Car insurance companies that deserve praise must be in the minority, so here goes. I was hit by a driver insured by Admiral last Thursday. On Friday, I received a call from them in which they accepted full and unconditional liablility and asked whether my car, a Mercedes E320 was repairable, to which I replied that it was a total write off, having saved my life (I was stationary at lights and hit at 60mph - thank you Mercedes for creating solid cars).

Admiral accepted this without question, asked how much it was worth and whether I needed a hire car to tide me over. As I was able to borrow a car for the weekend, I told them that I would not need a hire car if they could pay out asap. They agreed a value with me on the spot, and paid out in full on the next working day, Monday, when I received the money in my bank account - amazing service. To cap it all, their quotation for insurance for my wife's car, coincidentally up for renewal, was £250 less than the best alternative offer that I had had to date. They will unquestionably have my business.

Secondly, is there a better-value used car on the market than the old-shape 130TDCi Mondeo that I have just bought? At £1500 and nearly 50mpg I would be surprised if there was. It has even just had a brand-new dual mass flywheel.