Hi there,

I had an accident last April (29/4/09) where a lorry had hit the driver side of my car and spun my car around and my car's passenger side (where I was sitting) then scrapped along the barriers separating the carriageway.

My named driver was driving at the time.

The driver of the lorry got out and started shouting, my driver got out and was shouting and I was sat in the car in a daze that I didn't get crushed against the barrier!

After I got out and calmed the others down we swapped details and the lorry driver said his firm will hate him as its his third accident that month.

There was no damage on the lorry by the way.

When I got home I called my (then) Insurance Admiral and reported it and gave them all the details and they asked for sketches etc which I provided.

They then contacted Albany Assistance LTD to pursue the claim against the 3rd party's Insurance Zurich.

I was asked for 2 estimates which I provided and then heard nothing for the longest time.

I rang Albany many times asking for an update but kept getting told they were still trying to contact Zurich and they would contact me when they did.

Now fast forward to March 2010, I wrote a very blunt letter to Albany demanding action as it was nearly a year and I had still not heard nothing, they replied to the second of these letters (the second one I sent Special Delivery) and apologised and informed me that they had been in contact with Zurich and that Zurich had closed the file as the third party did not report the incident to them.

Now I demanded they make them re-open the file and get this moving.

Finally in June 2010 Zurich arranged for one of their engineers to view my vehicle and log the damage which he estimated at nearly £2,500, The 2 estimates I had got in May 2009 were just under £2,000.

Then there was more waiting, I thought things were moving on when I received a letter from Albany last month saying that the third party was disputing how it happened and that it was my fault and they would offer me 50 / 50, Again another stern letter back reminding them that this is the same party that did not report the incident to his insurance and hoped it would go away and I demanded 100%.

So then I receive a letter from Albany telling me that Zurich is only willing to offer me £994 as this was the value of my vehicle before the accident and if i could prove otherwise via clippings or ads from the same make / model then that is all they will give me and would class my car as a Category C.

So I looked around and could not find any vehicles the same make / model / Year as mine for much more than the £900 so I wrote back and said I would except the offer as long as the third party excepted liability.

Albany wrote back said they had informed Zurich and they were just waiting on the cheque to arrive, another letter saying they had not received a cheque and would chase Zurich further and today a letter again from Albany suggesting that I agree to issue proceedings in the Small Claims Court.

So now just as I thought I was near the end of this long road I now have to worry about this... I just need some advice on what to do and how to prepare as I have really lost the energy to fight any more... its tiring!

So sorry for the length of this post just needed to say it all before I explode.

Any help / advice would be really gratefully received

Hak

So yes let Albany threaten legal proceedings. You have to consent to them taking this matter through the small claims process,

Zurich are an awful company. They have just been fined a massive amount for losing customer information. You only have to search online for peoples experience when they come to claim. They appear to drag out claims for as long as they can get away with.

Thanks for the advice unclebulgaria67,

That's what I am going to do.

Hak