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Hi would love some help to put my mind at rest and from any others that have dealt with similair situations.
I was rear ended last month when in traffic. some very minor damage considering the force. well went with a accident management company who put me in contact with solicitors. Ive had my car fixed and it was in the gragae for 6 days.They also got me a like for like replacement vehicle on credit hire from a rental firm for the duration my car was in the repair centre.
Now i am getting scared at reading the horror stories about credit hire considering its a common practice used by AMC companies. Its only £65 per day hire for a Vauxhall and i am assured that they will recover the costs from the person at faults insurers is that correct?
I have also had neck injuries from the accident and have had my medical booked by my solicitors. The doctor gave me a 9 month recovering time for a neck sprain and said 8 sessions of physio would aid with recovery. My solicitors gave me the option of sending the medical report off and trying for a quick settlement or delaying it 2 months and having the physio. which would be the better option?
I have also been told i should not have spoken to the third party's insurers as they record the call for evidence. I spoke to them as i am the innocent party and gave them all the information they need. I told them i started getting neck pain after the crash that day but i wasnt asked how long the symptoms have gone on for etc so i did not get chance to tell them i am still in pain. Do they have to go off the doctors report anyway?
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Hi Jordana ,
First your car hire costs ,the price of £65 a day is more reasonable than some of the fantastic fees we see on HJ .
However it's not certain that the third party will agree to the charges ,if they won't pay the charge or part of it ,the hire company will be looking to you to reimburse them .Some hire companies offer a gold type hire .It works by you agreeing to pay an indemnity fee to the hire company.Usually in advance ,if the third party refuse to pay the hire charge ,the indemnity company will make up the difference .Have you taken out that option ?
Second, I would think your best option would be to have the physio and wait the two months before beginning the claim .
It could be that you have long term or even permanent damage to your neck . You need to know exactly what damage has been done ,it may well be that the damage won't show in the short term .If you agree a settlement quickly ,it will be classed as a full and final settlement ,you won't be able to claim a second time.
Third ,no matter what you said to the third party insurers ,the case will be decided on medical evidence ,as a private individual you're not qualified to diagnose the extent of any damage that has been done to you .
Regards
Tony g
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Hi Jordana , First your car hire costs ,the price of £65 a day is more reasonable than some of the fantastic fees we see on HJ . However it's not certain that the third party will agree to the charges ,if they won't pay the charge or part of it ,the hire company will be looking to you to reimburse them .Some hire companies offer a gold type hire .It works by you agreeing to pay an indemnity fee to the hire company.Usually in advance ,if the third party refuse to pay the hire charge ,the indemnity company will make up the difference .Have you taken out that option ? Second, I would think your best option would be to have the physio and wait the two months before beginning the claim . It could be that you have long term or even permanent damage to your neck . You need to know exactly what damage has been done ,it may well be that the damage won't show in the short term .If you agree a settlement quickly ,it will be classed as a full and final settlement ,you won't be able to claim a second time. Third ,no matter what you said to the third party insurers ,the case will be decided on medical evidence ,as a private individual you're not qualified to diagnose the extent of any damage that has been done to you . Regards Tony g
Hi thanks for your advice Tony.
In terms of accidents i realise my case is straightforward as i was stationary in traffic and rear ended so there should not be any fight over liabilty etc. I was told by the AMC company that all the car repair costs and credit hire car costs will be recovered by the solicitors from the third party but reading peoples posts on the internet has soon made me realise that its not always so easy for them to claim all the costs back.
The hire company tried to pull and fast one and sent a bill to my solicitors saying 36 days hire instead of 6 days. My solicitors sorted it and got the real bill for me of 6 days costs. It says in the small print that if its not paid for within 52 weeks then i am liable for the costs and no i was not offered that option of paying part of the bill if the third party refuses to pay. How can they refuse if i only had it for the 6 days that my car was in for repair?
Its put my mind at rest about the medical evidence deciding the case. I am quite a shy person and i was spoken to abruptly and in a bullying manner by the third party's insurer who was trying to brush off my neck pain as there was not much damage to the vehicles. I tried to start describing my symptoms from the start but after i told them it started later that day after the crash it was just left at that. But when i described the symptoms to the medical professional and he examined me he's declared i have suffered a neck sprain and has said physio will aid with the stifness and aching.
will the physio that is pre paid for by the solicitors be recovered from the third party?
I have just found the whole experience so stressful :(
Edited by jordana on 22/04/2012 at 21:55
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(How can they refuse if i only had it for the 6 days that my car was in for repair?)
Hi Jordana ,it's not so much that they will refuse outright ,but they could dispute the daily cost of the hire car ,possibly offering less than £65 a day if they can show that a similair car can be hired for substantially less .
With regard to the physio ,it seems clear that you need a physio to help you recover from the injury caused by the accident .However be cautious ,try to obtain a written confirmation from the AMC that you will not be charged for medical needs and reports ,if the the third parties insurers dispute your claims or costs .
Generally be wary of what an AMC says ,their main interest is making money ,if they cannot get paid by a third party insurer ,they will look to recover it from you .It would be a mistake to consider them as benign organisations that are just trying to help .They are businesses that cost a huge amount of money to run. They have to make a profit to exsist .
Regards
Tony g
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Why does anyone use these claim companies. How difficult is it to have an "authorised" repairer collect the car and return it when repaired.
