Its because the UK insurance market is not policed by anybody its afree for all.In Germany the police attend all road accidents determine who was at fault or what percentage of blame the insurance pay out on that within days,if you need a hire car while yours is repaired these are supplied at a fixed commercial rate.

And to make things worse the UK police are as helpful as a chocolate firegaurd.

Your insurer is almost certainly getting a kickback on the credit hire, possibly the repair and also any personal injury. The going rate is about £500 for the credit hire (much more for a luxury model), and £700-£750 for the injury. It may be paid as an annual consideration based on volumes or on a case by case basis.

Honest John dislikes accident managers but as in all businesses there are good and bad and the best ones are much better at dealing with accidents than insurers.

Unfortunately because insurers view accident management as a revenue stream rather than a service to their insured they tend to employ the sharks who are able to pay the bigger commissions because they are charging near extortionate rates for hires, then extending the duration by delaying the repair or settlement and auctioning off the injury claim to the highest bidding solicitor.

The sad legacy of all this is shoddy service in almost all cases, a lack of interest if the repair is "damage only" and no interest at all in defending potential "at fault" cases or those where there is any possibility of split liability.

The result is that insurers contsantly carp on about costs being escalated by credit hire firms and "ambulance chasing solicitors" while happily pocketing payments from both sectors.

You don't have to deal with them if you are unhappy. Be very aware of delays to the repairs to up the credit hire bill. Some insurers will refuse to pay the credit hire as a matter of course which can cause considerable problems down the line. If you tell me who your own and the third party insurer are I will tell you if this is one of them. Not in a public forum though. Send to: asklucy@honestjohn.co.uk

We get many complaints about credit hire companies slowing down the repair or delaying the settlement to extend the (very lucrative) hire. It would help to know how badly your vehicle was damaged and who it is with now. If it is unusable but repairable you are entitled to a replacement car for the period of the repair. If it is written off then you should get one until you get the settlement cheque plus about a week to organise a replacement.

The other side's insurer are an Irish company currently in administration (they invested their premiums in the Irish Stock Exchange and Irish property!). They also received some publicity after a BBC investigation which revealed they routinely sent people around with a wad of notes which they offered "in full and final settlement".

Fast Track Settlements
As it is clearly a non-fault accident your insurance claim is entirely suitable for the new fast track settlement system. The problem is the credit hire business and solicitors fees are based on time-charging (days of hire and attendance fees) so they are largely fundamentally opposed to the fast-track system as they benefit financially by dragging the case on as long as possible and running up costs.

The fast track system enables you to roll up all details of the case into one streamlined and structured system cutting delays and dealing with all aspects of the case. In your particular case these would include repair of vehicle, loss of earnings, other financial costs, a replacement car and any injury (in your case three days off work would normally imply an injury).

I am associated with two legal firms. One only does fast track accident claims (indeed was set up for the purpose) and one only does contentious claims and serious injuries so if you want to use us please come back to me and I will be happy to handle your case.

But let me first explain how the fast track system works.

Stage one

Firstly a very detailed Claim Notification Form is sent to the third party insurers via a central website operated by the Ministry of Justice which also serves to track the process.

Once they have received the form, the third party insurers have only fifteen business days to state whether or not they accept liability. If they do so and comply with certain other time limits, the claim can be dealt with under the fast track procedure.

The insurers will benefit because the legal costs they have to pay are much reduced and the claimant benefits from a far simpler and faster process.

Stage Two

At the same time as the claim is being submitted arrangements need to be made for either the repairs, or an inspection and valuation if the vehicle is a write-off. Any injuries must be assessed for treatment and an examination by an independent medical practitioner who will prepare a medical report in the format required by the new process. This will cover the extent of the injuries and their likely ongoing effects on such things as the ability to work and go about normal daily activities. This report must be sent to the other driver’s insurers within fifteen business days of it being approved by the claimant.

The Final Settlement Pack

When the claim is ready to be settled, the lawyer must discuss and agree with the client the amount of compensation to be sought for any injury and other uninsured losses. The compensation claim, together with a list of the injured person’s out of pocket expenses, will then be submitted electronically through the central website to the other driver’s insurers in the form of a Settlement Pack.

The insurers then have a further fifteen business days either to agree the amount sought or make a counter offer. After that a further twenty business days are allowed to enable negotiations to continue.

The system is entirely suitable for the vast majority of accidents where there is clear fault, particularly where there is an injury and if you are involved in such a case and your case seems to be dragging on you should be asking your lawyer why they are not using it - and be thinking about possibly instructing another lawyer :-)

Edited by LucyBC on 18/12/2010 at 14:24