Yet another accident

[markjay]

....Now, this has taken a while to get to, but the paperwork included an insurance policy that absolved me of any costs should these not be met by AN Other, and the AMC Representative went to great pains to assure me that I would not be liable for costs.

Ernie

In my case, I was similarly shown an AXA policy, but I pointed out to them that they were the insured party under the AXA policy, not me.

In other words, they assured me that I will not be liable for any costs because [i)they[/i] were insured against losses. But nowhere in the contract did it actually say that I wasn't liable.

So the idea is that I won't be asked to pay because they are insured against losses. But what if their AXA policy doesn't pay out for whatever reason, and they do incur a cost?

As things happened, the third party's insurer refused to pay them for the hire car, and they wanted my help to recover the cost. Apparently, the AXA policy only paid out as a last resort, i.e., if they lost the case in court, etc, but not in the first instance of refusal to pay.

When I pointed out to then what I was told by their chap, they denied that he was their chap or that he was actually working for them! They denied all knowledge of the person who handled my case. I told them that it won't hold in court, he had the car, the keys, and the contract, so for all practical purposes, he was their representative (I think he simply working for commission).

I finally told them that unless I receive from then a letter stating that under no circumstances will I be liable for any costs, I won't be engaging with them any further. That was the last I heard from them....

Of course, there isn't always an issue, and some drivers do have a good experience. But my point is that the people who run these companies are as trustworthy as loan sharks (personal opinion).

 

[markjay]

...Both of these events were initially managed by MB of Edinburgh who involved the AMC, although I signed the paperwork. ...

In my case it was similarly the dealer (not MB dealer) who I booked the car with who referred me to the accident management firm for the hire car - I later learnt that the dealer gets a kickback from the extortionate hire prices. It's a well organised Mafia (personal opinion).

 

[ernie]

In my case it was similarly the dealer (not MB dealer) who I booked the car with who referred me to the accident management firm for the hire car - I later learnt that the dealer gets a kickback from the extortionate hire prices. It's a well organised Mafia (personal opinion).

It's great to be wise after the event, but after reading various accounts of folks becoming unstuck through these companies, in future I think my tack will be to accept a car from the 3rd Party insurer, but insist on using my own body repair shop; nowadays my local Audi dealership.

Ernie