Accident Management company a few years ago resulting from similar circumstances. I was down in Ashford visiting family, when a hotel delivery van smacked into my S-Max in a hotel car park. I wasn't in the car at the time. The driver admitted fault immediately, and gave contact details of his bosses. I passed all this info on to my insurer (Marker Study - Livinstone Warman) who appointed an AM company who were based close to me. After a 10 minute phone call with them to discuss my needs regarding repairs and replacement vehicle I was quite encouraged by their ability. They liased with my insurer throughout and contacted me within 7 days (by text and a phone call) to let me know that other party had accepted full liability. They booked my car into my preferred repairer within the town (already on their list of approved garages as it happens). They made sure of what my needs where from a replacement vehicle during the period mine was in the garage, and called me again with a choice of a few vehicles for me to choose from (ended up with a VW Sharan with about 150 miles on it). No claims weren't effected, and all I paid was my £150 excess. So yeah, I guess like everything in life, some are good and some bad. Sounds like they did exactly what I was hoping for! Did you get the £150 back, with it being the third parties fault? I honestly cannot remember! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gudzy Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 No claims weren't effected, and all I paid was my £150 excess. Didn't you get your excess back in the end? You should have done for a non-fault claim. Edit: never mind, looks like I was beaten to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Great heads up, thank you both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob332 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Out of interest. Who was the accident management company ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cob1980 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Thanks for sharing. All I've heard is how they help bump up all our premiums. Why can't insurers do the work! Don't Sky insurance make you use an AM company? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modo Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Its nice to hear that you eventually got it sorted, what I hate the most is Insurers that take your money, then find any excuses/stalling technique or they don't pay out. you give up. This happened to me once, but the guy that crashed into me settled in cash, cash speaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oggieteepo Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Going back a couple of years now.. My missus had a very similar problem with an AM company (referred on by Hastings) they were appalling. They delivered a replacement car the same day everything seemed to be okay, but we noticed the hire car was horrendously over priced and over inflated, like £55 a day plus vat or something for a fiesta, just something you might overlook in all the chaos following the a crash. When we asked them to collect it they didn't, they stopped returning calls etc.. They were rude and said that if they could not recover the full costs of the hire car from the insurers they will pass that cost on to us including the days they dwelled on. We fought it and they settled something with the insurance company. Plenty of information about this sort of 'scam' on Google.. Where these AM companies seem to be ripping off other insurers. I guess you don't know about these things until it hits you (no pun intended). Edited August 17, 2016 by Oggieteepo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sargara Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Anyway, I've banged on enough, suffice to sat I'll never touch an AM company again, Elephant did what was needed to get it sorted. I learnt the same the hard way. My words of advice now is change your number ASAP. You will now be subject to 3yrs or so of constant ambulance chaser phone-calls/texts either by the AMC itself, or by other parties it will now sell your details onto to recover "costs". The AMC are one of, if not the biggest reason for pushing premiums up yet the insurance co's are so intertwined with them they only have themselves to blame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Thanks for sharing. All I've heard is how they help bump up all our premiums. Why can't insurers do the work! Don't Sky insurance make you use an AM company? Sky Insurance are just a broker, so they do push you towards an AMC in the first instance on their website. But make you use, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Same here. Many years ago i used Albany(?) assistance......useless. Nearly as useless as the 'approved repair centre' who carried out the work Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 My neighbour had his car hit parked outside on the road, went to insurance, who passed him to an AMC who then did as OP said, are you ok (was fine as he was stood in the house doing the washing up at the time, probably got a cut on his finger from the knife he was drying when he watched his car get hit outside maybe) repeatedly. He has a Range Rover Sport so the AMC company pushed him to get something like for like as a courtesy car delivered to his house, up turns a Range Rover Vogue which he had for two weeks whilst his was sorted. His car was fixed etc. then about 5 months later had the insurance company of the person who hit his car challenging the cost of the Vogue and threatening to get him to pay back the cost of rental for two weeks (which was four figures) saying it was an unnecessary expense, even though he never actually agreed to that specific car, just agreed to get a courtesy car whilst his was in the bodyshop. Got really messy he even had to demand the recorded messages from his AMC of him clearly not demanding a Vogue (and in fact its the AMC pushing him to take the courtesy car). Got it sorted in the end, but was an unusual thing to have to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oggieteepo Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Same here. Many years ago i used Albany(?) assistance......useless. Nearly as useless as the 'approved repair centre' who carried out the work Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk .. They're the ones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KUGT4 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Going back a couple of years now.. My missus had a very similar problem with an AM company (referred on by Hastings) they were appalling. They delivered a replacement car the same day everything seemed to be okay, but we noticed the hire car was horrendously over priced and over inflated, like £55 a day plus vat or something for a fiesta, just something you might overlook in all the chaos following the a crash. When we asked them to collect it they didn't, they stopped returning calls etc.. They were rude and said that if they could not recover the full costs of the hire car from the insurers they will pass that cost on to us including the days they dwelled on. We fought it and they settled something with the insurance company. Plenty of information about this sort of 'scam' on Google.. Where these AM companies seem to be ripping off other insurers. I guess you don't know about these things until it hits you (no pun intended). was charged £100/day for a fiesta during my AM experience took 8 months and handing over ALL savings/accounts info to third party (by law) as they contested cost - around £2K iirc they settled in end but it was an experience would probably still use AM if i knew the car was potentiaily going to be written off for minor (but expensive) damage but next time round i would hire a replacement car myself and claim the cost back later Edited August 17, 2016 by KUGT4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 Same here. Many years ago i used Albany(?) assistance......useless. Nearly as useless as the 'approved repair centre' who carried out the work Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk .. They're the ones! +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Good to hear the saga is over and you're happy with the repair. Point noted not to bother with such companies in the event of an accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Trouser Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Had a scrape last year which caused minor damage similar to that. Pulled over and was stationary (leaving my back end out slightly) to let a learner drive get past in a country lane, - he scraped his car all along the trailing edge of my driver's side my rear wheel arch on the way past. Didn't bother stopping after making first contact - just powered on through Exchanged details and went through my insurer - wish I had swallowed the cost of repair my self now. Third party gave a false account of the incident - said I came around a corner and clipped him. Provided only vague details to his insurance company along with grainy b/w photos of damage (I asked to be provided with their eveidence). My insurer said as there were no witnesses or dash cam footage then it was my word against theirs (fair enough). Not interested when I pointed out the only damage to my car was to the trailing edge of the drivers wheel arch. How could it possibly cause damage to three areas of the side of the 3rd party's vehicle if my car was in motion. It would break physics. Ended up having to pay full excess for what was essentially a paint job on the wheel arch - there was no impact damage only scrape damage (actual cost charged was over 1k!) Anyway, like for like replacement cars where offered, a top end BMW or Merc. Both automatic and neither of which I felt comfortable driving so I declined them both - so no more like-for-like insurance for me. That was 10 months ago and last week I received a letter from my insurer that they had just received the damage report from the 3rd party's insurance and that a 50/50 liability was the outcome. Premium is up - obviously - but NCB is fine. So next time I'll only use the insurance when there is some major problem and not just a paint job. Oh - and a dash cam. You just don't know what kind of person you're going to run into - or pull over for. Edited August 17, 2016 by The Trouser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 They don't even respect the laws of physics. The greatest laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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