Has anyone made a no fault claim with Albany Assistance? All advice much appreciated ......

[Pineapplechunks]

Yesterday morning, on the way to school, someone drove into the back of us, we were stationary waiting for the person in front of us to turn right so we're not at fault.

The damage to my car didn't seem to bad, just a few dents and scratches in the back and it still drives fine so after checking everyone was alright and swapping details we carried on to school(we were still on time!).

When I got home I phoned my insurance company(Kwik Fit) to report it. Albany Assistance administer claims for Kwik Fit (and a lot of other major insurance brokers too). It seemed to be being dealt with very efficiently, I was given a garage to go to and get a repairs quote and have been told I will get a hire car when mine goes in for repair-all this claimed back from the other people's insurance because they were at fault.

They said I would need to sign a vehicle repair finance agreement and an associated credit protection policy before they could authorise the repairs to my car.

I've just googled Albany Assistance and the results aren't good. Lots of people saying that they're inept and their claims took months years even and that Albany overcharge for the use of the hire car so the other insurance company refuses to pay (apparently they can if the costs are too high?).

Have any MNers had any experience of Albany Assistance or have any advice about whats best to do as I'm really quite confused?

Hi SusieT1968,

Could you email your customer reference number or car registration to [email protected]?

Just so we can get someone to contact you to address your concerns mention in your post.

Thanks,

Albany Assistance Online Team

Hi everyone,
We have recently received a number of reports querying the manner in which Albany Assistance is using the thread and as such have asked them to communicate through us from now on. Not that they were doing anything untoward, of course, indeed they had some permission from us back in 2009, but it's clear from reports that you feel this current method is not the way you wish to engage. Thanks.

Dealing with Albany at the moment and was speechless to find out yesterday that the bill for my hire car is already £14,480!!! This if for 6 weeks.

Albany refused to give me a car of a lower grade and said it was policy that they gave 'like for like'. I didn't want the enormous car they gave me and asked for a smaller one (which would have been cheaper) but they refused. 3 weeks ago they tried to take the hire car away (they said costs were getting to a point where they may not be able to recover them from the 3rd parties insurer) and i, again, offered to take a smaller car. Their response was that if they did that the 3rd parties insurance company would want to know why that hadn't happened from the start and wouldn't pay anything.

My car will cost approx £7,400 to replace and I'm trying to negotiate my insurance payout up from £6,100 to closer to what i need to replace it. I could have brought 2 cars with that! I think it's diabolical that i wasn't told that this company was actually nothing to do with my insurance company - i thought they worked for them not as a totally separate entity. Manager supposed to be ringing me today to discuss a way forward - i cant really see one.

Hi, we've had a mail from Albany/Helphire today and they've asked us to post the following message in response to Saxifragas's post -

Dear Saxifragas,

We would like to confirm that our contact centre scripts are highly regulated and we make it clear from the outset of every call that we are a separate entity working on behalf of a customer's insurance company. If you would like to contact us at [email protected] with your reference number we will ensure that you are contacted directly regarding your claim.

Wouldn't it be nice if Albany just got it right first time, rather than having to rely on a team to scan social media and then use internet forums to tout their services?

I have my own experience of them which I won't be sharing, as being familiar with the industry already, I know it's largely pointless. The final comment I will make is that 'credit hire' is one of the reasons why the cost of motor insurance claims has shot through the roof. Many people don't realise that the credit hire agreement they are being asked to sign, makes them personally liable for the costs of the car if the other insurer refuses to pay. Anyhoo, rant over...

MNHQ it would be a great idea if we could close some of these old threads off to prevent them from being resurrected like this.