Waited for 3 hrs after accident for 'emergency' recovery

[Worried345]

AIBU to feel furious that my DCs and I had to wait, after a traumatic car accident, standing up for 3 hrs in the cold, suffering from shock, with whiplash injuries - for the so-called 'emergency' recovery service I pay for just such times as this to come and help?

As this is my first car accident, I don't know if this is totally normal practice by recovery services to keep you waiting so long?

I'm extremely thankful that we're not badly injured but we're all traumatised and it's been made much worse by the three hour wait, with nowhere to sit down and getting colder and colder, for the car and us to be 'recovered'.

The emergency recovery service kept telling me 'he'll only be 10 more minutes' but when the man finally arrived, he told me he'd only been called out 1 hr before, not 2 hrs before, when I'd actually phoned for help. By then, the police and paramedics had gone and we were all shocked and freezing cold, couldn't get back into our car, cos it was unsafe, had nowhere to sit but were told to stay by the car. DCs were really shaken and white and ice cold and one was desperate for a wee.

Passersby and drivers stared constantly, as you'd expect but the DCs were really really upset by this too.

The final straw was that once we finally reached home and I could telephone my insurance company and the insurance company of the man who caused the accident (he admitted full blame at the scene), both were closed for the weekend! So you're not 'allowed' to have an accident at the weekend!

So now I have no transport. Neither my emergency recovery service nor the insurance company - where there was an admin. person only - could promise I can claim back for taxi fares. I can't start the insurance claim till Monday and it could be days before I get a car and the children are back at school - so will have to get taxi for school run - and I'm back at work then too (single mum, no family or ex for support).

AIBU to think that this is not good enough for the services I paid for - emergency recovery and car insurance - or is this what you should expect and I should count us lucky not to have been left waiting for even longer?

The irony was that the garage and car dealers I'd bought the car from and who'd recommended their emergency recover service company and insurance company, were 5 mins walk away from the scene of the accident but I wasn't 'allowed' to call on them for help/ a car/ start car repairs (if it's not written off) because the companies they recommend are miles and miles away and completely unrelated - I only now discover - to the car dealer!

Make a Claim

To make a claim on your Volkswagen car insurance policy, or for existing claims,

please call:0844 893 9544

Lines are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Meant to say the reason police did that with us is they said it would be much quicker than waiting around for recovery. .suspect they didnt want us blocking the road.

All the information needed to make a claim is very clear on their website,

Motor insurance

Please call 0844 893 9544.
Lines open Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm and 9am - 1pm on Saturday.

In case of an emergency outside of these hours please call 0800 777 124.

So sorry about your accident op. I hope you are all OK.

I used to work in a breakdown and accident call centre although about 9 years ago now. When a call was taken, we would enter the details and deploy it to a near by company by computer. They would then either accept the job or decline it if they couldn't do it because their drivers were already busy. We would then try to find another one in the area, trying to get one who could get there as soon as possible. So quite often on evenings and weekends, there would be few drivers available and it could take a while to find someone. Accidents would be prioritised and if people had small children we would try and get there quicker.

I know there are other companies (or at least one big one I can think of) who have all their own drivers though so it works slightly differently but hope that that might help you understand the way it used to work and why it can take a long time.

It is really unfair that either the company or ther driver lied to you about when you would be collected though. At least if you know how long it will realistically be you wouldn't have felt I've you waiting indefinitely!

Do keep all your receipts though and hopefully they will cover the costs.

I also meant to say that although the police will sometimes offer to recover (or insist if it is in an unsafe place), they will usually only recover to their own storage place and you'll be charged for the storage until it can be recovered again. I seem to remember that you could only collect the cars from some of these during the week so it can work out quite expensive and I don't think all insurance companies covered this cost so the cost sometimes had to be covered by the driver (this may have been for breakdowns rather than accidents though).

There are so many third parties involved in insurance it's a joke. Had an accident on a friday early evening, policy had guarentee hire vehicle, did not end up getting that until late Monday, due to 24 hour call handler not processing it correctly, accident management company not processing it correctly, and when their hire vehicle did finally turn it (from avis, who quite frankly i could have called myself and got something quicker) was the wring size, not suitable for transporting 3 children in the rear.

Specialist childcare insurance - I put in a complaint and the brooker agreed with me that it was not their usual expectation.

Maybe the answer is to dump the accident management companies and actually have just one company deal with the entire thing... unlikely to happen but you never know one insurance company may decide that would be a good selling point.

Poor you.

I second keep all receipts.

My car is a motability car so insurance and RAC are included.

But (sorry this doesn't help you right now) all motability cars are with RSA.

Swap your recovery to RAC or AA when you can. They are more expensive but will do repairs if they can and tow you if they can't.

They will also give priority to people who need it, they always ask me if I have medication with me or need medical attention.

You with 3 children would be a priority.

I am actually quite shocked that you were left there with kids for so long. Even in an ordinary breakdown parents with children are usually a priority. I was in a nasty car crash a couple of weeks ago and while I only incurred whiplash and shock, the police took me home and told me to call the insurance company in the morning. The paramedic who checked me over said it was against policy, but that he would seek permission to take me home as it was on his way back. No-one would have left me there. In fact if I had seen you in this situation I'd have stopped to help you. Especially now. I'm so sorry this happened to you. The best advice I can give you is to get back in a car again ASAP. I drove two days later and every day after that and it has really helped to sort out my feelings of control.

I was left waiting for breakdown recovery a couple of years ago, in -7 deg, with a car with a burst radiator. FOR SEVEN HOURS!!!! And I had my 3 year old DD in the car with me. As the rad was burst, I couldn't start the car for any heat at all...it was snowing and all the call handlers kept saying was "He'll be with you soon". When I started vomiting from the cold and was unable to think of the route the recovery truck would be taking, I called DH who came to rescue us, take us home and then he went back and waited for the recovery truck.