If you don't have a loan car as part of your policy just hire one yourself and claim from the 3rd party if you were not to blame.
This is how it used to work and it did work for my father and several work colleagues.
All these claim companies are doing is inflating our insurance premiums.
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Hi skidpan ,couldn't agree more ,the problem is that AMC seem to take out the hassle from a fraught situation .
As always ,the devil is in the detail .To often these companies don't explain the liabilities that a user can incur by signing an agreement with them .
You would have to wonder if their agreements could be considered as unfair contracts and subject to challenge in the courts , as it's clear that some people are signing them without understanding the penalties that can be involved .
Regards
Tony g
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Hi Tony.
it isnt so much a full on AMC comapany. my number was passed on to some guy that a friend knows and he put me in touch with a no win no fee solicitors firm. They then paid him within a week to get my car repiared at an accident repair centre that he is involved with and then he sorted me a hire car out with a credit hire company. I have not signed anything with him just the no win no fee solicitors to act on my behalf.
So far the actual solicitor's firm have paid for my car repair, my medical assessemnt and will pay for my physio then claim all that back from the third party. It has in the small print that i will not be charged for anything as they take a £500 policy out that covers anything they can not recover from the third party or if it goes to court the policy will cover me from having to pay the other sides legal costs. They also cap there charges at what they can recover..So i will supposedly be left with no bills.
Are most of these small claims settled without it going to court as the third party can surely not deny liabilty??
Edited by jordana on 24/04/2012 at 18:32
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Hi Jordana ,from reading your post it seems that the solicitors are acting as an accident management company .
They are doing things that you would expect an AMC to do paying your bills ,providing payment for a hire car etc .Im not sure how exactly the £500 policy would work ,it could be that is the limit of your liability ,
If a case goes to court ,expect it to be settled a few days before the court date .Bear in mind that insurance companies tell their insured never to admit liability .So it's all resolved by opposing solicitors negotiating .
Regards
Tony g
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Hello Jordana, sorry to hear of your experience and your injuries. Naturally not many people, myself included, are very familiar with dealing with accidents, hopefully we never will have to. This happened to me, and although the matter was finally settled to my satisfaction the other insurers disputed every detail. I did not claim for any injuries because luckily I suffered none, but I was constantly urged to claim by 'ambulance chasers'. So I can see why it is stressful for other people. If I am in that situation again I would just take the courtesy car from the repairer nominated by my insurer. This removes the 'car hire' problem. I can understand why insurers look at injury claims with a jaundiced eye. I am sure your claim is genuine, but I think most are not, so don't expect an easy ride. If you don't settle quickly for a nominal sum they will probably fight you all the way. But with good medical evidence you should have a good case. Try not to let it worry you, if you have a good Solicitor rely on them for guidance. Good luck especially with your recovery. Concrete
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After a "slow bump up the back"I was the car iat the front of the 3 cars involved (of my 2 week old car!) my neck was sore. This was dismissed by the GP - take 2 paracetamols every 4 hrs + Ibuprofen as well.
This relieved the pain but within a few weeks the neck seized, I could not turn my head on its own, I had to turn my shoulders. Physio for 3 x 30 mins fixed that but the pain re-occurred very few weeks - paracetamol/ibuprofen worked.
It was 3 years before the pains disappeared.
Claim was going to court and on eve of court hearing the woman remembered it was her fault (I was stopped @ at a red light!)..........£4,000 for neck + £120 expenses for physio, car repairs were £800, car hire £300 ( 2 weeks due to wrong parts), lawyer & court fees £1200.
The reason the woman claimed to be innocent was she hit the car behind but claimed it was the Mercs fault - her car looked undamaged...............she also had t £1,000 excess to pay!
If the woman and her insurer had put their hand up on day 1 a lot of time and expense would have been saved.
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You don't need these companies, its just another con like the companies charging to get you loan insurance premiums back.
When I had an accident several years ago, motorcycle hit me, he was OK, I ended up in hospital with glass in my eye the car went to the garage to be repaired, the garage loaned me a car and the insurance company arranged for me to see a consultant re the eye and I was awarded compensation, probably didn't deserve any but never turn it down. It was simple and sorted with no external help and I kept my full no claims discount and got my excess refunded.
Mum and Dad were hit up the rear at a junction, car went to garage to be repaired, they were loaned a car (had to pay extra insurance since they were over 70) and they were both awarded substantial damges for their injuries. A year later it was discovered mother had further problems that were probably attributable to the accident but the solicitor said since there was no evidence at the time of the accident it was not worth persuing. Again they kept their full no-claims and got their excess back. A week later the numpty across the road reversed into the car and did another substantial amount of damage to the same spot that had just been repaired. Repaired again, loan car again, no-claims kept and excess returned.
How hard can it be.
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(If the woman and her insurer had put their hand up on day 1 a lot of time and expense would have been saved.)
Hi FB .insurance companies tell their insured that under no circumstances must they accept liability !! .Is their any wonder we have the problems that we do.
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(If the woman and her insurer had put their hand up on day 1 a lot of time and expense would have been saved.)
Hi FB .insurance companies tell their insured that under no circumstances must they accept liability !! .Is their any wonder we have the problems that we do.
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and I was awarded compensation, probably didn't deserve any but never turn it down.
I just Can't understand why premiums keep going up year on year...
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