LucyBC. You (and your profession) are part of the reason the UK personal motor insurance market is the way it is. You + helphire + all the others that have their snouts in the trough are part of the reason we (those that pay the premiums to pay your salary) are seeing 30 - 40% premium increases this year.

I think there are 2 sides to this

1)At one point your VW Golf is sitting parked when someone runs into the side of you reversing out their driveway

2) To get your car fixed you are offered a Matiz for 2 weeks (poor car no Isofix for child seat) and you drive 500 mls per week - pleasure and work

The problem is not hiring a VW Golf or equivalent - lots of car hire companies - it is the ambulance /exhorbitant rental charging Hire Companies wanting £150/day when Avis / Hertz etc can do it for £30 to large corporates.

I had a bash years ago, the 3rd party only changed their mind on eve of court date (Perjury and the sphincter control are closely connected). I got £4000 + £200 excess and incidental expenses). Actually I would have settled with them (3rd party + insurer) owning up and paying out more promptly - the legal fees were £4300 including disbursements, court fees etc etc).

I was never reimbursed for the hours on the phone ( 3rd party ignored solicitors letters and returned as not known, would not provide licence details as she wanted to avoid the £1000 excess on driving a garage courtesy car). Only when being advised on allowing a non-insured driver did the MB franchise give up to their 3rd party cover policy number on the loan car), The 6 x visit to get my 2 week old accident car correctly repaired - faulty paintwork, wrong badges, locking mechanism jamming........

I got £4000 for a sore neck but the hassle was awlful, a quick settlement would have been easier and cheaper for all.

The main reason premiums are increasing are:

uninsured drivers
greater cost of repairs
personal injury claims

Some idiot companies are charging extortionate rates for credit hire and the worst of them deliberately elongate the repair to maximise on their profit.

However who do you think brings these firms in?

In almost every case if you have a non-fault accident you will inform **your insurer** and receive numerous phone calls to someone they have passed it to.

The reason is your insurer has cut their claims department to the bone and is selling your claim out to firm that pays them the most money.

This firm - the "accident manager" - is then flogging the repair to one party, the credit hire to another (or handling it themselves) and any injuries (usually at £700 a case) to their "solicitor panel".

It's a volume business so if it looks dubious on liability they will stick you in a credit hire (not explaining it is a credit hire of course) in the knowledge that they can claim from you if the other side don't pay up. So there is no reason for them to argue your case if there is a liability dispute. Most would not know where to start in any event.

If the accident is clearly your fault they are not interested whatsoever.

I make my living by selling motor legal insurance (proper motor legal insurance) and then dealing with the cases that come in on the back of it.

My firm's legal fees are paid by the insurer of the policy I sold. Most "motor legal insurance" is not legal insurance at all - it is merely a method of capturing claims.

So in our case I know my fees are covered and I don't care if the claim is fault, non fault, damage- only or with an injury I will aklways deal with it.

And I will always fight for the client on the liability issues or in the event of an insurance dispute if I believe they have a genuine case.