Accident advice

gobbo · 2 Sep 2008 at 17:01

Due to the low mileage I do, and the fact I could afford to replace it should I smash it up I saw little reason in paying the massive extra for fully comp at this stage.

Used HelpHire, got myself a nice new Alfa 159 JTDm 2.4 sat on the road at present, Celica is at bodyshop awaiting news.

DB_SamX · 2 Sep 2008 at 20:07

gobbo said:
Due to the low mileage I do, and the fact I could afford to replace it should I smash it up I saw little reason in paying the massive extra for fully comp at this stage.

Used HelpHire, got myself a nice new Alfa 159 JTDm 2.4 sat on the road at present, Celica is at bodyshop awaiting news.

That was quick!

OUt of interest, do Helphire reclaim their costs from the other driver's insurance comp?

aproctor · 2 Sep 2008 at 20:15

DB_SamX said:
That was quick!

OUt of interest, do Helphire reclaim their costs from the other driver's insurance comp?

Yes

gobbo · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:22

Basically everything is sorted as far as it can be, about 6 hours after my initial call I have a courtesy car, my car is at the approved bodyshop awaiting assessment and all seems to be going quite painlessly.

I've heard some horror stories about Helphire, but they do seem to be the minority and see to be people in cases that weren't quite as straightforward as mine.

[TW]Fox · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:23

gobbo said:
Basically everything is sorted as far as it can be, about 6 hours after my initial call I have a courtesy car, my car is at the approved bodyshop awaiting assessment and all seems to be going quite painlessly

Good

Had you done it any other way you'd have still been sorting things out.

gobbo · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:29

Some of the stuff I read about them doesn't make any sense, some guy ended up with a bill for £450 for his hire car, but claims he took out the £10 waiver that covers you for upto £50k of costs incase the other insurers don't pay out.

[TW]Fox · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:33

If the courts find you liable for the accident or the hire charges excessive yes you are liable - the £10 charge (Which I do hope you took) is insurance against this.

Jez · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:35

rG-tom said:
I didnt fill in any paperwork? :s

Also, how come you got a VW for an top end merc and I got an msport bmw for a mondeo :s

You must have done, there is the helphire agreement including their massive terms and conditions paperwork, and there is all the paperwork to do with the insurance cover incase they do not make a recovery, plus all of the terms and conditions of that cover. I then had to draw them pictures and write an essay of what happened, an accident investigator came to see me and interviewed me and wrote a 5-6 page long statement of events from our interview.

On top of that i had extra paperwork to extend the hire car twice, damage estimates, valuation reports to return to agree to the value of the car. More paperwork to buy the car back from them.

Although it was allmanaged by them and i got a decent payout, it was far from hassle free.

rG-tom · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:44

Jez said:
You must have done, there is the helphire agreement including their massive terms and conditions paperwork, and there is all the paperwork to do with the insurance cover incase they do not make a recovery, plus all of the terms and conditions of that cover. I then had to draw them pictures and write an essay of what happened, an accident investigator came to see me and interviewed me and wrote a 5-6 page long statement of events from our interview.

On top of that i had extra paperwork to extend the hire car twice, damage estimates, valuation reports to return to agree to the value of the car. More paperwork to buy the car back from them.

Although it was allmanaged by them and i got a decent payout, it was far from hassle free.

i had NOTHING like that, just a few signatures here and there, no written or drawn things, maybe it was easy because my third party just accepted liability straight from the get go?

Jez · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:49

rG-tom said:
i had NOTHING like that, just a few signatures here and there, no written or drawn things, maybe it was easy because my third party just accepted liability straight from the get go?

Before anything happened i had the whole tree worth of paperwork to fill in before they would even do anything.

The rest of it was due to it being a total loss and the other party contesting it, admittidly

gobbo · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:57

[TW]Fox;12420681 said:
the £10 charge (Which I do hope you took) is insurance against this.

Yes I did, the first thing I did was make sure i'd got that, for the sake of £10 it removes all the worry.

I've not had any paperwork through yet, i'll let you know what I got, from what the woman on the phone said it was literally just policy documents etc. The third party admitted full liability in this claim as well, which will probably make things easier.

jamoor · 3 Sep 2008 at 08:13

[TW]Fox;12412454 said:
This is poor advice although luckily it wont harm it like it would had he been comprehensively insured.

Ring your insurer ONLY to advise them of what has happened. Do not ask their advice and do not ask them to act for you.

Then, deal with HIS insurer OR via an accident management company such as Helphire.

Usually, involving your own insurer makes life a pain because they treat it as a fault claim first until they've recovered the money. That means you are treated as per the terms of your insurance, so you get a cruddy Ford Ka loan car, etc etc. You also lose your NCB until they've made a FULL recovery - great if renewal is just around the corner.

Seriously - NEVER go through your own insurer. NEVER.

Indeed, I have cut our insurer out of the loop completely on non fault claims, it's completely pointless and makes hassle.

http://www.europaconsultants.co.uk/

I am using them for a second time

, all is good so far.

Helphire are rubbish IME, I called them to report my problem and they told me to call my insurance company and they will pass the info through to them?? Not bothering them again.