Was a bloody disgrace. I complained and was offered compensation but seriously, 7 hours, minus temperatures and my young DD who I zipped into my jacket to keep her warm...... never again.

Green flag, I'm glaring at you.

This thread has made me want to do an emergency kit in my car.

A blanket, water and a few snacks in the car just incase

Why did you wait 7 hours before calling your DH Eddie?

I live in London, call out AA perhaps once a year on average, maybe a little less often, and can only recall one occasion that I've had to wait more than an hour.

i hope your ok op, the two times dp has been hit by another driver there insurance provided a hire car for us but that was only because dp had the front to ask.

I am not a driver so can someone please explain to me why it isn't possible to for eg. get a taxi home in that situation? And sort the car out later? I just can't imagine waiting for hours in the cold with children.

eddie you stated vomiting from cold?

Hope you're ok, OP.

I wouldn't recommend RAC, I had an accident at Heathrow roundabout several years ago and waited for 4 hours for them to arrive.

Last night, my husband's van (stationary) was hit and he hasn't been able to get a response from Admiral today. It does say 24 hours but it really isn't. I think Sunday's must be managed by call handlers who advise ringing the next day.

Thanks everyone. Eddie, your situation sounds much much worse than ours. It's just shocking that we pay the premiums for recovery in emergencies and in my case, there was a garage 5 mins walk away and yet I was compelled to wait for the company I'd paid for.

I was told I had to wait with the vehicle. The whole back window was smashed in and the back buckled and the fuel tank might not have been safe they said, so we couldn't get back in the car to keep warm. But we also couldn't get a taxi home and then return. We were told we had to stay with the vehicle.

Re. the website for the insurance, I can still only see the numbers that Cwtches mentioned. The lines closed at 1pm Sat and I called that emergency number to be told they were admin from another department and that they couldn't process my claim at all or get me a courtesy car and I'd have to call the other number on Monday. There's also something on the website about VW Ensurance but my cover is the car insurance department, which is the one only open again on Mon. morning.

Used a taxi today to get to supermarket and back and have kept receipts.

What's really bad is that i signed up to VW emerency recovery and VW car insurance but only now discovered that both are not related to VW at all nor to each other.

Stateofconfusion, the man who caused the accident told me to call his 'insurance' as his paperwork said they'd provide us - the victims - with recovery and a courtesy car and take care of everything. As it turned out, even he couldn't get through to them for ages, then discovered it wasn't even an insurance company at all - just an accident management company. Later, when I called them, they said they were also closed till Monday now and couldn't get us a courtesy car. So it was all lies really.

I've checked back on my mobile and I first called the emergency recovery services about 7 mins after the accident. It wss 3 hours later that they finally came out. Do you think I can make a complaint or do we - the customer - just have to accept that if you're left shocked, cold, with no food, drink or shelter, after a nasty accident, you have to be prepared to stand at the side of a road for 3+ hrs and wait for help?

'eddie you stated vomiting from cold?'

The hmm face is uncalled for, I take it you've never had hypothermia, somedayma?

Worried have you ring the number I posted?
It tells you they are shut but then asks you to hold to be transferred through to the 24hr claim line.
Have you done that?

I think you should complain to the recovery company and ask for your money back. (Then get a new breakdown/recovery company). Whatever their terms and conditions it is totally unacceptable to leave a woman and children on a presumably busy road in the cold for hours - I am really shocked that this happened. When I broke down in December I was asked if I had children with me (nearly said yes, before remembering DC was 18!) and promised someone would come within the hour. They did and I was kept informed by text and phone of likely arrival time/distance away. And I was actually in a service station not out on the roadside.
And maybe you could write to consumer affairs programmes/newspaper consumer rights people because it is a serious issue.

OP I've worked in insurance for 5 years (RSA) so if you need any help with your claim feel free to pm me. I left there a year ago and now work for a union but I still know how it all works, if I can be of any use

Thank you thenebulousboojum I was just about to say the same thing! Was only adding my 2p worth and didn't expect to get jumped on

I was vomiting from the cold because I was suffering hypothermia. I was told to wait with the vehicle by the recovery folk as they said they'd be half an hour....I must have called them at least 5 times and was told the same thing each time ie I must wait with the car, they'd only be half an hour etc etc.

To someone else upthread, I didn't wait 7 hours to call my DH....he knew what was going on but he was working. Not sure his patients would like him to leave in the middle of something vital to come and rescue me? In the end he sloped off when he could, drove 30 miles in heavy snow (NE scotland) in a rear wheel drive car to get us, take us home, then back to wait with my car and finally home again.

Worried, I hope you are all ok. It is terrible that we pay so much and get poor service - we certainly do as we live in a rural area. To illustrate that further, when I phoned my breakdown folk for the umpeenth time to see what was happening and to reiterate that I was with a young child they told me to go into a shop or supermarket to stay warm. Which was a great idea......except it was a small town I was in and everywhere was shut! I think you should complain - you should not have been left stranded with kids for that length of time. Hope you get it sorted out!

This happens all too often. My son was driving on the M1, 200 miles away from home, when his car was hit and written off by a lorry. Like in your case the police came and told him to wait for recovery. He was left at the side of the M1 for 3 hours.

Your DH didn't think that you having hypothermia and vomitting, with a toddler, was worth leaving work for Eddie? Or arrange for a taxi to come and get you?

OK, so the breakdown people say wait by the car. But it just doesn't seem safe or sensible to me to make small children wait in the cold for 3 or 7 hours, especially if they are likely to get hypothermia. What will happen if you don't wait by the car but get your children somewhere safe first? As I say, I am not a driver so am interested to know.